A/N: As promised (although why I am on at 1 AM is beyond me...). It's a little short and a little random, but there's lots of little Avenger adorableness.

Oh, and that preview of the avengers after they grow a little and become teens will be at the end of the chapter :)

Enjoy! (And please, please review! I will love you forever!)

-DP

Chapter 14: Little Avengers

Loki Laufeyson

Loki lay in the fort with Tasha and Clint, staring up at the white sheet above their heads. He figured Pepper probably thought they were asleep, but they'd snuck back out of their rooms, since it had felt too early to sleep yet.

"What do you think it's like to be a grownup?" Clint asked suddenly, yawning.

Loki thought about it. If you were a grownup, you could do whatever you wanted, right? Except… He frowned. Pepper and Jane didn't do whatever they wanted, because why would anyone want to take care of Tony? Or Steve? Or…any of them? No, Pepper and Jane definitely didn't do whatever they wanted, but was it just them who didn't or was it all grownups?

"No one tells you to eat your vegetables," Tasha said sleepily. "And you can go places on your own. Why?"

"I had a funny dream," Clint said quietly. "I was a grownup and you guys were too. And Tony…and Thor…and Bruce…and Steve…"

Tasha poked him. "Get to the point already," she complained.

"Ow," Clint said. "Don't be mean, Tasha."

Loki rolled his eyes the way Tony did when Pepper told him no. "Guys, stop it. I wanna hear about Clint's dream, okay?"

"There wasn't much more," Clint said after a minute, "but it felt happy, and there was food… I dunno. It was good. A good change from the nightmares." Loki frowned, and Natasha shifted.

Loki waited, but Clint didn't say anything else. "What nightmares?" he asked finally.

"About before. There are always voices and blue, lots of blue…there's a cube thing and a spear and…" he trailed off. "And you," he said finally, sitting up and looking at Loki.

"Me?" Loki sat up too.

Clint nodded seriously. "That's why I hated you before. Sort of. I mean, in the dreams you're different…older…but it's definitely you and it kinda scares me. 'Cause you're always the bad guy." He shrugged. "Sometimes Tasha hits me on the head, but it never seems like a bad thing."

Now Tasha sat up. "You didn't tell me that."

"Sorry," Clint told her. He shrugged again. "They're getting a little better now, but I still hate them."

"I had a dream once that Steve attacked me," Loki said suddenly, and the other two stared at him. "He had his shield and I had a spear. There were a lot of people kneeling, which was kind of cool, but it all looks blue."

"Blue?" Clint demanded.

Loki nodded.

"Me too. Everything bad is blue."

Tasha frowned. "So blue is bad. But why?"

Clint shrugged. "I don't know. "

"I don't understand why Steve likes blue," Loki muttered, and Tasha frowned. "It hurts my head."

"Do I have to wear this?" Loki complained, and Pepper nodded firmly.

"Yes, and you have no choice in the matter. Now come on, I have to check on the others, and you should see yourself in the mirror first."

Loki walked into the bathroom and stood on the stool to he himself better. He was still staring at himself when Tony walked in a few minutes later, saw him, and started laughing so hard Loki wondered should call Pepper or that 9-1-1 thing or something.

"What is it, Tony?" Loki asked grumpily.

Tony was crying he was laughing so much. "Do you see yourself, Reindeer Games?"

Loki glared back, then started laughing himself when he saw Tony's outfit. "Do you see yourself, Metal Man?"

They both glared at each other for a minute, and then they were suddenly falling into each other and laughing, only managing a few words:

"What was Pepper thinking?"

"When Tasha sees-"

"I can't wait to see Steve-"

"I cannot believe it-"

Steve stuck his head into the bathroom and frowned up at them. "Pepper says to hurry up," he informed them. He stared for a minute before leaving, commenting, "You guys look funny."

When Steve was gone, Loki and Tony looked at each other again. "AM I the only one that noticed his bow-tie?" Loki asked quietly.

They joined the others in the living room, and Loki studied everyone's clothes in amusement. There was Steve, who was wearing light pants and a – plaid? – shirt and a bow-tie, who looked the funniest. And then Tony, with his weird collared shirt and that red sweater vest thing. Of course, Thor just looked out of place, because he belonged in Asgardian clothes, not a human tuxedo thing that Jane had forced him into. Bruce looked grown-up. Clint was wearing a purple shirt, so Loki doubted he cared what he looked like, but he himself was wearing the exact same thing in green and felt ridiculous. Tasha looked pretty though, 'cause she was wearing a black dress. No stupid tie like Loki.

"Stop staring Clint, you look like a fish," Tasha told him as Loki walked over. She smirked. "Oh, look, you guys match." She started giggling furiously and Loki and Clint looked at her with identical scowls.

They drove to the picture place in two different cars, since they couldn't all fit in one, so Loki rode with Tasha, Clint, Steve, and Pepper in the bigger car. Loki spent the whole time staring out the window at all of the people walking in the city streets. He also noticed that when they got out of the car and walked into the building, a bunch of people stared.

"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS PLACE," Thor announced and Loki winced. Thankfully, his big brother was quieter after that, and started asking Jane about the big sheets hanging from some of the walls and the large blocks and other toys that they saw kids posing with for pictures.

"How many?" a woman asked Pepper, looking at them suspiciously, and Loki found himself wondering why she couldn't just count to nine. After that, a man with a camera took them into the back so that they could stand in front of a different white sheet.

He took a bunch of pictures of all of them together and some without Pepper and Jane. Loki was told several times to smile, Thor kept having to duck, and Tony kept blocking other people.

"Would you like individuals as well?" the man asked, and Pepper nodded.

"Oh, why not? They'll never be this cute again."

Tony was first, of course. The man made him sit on a giant block, in a toy airplane, and with a pair of sunglasses on, which made Tony look even more ridiculous than he already was. When his turn was over, Tony whined a lot about the camera wanting more of him, while Bruce tried to get out of having his picture taken, and they got into a slightly violent fight with the airplane.

Loki's favorite part was when the cameraman made Tasha and Clint pose with a giant Teddy bear. "Can you hug the lady?" the man asked Clint, who nodded and happily put his arms around Tasha. "Why don't you guys sit on the bear?" Then, " Hold hands and smile for the camera!"

Loki and Tony would make fun of them for it the whole way home.

For the rest of the time they were there, the seven kids stared over Pepper's shoulder at the screen where she was picking out which ones she wanted. Jane occasionally pointed one out as well.

"LOOK AT METAL MAN'S FACE!" Thor exclaimed, stabbing the screen with his finger. Loki thought the woman helping them looked like she was in pain.

Steve giggled. "He looks so funny." Tasha ruffled the little guy's hair.

"You should get that picture, Pepper," she said, and Pepper laughed. Bruce and Steve nodded their agreement.

"Can we skip to the ones with Tasha and Clint?" Tony asked evilly, grinning at the two. "Tasha and her little boyfriend…"

"Hey!" they both shouted.

Clint glared at him. "I'm not little!"

"He's not my boyfriend," Tasha snapped, crossing her arms. Tony rolled his eyes, and Bruce and Loki exchanged a smile. Thor frowned slightly and looked like he was going to say something, but then Steve started giggling again.

"Tasha's little boyfriend," he repeated. "Oh, Tony…" He started giggling again and Loki decided that he liked the younger boy.

A/N: Okay, and here's that preview (though I promise a couple more little kid chapters first):

It's six years later, and the little Avengers have all aged about twice that much, though their growth is finally slowing down. But even though they all now know the basic truth of their past, life is not as smooth as it should be...

Clint can't sleep - once again he's plagued by nightmares of his past...but also haunted by whispers of a dark future to come. He and Natasha are finally dating now, and she is a comfort, but Tasha will soon discover a shocking secret of her own that will change all of their lives. She's also become close to Steve and Loki, who are the younger brothers she never had. But as Loki attempts to make amends for the many wrongs he's committed and Steve and Thor - now a probationary S.H.I.E.L.D. agent - become involved in a cold case with personal ties to Steve with local law enforcement, the glue holding them together begins to weaken.

Meanwhile, in the other side of the Avengers' extended family, Bruce is about to travel overseas to continue his medical training. Tony is torn between an offer from S.H.I.E.L.D. in regards to his new Iron Man suit and a recently-discovered familial tie keeping him in Manhattan. Pepper is stuck. Unaging. And while it could be considered a good thing for the time being, it is becoming alarmin and comes with a doctor's warning. Only Jane - once again a scientist and dating Thor - seems to have found her happy ending.

Former Agent Tessa Trundle, the one who caused all this, is nowhere to be found...does the anti-aging have a cure?

I think that accounts for everyone. But I'm still happy to hear ideas. Hope you enjoyed!

-DP