A/N: A short chapter to help me get out of college paper writing and back into fictional... The conversations might be a little choppy, I'm so sorry... This is really helping me work through the kinks that report writing had left me with. 

Loki had to admit, buying a house on Earth was probably one of his better investments. He didn't care much for his home being in the city with so many others around, but it was a price he was willing to pay. While the Compound was secluded from the normal humans and many annoyances, Loki's home was a quiet place for him and a select chosen few.

Plus - the Compound was currently inhabitable thanks to an attack and Loki was very thankful that he didn't have to share a small cabin with his brother.

So Loki was very relaxed and enjoying his very rare alone time, soft music playing in the background to block out any noises that might carry through from the street. It was quite healing, if he were to be honest. Multiple members of the Avengers had come dangerously close to being stabbed within the last few weeks, and now he felt refreshed from it all. He could understand why Stark's wife loved her relaxation days so much.

Turning a page in his Shakespearean book, Loki glanced at a nearby clock. Peter should be in the middle of his patrol at this time, which was normally the most active. His suit was programmed to call Loki should the boy need help, but Loki believed that Peter would be fine - even if he was on constant standby.

But as it turned out, Peter hadn't called that night and Loki was blessed with a full day of peace.

Until a window in an upstairs bedroom broke.

Loki's casual clothes disappeared in a flash of green, revealing his black and green Asgardian suit. He went upstairs, a hand ready to produce a dagger should the need arise. He heard the crunch of glass under foot from a spare bedroom at the end of the hall, whispered curses as the person stumbled through the dark room.

He reached a hand forward, about to open the door when it slammed open itself. Loki blinked, his eyes slightly wide as he came face to face with the mask of Spider-Man.

"Peter?"

"Loki!" The boy laughed nervously, glancing around the hall before looking back at the man. "They still haven't fixed the Compound yet, huh...?"

"No... Not for another two weeks. Are you okay?" Loki took a step forward, but frowned when Peter took a step back.

"I'm just fine...!" The way he wavered on his feet, Loki seriously doubted the truth behind Peter's statement. "I just... came by for some snacks, you know? Everywhere good is closed at this hour..."

Loki nodded slowly, crossing his arms as he looked the boy up and down. "Right... And the window?"

"Oh," Peter turned his head to look behind him, seeing the broken glass scattered across the floor. "I um... I miscalculated my webs."

Green eyes once again scanned carefully over the boy's body, taking in the small cuts in the suit and the erratic way Peter's chest rose and fell. It was quite obvious that he was not as fine as he wanted to believe and probably broke into Loki's house in search of getting some bandages... Why his AI wouldn't have called him for help though, Loki couldn't figure out.

"Why don't you take off your mask, Peter?"

"Uh... No, I'm good thanks." He took another step back into the room, starting to turn away. "You know what? I think I'm actually going to call it a night, May probably has something to eat back home. Nice talking with you-"

"Peter," Loki started, his voice even but dangerously low, "remove the mask. Now."

The boy visibly swallowed, hesitating slightly as he wavered on his feet. When Loki took a step closer however, Peter quickly pulled it off.

The sudden light change and quick movement must have been too much for him though, as he soon couldn't hold himself up any longer and dropped to his knees. Peter took a shaky breath in, his hands bracing against the floor as he seemed to be fighting an inner battle - whether or not to throw up if Loki had to guess.

The man quickly moved forward, helping Peter up and onto the guest bed. He waved his hand toward the window, a curtain appearing in a flash of green light before he pushed a small trash can towards Peter. Once he was sure that he was secure and the room was safe from any further harm, Loki quickly went to get a first aid kit.

Very soon after Loki had started to get to know Peter, he discovered almost right away how danger prone the youth was. He was a smaller version of Thor, having to always do the right thing despite what harm may come to him... except for the fact that Thor hardly ever lost a fight and was as badly hurt as Peter always seemed to be. And because of all of these moments that Loki had taken part in of Peter's life, the first aid kit in his house was very extensive. Banner had supplied it himself.

Once Loki had returned to the room, he found Peter laying on his side with a pillow stuffed carefully against his stomach and eyes screwed tightly shut. A slight frown marred Loki's face as he turned the lights on in the room, keeping them dim as to not hurt Peter further.

Placing the kit on the bedside table, Loki stood over Peter as he began to open it. "Tell me what happened, child."

He was met with silence, a sigh threatening to escape Loki as he froze a compress in his hand. "Who hurt you, Peter?"

Slowly blinking his eyes open, Peter glanced up at Loki as best he could. Loki felt his muscles tense in anger at seeing the clear view of his son's bruise eye that was starting to swell. There were cuts and scraps across his face, small trails of blood slowly dripping. The trails on his head and from his mouth were very concerning, but Loki hid those emotions as he gently placed the cold compress again Peter's eye.

"I was just starting to head home..." Peter started, not meeting Loki's intense gaze, "It was pretty quiet tonight, mostly just purse robbers and lost tourists... I was just starting to swing home when something triggered my spidey-sense; I barely had any time to react before something slammed into me from behind... I hit the ground with them still on me... Everything's still really fuzzy," He shook his head lightly, "I can't remember exactly what happened, but it hurt a lot just to get up when they had left... I'm not even sure how I got here, honestly."

Loki nodded slowly, moving Peter's hand to home the compress against his own eye as Loki went to start opening alcohol pads. "Why did your AI not call for help?"

It took a while for Peter to respond, a blank look in his eyes before he shook his head again and blinked a few times rapidly, as if trying to clear his mind. "She didn't...?"

Loki frowned and shook his head, "No. If I had known you were in trouble, I would have come to help."

"Huh..." Peter's eyes drifted again, becoming lost in his own mind.

Until Loki dabbed at a cut on his cheek with the alcohol wipe.

Peter took in a sharp breath, jerking backwards before yelping slightly and wrapping an arm around his ribs. Loki raised an eyebrow before sighing and lowering his hand, "You most likely have injured your ribs..."

"Yeah," Peter let out a weak chuckle as he tried to relax again, "I distinctly remember hearing a couple cracks at one point..."

That peaked Loki's interest, his frown deepening. "You heard your own ribs cracking and yet you were planning to swing back home after realizing I was here?"

Peter's eyes widened slightly, looking up at Loki before glancing away and shaking his head, "Ah, n-no...! I wasn't actually going to leave...! I was just going to... um... you know-"

"Leave."

The boy swallowed thickly as he looked down, deciding it would be best to simply stay silent at this point.

Loki watched his son silently admit his guilt, a part of him wondering where in all the universe could he have gotten a recklessness as strong as this... He was tempted to get a DNA test and make sure that there wasn't a mix-up and Thor was actually the boy's father. But Loki knew better than that... He had seen Peter's Jotun form after all, and he was positive that Thor did not have that. Perhaps the boy's mother? He had not known the woman for long... it was possible that she was reckless, though she didn't seem the type when he had been with her.

Whatever the case was, Loki's child had no sense of self-preservation and it slightly irked and worried Loki at the same time - though he was only irked because he was worried.

Reaching out, Loki grasped Peter chin with a firm but gentle hand, lifting his head up to get a good look at him. He searched Peter's face, looking for anything more serious he might have missed earlier as his mind tried to play cruel tricks on him by imaging what would happen should he ever lose Peter. He pushed those thoughts away, refusing to acknowledge them.

Peter seemed to be doing something similar, his eyes flickering across Loki's face to no doubt look for anger or upcoming discipline.

Loki soon let out a sigh, letting go of the boy's chin and shaking his head softly. "Next time you think of doing something so foolish that could quite possibly get you killed, think about what kind of face your aunt would make when I am forced to tell her of your death."

"I... I'm sorry..."

Looking at him from the corner of his eye, Loki gave a soft smile. "As you should be," He placed his hand on Peter's head and ruffled his hair. "If you don't do it again, you will be forgiven."

Peter grinned and he nodded slightly as Loki lifted the alcohol wipe again. "Good. Let me finish cleaning these wounds and then I will take you to Banner to have your ribs checked."

His brown eyes narrowed warily at the disinfectant, but didn't pull away when it gently swiped at his cuts.

Reckless, but brave, Loki thought with a small smile. Those two words defined Peter to his very core... But as long as he was alive in the end, Loki couldn't really complain.

If you like seeing my artworks of Peter and Loki, you should check out my insta! I just made it, so there isn't much on it currently, but I'll be posting a lot of the Lokison drawings there - as well as other MCU art! You may even catch a preview of a future chapter! Just some shameless self-promotion, but my user is Karmi_Draws!

If you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to leave a comment!

While Peter was being taken care of in the safety of Bruce Banner's personal medical room, Loki wandered the dark streets of Queens. He followed a trail only he knew, keeping to the shadows and away from any kind of light source. He could not be spotted now, he wouldn't allow it.

Loud laughter from an abandoned building caught Loki's attention, drawing him closer to it. Making sure that no one was outside to see him, he made his way to a window and glanced inside.

A group of men were sitting around a fire that had been made on the floor, laughing and talking aimlessly about stories that were most likely false in every sense. Loki was about to keep moving forward in his hunt until he heard the next story told by the men.

"I took down Spider-Man all by myself! You shoulda heard the scream come from 'im!" One man laughed, seemingly attempting to drown himself in his drink. Even Thor had more manners than this buffoon when it came to ale. "He had no idea what was comin'! He was my own lil' punchin' bag for a good long time!"

They all laughed louder, some of the others raising their drink in a cheer. As they all went to drink, however, the liquids in their mugs were frozen still inside. A few of them turned their mugs completely upside down, trying to shake the ice block out but with no luck.

"What the hell's goin' on?" One asked, looking to his friends in question.

Ice suddenly crackled around the fire, freezing the flames and plunging the building into complete darkness.

There was a brief flash of green just behind the group before someone yelled out in pain, a sinister laugh echoing against the metal walls.

"So you're the one that hurt my son..." Loki nearly growled, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere in the darkness. "You will regret that decision for the rest of your short life."

There was another flash of green, barely any time for the criminals to even comprehend what was happening before they were all sent into a world of pain.