Peter was absolutely exhausted; even he couldn't deny it at this point. School and crime-fighting took way too much out of him today and he was ready to call it a night, swinging through the city and hopefully making it to the Compound with little to no more excitement for the night.

Who could blame him though? With three pop quizzes, a fitness test, and a decathlon meet, he barely had enough energy to deal with the bank robbery, car heist, two cats and a dog in trees, four stolen bikes, eight lost tourists, three lost kids, some dude with a gun, and two dudes with knives... He was surprised that he wasn't mortally wounded from all of that...

Of course though, he couldn't catch a break when he wanted to. Along his way, he found a cab driver about to be killed by his passenger. So Spider-Man swooped in and saved the day once again. But it wasn't so bad, because the cabbie offered to drive him anywhere. And Peter was really tired...

With a shrug, he hopped in the backseat and let the yellow car drive him a little over half way to the Compound. It would have been great if they could go all the way, but Captain America had a rule about no outsiders knowing the location of the Avenger base and Peter was forced to walk the rest of the way there. Which only made his exhaustion worse... Things were starting to get kinda blurry, and his body was starting to get cold... That really couldn't be good.

But he made it to the Compound nonetheless, climbing up the side tapping a certain patter onto the window before it opened, climbing in and landing in the kitchen. He was inside at least, that meant he was safe now... He was safe.

He laid down on the floor, exhaustion taking over him as he stared up at the ceiling. He just rested there for a while, not paying attention to the time or how long he stayed. He must have fallen asleep at some point, because the sound of footsteps coming down the hall caused his eyes to fly open. His head turned to see who it was he would be talking with soon, the figure of Loki with an eyebrow raised meeting his vision.

"You're up early, child." Loki commented as he walked into the kitchen more, headed for the pantry. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yeah..." Peter nodded slowly, not moving anymore than he had to. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Silence fell over the two as Loki pulled out tea and hot chocolate packets for Peter and himself, boiling the water and waiting for the two drinks to brew. Peter stayed in that same position the whole time, which left a bad feeling in Loki's gut - but he pushed it away. If it was truly bad, the AI of this building would have alerted everyone about it.

Still though... even in the dim lighting of the kitchen, Peter did look pale. Could he be sick again? That would explain a quite a bit.

When both the drinks were finished and ready to be drunk, Loki went over to Peter and set the boy's mug on the floor next to him. Loki leaned against the island nearby as he took a sip of his tea, staring down at Peter.

"So... What's wrong?"

Peter's eyes shifted to him before looking back up at the ceiling, licking his lips as he opened his mouth, "I think... I think I got stabbed. Or shot. Maybe both. No, definitely both."

The once tired expression on Loki's face washed away, leaving a blank slate behind as he blinked down at the boy. The silence was back again as Peter didn't even dare to look at Loki, knowing what would soon happen after...

"You...? You're stabbed and shot and you are simply laying on the kitchen floor? Are you trying to die?"

"Well, I mean-"

"Don't answer that." Loki held up his hand as he took a deep breath, setting his tea down to pinch the bridge of his nose with his now free hand. "FRIDAY, please alert the others to the situation and have the med-bay prepared for Peter immediately."

"Right away," Came the automated voice in reply, causing Peter to cringe slightly. If the others all knew about this, he would definitely be getting an earful as soon as he was healed - maybe even before depending on his wounds... 

"Can you stand up?" Loki asked, kneeling next to Peter and inspecting what he could see of Peter's body.

"Uh, well... I don't think so. I used up all my energy getting over here..." Peter gulped slightly as his eyes shifted downward, as if trying to look at himself. "I can't really feel my body anymore, Loki..."

Loki's heart sped up as he took in those words. Was Peter paralyzed? Had his spine been hit? In that case it would be too dangerous to lift him... But he couldn't just leave Peter on the floor when there was a possibility that he would bleed out. And would his enhanced healing even cover something like palatalization?

Before Loki's heart could race right out of his chest, footsteps were heard rushing down the hall to them. It wasn't long before Stark, Banner, and two med-bay workers came in with a stretcher.

"What happened?" Tony demanded as he quickly went to kneel next to Loki, glancing down at Peter. "FRIDAY, turn on the lights!"

"He's been shot and stabbed, according to him. He... he also cannot feel his body at the moment. He was already laying on the floor when I came in a short while ago, so I do not know the exact time that all of this happened."

The two men were pushed aside by Bruce as he and the paramedics began to work on Peter, cutting away his suit to get a better look at the wounds. Once the fabric was away, however, the amount of blood that had collected in the suit was revealed and worried even the medics.

"We need to get him to the med-bay now, bring that stretcher closer!"

"Med-bay is prepped and waiting, doctor," The first medic announced as he brought the stretcher over, though pausing for a moment as his colleague called out to them.

"Patient is no longer responsive!"

Faintly, some part of Loki's mind remembered there was a mug of hot chocolate on the floor that was knocked over by one of the medic's feet as they lifted Peter onto the stiff board while simultaneously trying to get Peter's eyes to focus on them. Loki couldn't be bothered with that drink now, however; not when Peter was slipping into the realm of unconsciousness. 

Loki and Tony stood there for a short time after Peter was carried out, both of them looking to the ground where a puddle of Peter's blood was staining the floor. Such a reckless and foolhearted child... Why wouldn't he ask FRIDAY to alert anyone of his pain? Why hadn't FRIDAY automatically alerted them to Peter? How long had Peter even been here before Loki had come into the kitchen? There would be quite a few lectures  going around once everything had settled down...

"Brother, Stark?" A deep voice called as a large figure entered the kitchen with them. "I thought you two would have followed the healers with young Peter?"

The two seemed to snap out of whatever thought track they were spiraling down as Thor stopped just in the doorway. Tony cleared his throat as Loki straightened his suit, both of them attempting to hide how much that splotch of red on the floor disturbed them to their core.

"What is it, Point break?"

"When I did not see you in the med-bay, I thought I would come see if there was anything I could do." Thor's eyes drifted to the blood on the floor, he too lingered on it for longer than normal. "Banner would not allow me to help them..."

Loki chuckled slightly, barely audible, as he began to move to the exit with Tony not far behind, "No, I would imagine not."

The three of them went to the waiting area near the med-bay, the rest of the Avengers already there with solemn faces.

"Tony," Steve looked up as they entered, "Why didn't FRIDAY say anything about Peter? How long has he even been here?"

Tony shot a glare at the ceiling and sighed, "I don't know. I'll figure it out; there might be a glitch, even though that's highly impossible."

As they all made short conversation, Loki went off to stand near the window - his waiting spot during situations that involved Peter needing medical treatment. Looking outside into the darkness that accompanied this unholy hour of the morning was somewhat able to calm him, coupled with the soft pattering of rain hitting the glass. 

He would be lying if he said that a part of him didn't feel at fault for all of this. He had a bad feeling about Peter's unmoving form in the beginning. If he had not wasted ten minutes with making drinks and had properly checked on the boy, then they could have possibly avoided all of this 'on the brink' mess... 

A bitter chuckle crossed his mind then. Loki was blaming himself for this situation, something that he never would have done in the past. Loki had never been this weak, not since he was a child. He was actually worried and riddled with this unfathomable guilt that surely didn't belong... But no matter how much he tried, he just couldn't shove his feelings away. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to get rid of this feeling? It was absolutely horrible - dreadful. 

The door to the surgery room opened, snapping Loki from his thoughts and feelings as Bruce Banner stepped out, wiping his hands off with a towel. 

Many forms of the question "How is he?" came from the others, Bruce smiling a bit as he held a hand up.

"Peter will be fine now. He had a bullet lodged in his back, near the spine. That's why he was having difficulties feeling earlier. He also had quite a few slashes and stab wounds in his stomach and chest, but that wasn't too serious and he's already started healing. I would say, with lots of rest and proper care, he should be back to normal in about a week or so."

A collective sigh passed around the group, most of them leaving after being informed of Peter's current sleeping state. Tony hung back to glance in the darkened room, his tired eyes searching Peter's form on the bed and the soft beeping of the heart monitor. He let out a long sigh before running his hand down his face.

"I'm going to go check FRIDAY's network to see why no one was informed of Peter, it's time for an update to her systems anyway." He said as he made his way out of the waiting area, leaving just Bruce and Loki there.

Bruce glanced at the other man for a second, Loki's eyes also trained on Peter's room in a near deadly stare.

"You can go in if you want," Bruce said quietly, nodding towards the room. "Just don't wake him up."

Loki opened his mouth to discredit Bruce's knowingly soft smile, but closed it soon after because there was really no point. He was much too concerned with Peter's welfare than to deny it. 

Taking residence in the soft chair near the bed, Loki scanned Peter. His skin was pale even in the darkness of the room, his heart rate steady and breathing even, his hair tousled -though that really wasn't anything new. Peter looked like Peter, damaged but alive. 

A small smile made its way onto Loki's face as he shook his head. Damaged but alive would always explain Peter to a fault... 

"You and I, child," Loki whispered as he leaned in slightly, "are going to have a very long and serious talk when you are feeling better."

Unbeknownst to him, Peter's sleeping form shuddered in dread for the morning.

A/N: Do you realize how difficult it is to write while on vacation? First party of my vacation season is over and I'm back home now, but I've been slowly working on this chapter for so long.... I should be leaving again by the end of the month to travel across the country, where it will be even more difficult to write... But I plan to get as much writing in before I leave, so wish me luck! Hopefully I still keep all of you lovely readers while I'm away though! 

Please leave a comment and vote if you enjoyed the chapter! The more there are, the more motivated I am to write!