Lima
Damn Loki. Damn him straight to hell. Wait, did Norse Gods have a hell? If not they should. This was all his fault after all and now Pepper was going to kill them when she got back from that conference in Italy.
Clint was absolutely no help, sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, suppressing a laugh. Natasha had been called away by Fury for a debriefing and (probably) another mission. Thor was tasked with once again dragging his adoptive brother back to Asgard. Bruce had been called away along with Jane (Betty tagged along just to be with her boyfriend) to some sort of science Expo thing that Tony had been scheduled for but for obvious reasons could no longer attend. So that left Steve to deal with the little…problem.
How this had actually happened was still a mystery. One minute, everything was going well. They had corralled Loki and his new batch of alien minions into a deserted warehouse where they were quickly killing off said minions much to Loki’s chagrin. Then out of nowhere, Loki raised his staff high, shouting some words most of them didn’t understand but that made Thor’s eyes widen in horror. The thunder god launched himself at his brother, but too late. A bright white light encompassed the room for a split second before Thor could tackle his brother to the ground, wrestling away the staff and subduing the trickster.
Steve jumped up from where he’d been knocked back into the wall when he’d used his shield to protect himself from the magic and surveyed the room. Thor seemed unharmed, scolding his brother yet again. Clint and Natasha were propelling themselves down from the ceiling where they had been battling aliens in the rafters. The hulk was the one to draw Steve’s attention, hunched protectively over something he couldn’t see. But it was the lack of Tony’s typical sarcastic remark that had Steve sprinting across the warehouse to the oversized green monster/man. Everyone knew how protective the Hulk had become of Tony. The engineer was the only one who was never afraid of the “Jolly Green Giant” and so had become the Hulk’s best friend as well as Bruce’s. If there was one thing that would have the Hulk acting like he was, it was Tony.
The Captain stopped a few feet away, waiting for the Hulk to turn to look at him sadly and lower the red and gold suit to the ground. He was forced to rip off the faceplate again to check on the other man only for his eyes to widen in alarm. Clint, who’d been a second behind him, helped him pull open the suit in a hurry. In reality they probably did major damage to the suit in their haste and Tony was going to throw a fit when he saw it, but it hardly mattered at the moment. They had to get Tony back to the Tower and figure out what had happened. Now.
“No,” a childish voice barked, snapping Steve out of his thoughts and making him sigh in exasperation.
“You have to eat your vegetables, Tony,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Don’t you want to grow up to be big and strong?”
The small six year old version of his friend crossed his arms and pouted, “I don’t like lima beans.”
Clint snickered as Steve sighed again. It had been like this since the child woke up. Why did it have to be Stark that Loki turned into a child? Any of the others would have been better. Well, maybe not Clint, but he digressed. The fact was, now he had to deal with a stubborn, spoiled little boy that was actually far too much like the older version of Anthony Stark, mini arch reactor and all.
“Lima beans are not that bad, Tony. Here, why don’t Clint and I have some with you?”
“Hey,” Clint snapped, his chuckles dying instantly. “Don’t drag me into this. Lima beans are nasty.”
Tony gave a small “I told you so” smirk and Steve glared at the archer until he raised his hands in surrender and retreated out of the kitchen. Turning back to the stove, Steve dished out his own serving of lima beans and sat beside Tony, hoping the boy would actually eat as well. It didn’t work. Brown eyes watched him as he ate the beans and when he was finished Tony still refused to touch his serving.
“Anthony Stark! You will eat your beans this minute!” And wasn’t that the last thing he ever thought he’d say.
Tony lip quivered, eyes watering. Immediately Steve felt horrible. There was no reason to raise your voice to a child. Ever. No matter how stubborn he was. Even if Tony seemed to be a whole new level of stubborn all on his own.
“What is going on in here?” a voice he’d been dreading called from the hall and growing closer, making Steve flinch and Tony brighten. The small boy was out of his seat before Steve could stop him and out the door. There was a small “oof” as he collided with another body and then silence.
“T-Tony?” Pepper asked unsure, still hidden behind the corner.
“I missed you, Pepper!” Tony whined. Well at least he still had some memories left. He seemed to know who they all were even if he didn’t know why they were all together or specific evens of his adulthood (thank God for that). “Steve’s being mean to me.”
Steve groaned. Now he was going to get it. First he allows Tony to get turned into a child and then said child claims he was being mean. Pepper was going to skin him alive. Sure enough, when the woman came around the corner, a smug looking Tony hanging from her hand, she had a glare just for the Captain. At that moment, Steve would much rather be faced with five dozen Nazis by himself then try to explain to Pepper what happened to her beloved boyfriend.
“It was Loki,” he hurried launched into the story. “But Thor swore it would wear off by the end of the day. Tomorrow at the latest.”
She continued to eye him for a few minutes before nodding once, “Fine. But no more yelling at Tony for any reason while he’s like this, alright.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Steve readily agreed.
“Now Tony, eat your dinner and then we’ll have some ice cream for dessert okay?”
The small boy quickly jumped back onto his seat, wolfing down his dreaded lima beans and smiling up at Pepper proudly when he was finished. Steve sighed as he did the dishes. Why hadn’t he thought of that?