Clint falls from the bookshelf and rolls onto the sofa when Tony opens the door into the rec room. From the corner of his eye he sees Loki's jaw drop, and feels his own do the same.
Tony certainly hadn't heard the bomb fall. But apparently one must have done because the kitchen table is smashed beyond repair, and the new television is in pieces on the floor beside Steve, who's biting his lip nervously. The curtain rail has come away from the wall, and one of the windows has an enormous crack running from top to bottom. And there, on the floor in the centre of the room, Coulson and five agents are bound together with cable and gagged with what looks like shreds of Tony's pyjama pants. Tony gawps at Coulson, who makes a sound akin to a whimper and begs him for freedom with his eyes.
"How on earth?" Loki asks, and the five kids stop in their savagery to focus on the two men at the door. Tasha squeaks with delight.
"You're alive!" Thor hollers, bounding past Coulson and stopping before Tony to give him a grin. "We thought you dead!"
"When we woke up you weren't here so we thought these baddies had killed you or somethin' so we tied 'em down," Clint beams, not stopping for breath. His smile falters when he spies Tony's unamused expression.
"Guys, Tony blurts, "they were here to babysit you whilst Loki and I went to go run some tests. You weren't supposed to trap them!"
All five kids look at their feet and pout.
"Sorry," Tasha mumbles.
"See!" Steve says loudly, putting his hands on his hips. "I told you there was nothing to worry about!"
A pillow from Clint's direction whacks him in the face.
Steve cries.
A lot.
Clint goes without dessert that night.
"I HATE YOU!"
"How enlightening, Clint."
"I WANT ICE CREAM!"
"No."
"BUT LOKI-"
"No."
"TONY PLEASE!"
Tony almost sobs when the child turns his attention on him. He drops his head to the table and tries desperately to block out the constant begging. The others have already left the new table and are playing with some toys on the rug, but Clint is still not impressed that he was denied dessert.
"Can I squash him?" Loki asks, irritated. However much Tony wants to say yes at that moment, he can't.
"Clint, if you keep going on you will go into the cell again for the entire day tomorrow."
"BUT-"
There's a loud scraping sound and a screech and Tony snaps his head up in time to see Loki throwing Clint over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"Don't kill him!" Tony cries, but Loki just rolls his eyes.
"Of course I won't kill him. I just want to put him somewhere where his noise isn't so audible."
Nervous, Tony follows Loki and the yelling Clint into the hallway. Loki disappears into the kid's room for a second and then he quickly darts out, locking the door behind him. When he looks up from the door, he shrugs and smiles.
"Just for a while. So he can calm down?"
It's as though he's asking Tony about how he should punish. Well, it makes sense. Before, the guy was all about killing anything that pissed him off. Now he's...nice and it's strange and Tony can't work out if he likes it or not. Yeah, he makes snarky comments and threats still, but somehow, now, Tony doesn't feel that Loki will ever see those threats through.
