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So maybe you tore up a little of the compound, and maybe you crushed a few Hydra vehicles with a giant metal octopus (and if anyone takes issue with that, you’re totally blaming Thor; after all, he’s the guy who brought it down, really, in the end). It’s still a mission well-completed, and when you get to the extraction point, there are pats on the back and general congratulations.
Even Coulson gives a sort of expressionless approval over the comms, and Tony quickly radios back, “Hey, Coulson, can I keep the octothingy and study it?”
You know that Tony actually means ‘take it apart’ and maybe ‘weaponize it’ and, let’s face it, probably ‘reanimate it,’ and you know there’s no way Coulson will let that fly.
You can’t help but crack up completely, though, when it’s Director Fury himself who comes on the radio to tell Tony that if that happens, it will be over his dead body (not to mention the fact that if he’s dead and Tony isn’t, there will be a lot of explaining to do).
Tony decides he doesn’t need the metal kraken that badly after all.