A/N: So... slightly following the last AU with this chapter, Loki is regarded as a prince on Asgard, though he spends most of his time on Earth with Peter after they meet. 

Loki let out a slow breath; the cold air making his sigh visible as his eyes closed and a hand ran through his hair. Three times in the same week this crime has been committed right under his nose; three times this week he had to question the others in the camp; three times this week he had to threaten treason and punishment...

He slowly marched to the door of his tent, looking out into the camp and taking a deep breath before calling out, "Who keeps stealing my capes?"

A passing guard stopped, a few other people turning in his direction before resuming their original work. Loki cursed under his breath as he went back into his tent.

It was bad enough that Odin had called him back to Asgard to order him to oversee a war between two races he really didn't care for, but now someone thought it was funny to steal his capes! Just the capes, nothing else! What was the point of that?

Pulling out his last one, Loki quickly attached it and stormed out again. He took a somewhat calming breath before going to the tent next to his, pushing the door flap open. "Peter, it's time to get-"

Pausing briefly to look around the empty space, Loki's brows furrowed as he went back outside. It wasn't often that Peter was awake before him, even rarer for the boy to leave the safety of his tent without Loki nearby. Peter, having grown up on Midgard for most of his life, was not used to the customs of this planet's inhabitants quite yet... Having nearly caused a heinous crime minutes after they had landed with the Asgardian armies, Loki could understand his hesitance.

Glancing around, Loki saw another passing guard and held his hand up to stop him, "You! Have you seen Peter?"

The guard looked to the tents, frowning as he looked back to the prince. "No... I don't believe I saw him return from the banquet hall last night."

Loki dismissed him with a wave, quickly heading to the night chef's tent. Peter had made friends with the man fairly quickly, and now the elder chef kept a close watch over him the few times when Peter would go there by himself. He would know where Peter went.

But he didn't; he said that Peter left the banquet hall early that night because he wasn't feeling well... And with each new person that Loki asked, and each new answer of unknowing, Loki felt worry swelling within him. He should have known better than to let Peter go eat by himself last night, if only he hadn't of been so preoccupied with repairing the battle strategist that the previous commander had screwed up! Peter had even shown hesitance to go alone... His spider sense could have been warning him something was going to happen, but the child was too self sacrificing to voice his concerns!

Obviously something had to have happened, it wasn't like Peter to go wandering off - not on an alien planet... If this were Earth or Asgard, then he wouldn't be so concerned; but it wasn't either planet and Peter could very well die if he said the wrong thing here.

"I knew I should have left him with his aunt," Loki muttered under his breath as he marched through the camp. What had possessed him to think it would be a good idea to take his teenage son with him to a warring planet; especially when that son was as self sacrificing and righteous as Peter was? It was ridiculous and stupid and Loki honestly should have known better.

The day progressed and there was still no sign of Peter, the bubble of worry in Loki's chest slowly turning to fear with each passing hour. As soon as he was found - he would be found - Loki would send him right back to May.

"Prince Loki," Someone called, rushing up to him from behind. Tuning, Loki saw one of the young messenger boys, probably around Peter's age... "We have just gotten word on your son! The Muskox leader has just sent a ransom demand, stating that if you want Prince Peter back alive..." The man swallowed thickly, his eyes flickering around slightly before looking back up at Loki, "Then you must give them all the gold that you carry and... turn your army against the Fremmede people."

Drawing in a deep breath, Loki closed his eyes. It just had to be the Muskox that took him... Peter just had to get kidnapped by one of the most primal and barbaric species on this side of the galaxy. Of course... 

He honestly should have expected that sooner.

When he opened his eyes again, the already cold temperatures of the camp dropped even lower, a burning rage in his green gaze that no one had seen before - not even when Laufey had threaten to steal Peter. Loki turned toward the mountain range, a wicked smirk playing on his lips. 

"Prepare for battle."

~*~*~

Screams and battle cries polluted the air, black smoke pillowing into the sky as an omen of evil, mothers herded children to the safe zones so as not to be mistakenly attacked.

Loki ignored it all though, his full concentration on the hairy beast on the floor in front of him.

"Where is Peter?"

"I don't know who that is-" A grunt left the Muskox leader as Loki's foot slammed against his chest, knocking him back to the ground as a dagger was aimed at his throat.

"My son," Loki growled, leaning in closer, "You took him from our camp last night, then sent a letter demanding gold and the death of the Fremmede people. My patience is already thin; trust me when I say that you do not want what's left to shred away as well."

Black eyes narrowed, lips pulling back into a snarl, "If you kill me, you will never see your son again."

They glared at each other, hatred and rage almost palpable in the air between them. Then, with no warning, a blunted ice spear shot out of the ground and sent the Muskox flying.

The large creature crashed through a door, landing on his back against the stone floor. One of his horns caught on a nearby table and pulled it with him, sending the contents of the table crashing to the floor around him. He groaned as he tried to push himself up with his hooves, but the echo of footsteps in the hall made him pause.

Loki appeared in the doorway, his shadow stretching across the room and covering the Muskox leader. "I honestly expected more from you..."

The Muskoxen huffed, glaring at the Asgardian prince as he slowly walked into the room, starting to tug his gloves off as frost emitted from his exposed hand.

"Your city is in ruins, smoke signaling to everyone of your losing battle. Your entire 'army', if that is what it could really be called, is bordering on defeat. You can't possibly hope to -" Loki stopped, one glove still on, catching a glimpse of a cage in the corner of the room. Swaddled in a thick black fabric, only Peter's face was visible, his expression mixed between relieved, a scowl, and a pout.

"It took you long enough..."

Loki raised an eyebrow as he looked the boy up and down. "That's my cape. You're wrapped in my cape."

"If this planet wasn't so cold, and it wasn't illegal to actually have some kind of fire for heating purposes," Peter adjusted his grip on the cape, a bit of the green inside showing as he brought it closer to him, "then I wouldn't have had to resort to thievery."

Loki narrowed his eyes slightly before he let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "You look adorable..." Sarcasm dripped from his voice, though could it have been called sarcasm when it was true? Because he did. Peter looked adorable and warm wrapped up the way he did.

A huff drew their attentions back to the Muskoxen, the man having pushed himself to stand on all fours with a bowed head pointed toward the cage. Peter's eyes widened slightly, having seen that stance in way too many cartoons. He shuffled to the back of his cage, his hand outstretched in a futile attempt at peace just as the Muskoxen charged forward with deadly power.

His hooves thundered against the ground, Peter's eyes closing as he braced himself for impact.

A very familiar cracking sound and sudden stillness caused him to open his eyes again though.

"Whoa..." Mere feet in front of him, the Muskox leader was frozen in a solid block of ice. Peter could still see the rage building in his eyes, but he was nowhere near powerful enough to break free.

Loki made his way to Peter's cage, pulling his gloves back on as he looked at the thin metal bars of the cage. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Peter, "You couldn't have gotten out of this yourself?"

The boy scowled, dropping the cape from around his shoulders to show a large and bulky metal collar around his neck. "I broke out of the wood one they had me in at first, then a glowy person put this on me and said that if it detected any kind of power that it would zap me like the bug I was. I'm freezing, but I don't want to get fried."

A frown marred Loki's face as he easily broke the lock on the cage door, motioning for Peter to crawl out so that he could look at the collar. It was a technology that was too advanced for the Muskoxen or the Fremmede, but for some reason there was a Fremmede that had this and working with the Muskoxen... There was a traitor in the Fremmede.

Loki held back a sigh at the thought of the extra work he would have to do to find the traitor, instead focusing on unlocking the collar from Peter. Anything other than the unlock code would set it off, a very particular annoyance that Loki wasn't fond of.

It took more minutes than either of them would have liked, Peter's jaw clenching to keep from chattering. He never thought he would have wanted to shift into his Frost Giant form so badly before, his human/spider half not being able to handle the low temperatures of this snowy planet. But the glowy people that they were trying to help didn't like the Frost Giant race as a whole and to be seen shifting into that form would have meant instant death.

A small beep and click sounded, announcing that the collar was unlocked; Peter instantly shoved it off of his neck with a look of hatred towards it. Loki chuckled as he stood, offering his hand to help the boy up as well.

"I supposed you'll be wanting this back...?" Peter asked with a sheepish smile as he lifted Loki's cape with his free hand once he was standing. The man eyed the cape, and then the boy before smirking as he took the cloth and wrapping it over Peter's shoulders.

"Not until we return to the camp, it is a long journey back."

Peter beamed, holding the cape close to him again as he followed Loki out of the Muskoxen base.

Muskox is basically alien musk oxen that can talk and have civilization. And Fremmede is Norwegian for alien.

A/N: Can I just say that I absolutely love the idea of Loki as a diplomat? I think he would honestly be pretty good at it, as long as the other species don't anger him. And Peter going with him on the weekends and holidays? XD I love it!

.

.

.

"Peter," Loki called, pushing the flap away from Peter's tent as he entered, "I have something for you."

The boy looked up from his homework, head tilted in curiosity as he put the book away. He stared intently at the two large boxes in Loki's hand, "What is it?"

"See for yourself," Tossing one of the boxes to Peter, Loki smirked and crossed his arms while he waited.

Peter easily caught the box, quickly lifting the lid off of it to see what kind of present Loki could have possibly given to him on a day that didn't hold any significance that Peter was aware of. If there was one thing Peter knew about his father in the few months they had been together, it was that the man was not very affectionate. Though he was slowly changing, Peter didn't think it was drastic enough of a change to go out and buy a present for him when it wasn't a birthday or holiday.

Once the lid was off, Peter pulled up a dark blue and gray leather suit that was very similar to Loki's in design. "Whoa... This looks awesome...! Is it for me?" He looked back to Loki, seeing his smirk soften slightly.

"Of course, I wouldn't have given it to you if it wasn't for you. I do not expect you to change your Spider-Man suit on Earth, but if you decide to join me on other diplomatic missions in the future, you are welcomed to wear it. It will keep you warm, plus," He lifted the other box in the air, "It will go well with your new cape."

Peter's eyes brightened as he reached out for the second box, Loki laughing lightly as the boy almost ripped the lid off to look at the cape. Instead of Loki's signature green, however, it was a deep red inside. It was much smaller than Loki's as well, seeming to be the perfect size for Peter's narrow body so that it wouldn't drag on the ground.

"You are not required to wear it if you don't want to, but-" Loki grunted as a weight slammed into his front, nearly sending him backwards. Peter had launched himself off his bed and latched on to the man, hugging him tightly. It took a moment, but Loki smiled softly and slowly returned the hug.