Prank Backfire || Baby Avengers

Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: Time Out

The room went silent as soon as Phil started yelling. It was just common knowledge that if Phil was angry, he sure is freaking angry.

Who could blame the guy, though? Paint and glue littered the walls and floor of the small room. Paper was thrown every where and - wait - is that pee beside Thor?

Phil sighed. 

"All of you have been very, very bad," he started, his Dad voice leaking. "We cannot tolerate this sort of behavior any longer." He, Maria and Bucky shared that adult look. He sighed before facing the kids once more. "All of you are subject to an hour-long time out."

Tony gasped, appalled. Clint followed as well as Natasha only twitched the slightest. Bruce looked like he would faint and Steve bowed his head, although he did nothing wrong. Thor and Loki sat there confused, but since Thor noticed the expressions on his friends' faces, he gasped. 

"I will not!" the god of thunder boomed. "I am no petty child and I will not be in this 'time out'!"

Maria gave him a look, in which he effectively shut up. 

"Let's clean them up first before giving them their punishment," Phil said to Maria and Bucky, who followed along. Although most of the anger has subsided, there was still a hint of irritation evident on the male agent. 

This is going to be one long afternoon.

+

Bucky found the perfect time-out spot, as he said. 

It was, of all places, the basement. 

"It's quiet, dark, and would give them a lot of time to think," he reasoned happily. He looked like he was enjoying the prospect of babysitting a bit too much. "I even prepared their chairs." 

How could Phil and Maria say no to that face?

The place was quiet and dark, yes, but it was also cold. Its area was enough to fit all of them, not too big and not too small. Only two fluorescent bulbs lit up the wooden room, and to be quite honest, not what you'd expect in a tower made by Tony Stark. 

They all called the kids down, and to their surprise, none of them were actually trying to fight it off. Which was a good thing. Right?

The seating arrangement was this: Thor, Natasha, Loki, Bruce, Clint, Steve and Tony. They kept the billionaire genius and literal god as far away as possible since those two were probably the peskiest. It was only in Phil's concern that Tony might try to mess up one way or another with Steve. 

The children shuffled to their seats, facing the wall. Phil stood behind them. 

"You all know why you're here, are we correct?" A series of mumbles followed. "What you all did was out of line. Non-toxic paint isn't always 100% non-toxic. And in the first place, throwing paint and consuming glue is bad for you. And it's bad for others as well - "

Maria moved behind Phil, whispering, "Can you, like, make your speech faster?"

"Oh yeah," Phil nodded, realizing that he was about to give the kids a science lesson. "When you break a rule, you have to pay the price."

Loki mumbled, "Wait 'tiw my fatha heaws about thwis..."

"Loki, time out means shut up," Maria piped, a bit too harshly. 

"How dare - "

"Thor," Phil stressed. "Don't."

Thor crossed his arms, slouching in his tiny red seat. 

"Once my alarm clock rings, you all can go do whatever you want. We can get dinner outside and watch a movie, but right now, you all think about what you've done," explained Phil. "Time starts..." He clicked a button on his phone. "Now."

"Hey Buck," Maria turned to Bucky, who was sitting on the bottom of the stairs. "Mind watching them? Phil and I are gonna go cook these kids a dinner." 

"No problem," Bucky smiled. A real smile. Nobody has seen that in a long time. It was still pretty odd seeing that constantly plastered in his face.

"Watch them carefully," Phil warned. "They're not just babies. They're super babies."

"Don't worry, Phil. I got this."

Phil and Maria set off, leaving Bucky behind with 7 super-children in his hands. Unbeknownst to the adults as they were having their light chat, Tony had pulled a toy gun from his overly large hoodie. He turned to Thor and Loki, who'd done the same thing, waiting for the signal.

Steve was absolutely adamant to this plan, since it included hurting Bucky. He didn't want to hurt Bucky. Bucky was his best friend. 

Everyone's eyes were at Tony, and after counting to five, the little boy coughed three times, signaling the little kids that the time was now.

Bruce nodded, took a deep breath, and started to cry. 

Bucky, noticing the ruckus, stood up from his seat. "Bruce, are you alright?" He was walking towards the chair, and as he got nearer, Clint and Natasha held their breaths. 

Three, two, one...

Clint and Natasha bolted towards Bucky, hitting him in the shin with all they can. The Winter Soldier fell down, Bruce climbing over him and tying a piece of clothing around his eyes. Thor, Tony and Loki aimed at Bucky as soon as Bruce climbed down, and simultaneously, they pulled the trigger. 

Silly string of different colors enveloped Bucky as the children ran out of the room. 

"WHO AWE WE?" Tony yelled.

"Shhhh!" the rest of the babies muttered, glaring at the confident boy. 

Tony chuckled. "Oops." 

Steve, however, stayed. He rushed to Bucky and took out his blindfold. "I'm sowwy, Bucks," the soldier said as Bucky sat down on the floor. "I didn't wan' 'em to do this to wou..."

Bucky only smiled at the boy. "It's okay, kid." He ruffled Steve's hair. "Now let's go tell on them, shall we?"

Steve grinned, climbing up Bucky's arms. "We shall!"