Request by bubbles_pandalife and ElainaDoliboa on Wattpad. I saw an opportunity and I took it... I combined two requests. I really hope you both don't mind, I think they fit together pretty well..... 

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END!! PEOPLE IN 2020 PLEASE READ!

Loki, though he would never admit it, had quite a bit of anxiety since coming to Earth. After joining the Avengers, he felt like it was hard to breath at times, or that there was a knot in his chest that wouldn't let go of him. 

All because of Peter. 

Loki hated it.

It didn't help at all that he recently had a nightmare of Peter dying. He, Prince Loki of Asgard, had a nightmare of a child dying... He realized he had sunken to such a low point, but the thought of Peter no longer being there... No longer being able to go on missions or spend idle time together or pull those pranks on the rest of the Avengers... It shook something deep within him. Loki could no longer imagine his life without the boy anymore.

And he hated it.

He was a god - a royal one at that! He was part of one of the most powerful races known to the universe! He had come to Earth to conquer it in the past, he had killed so many people to achieve his goals in life! And yet now he stood on the sidelines, watching a human boy fight an enhanced and sincerely worry about the boy's welfare with knots in his stomach.

He hated watching Peter swing headfirst into the middle of the fight; hated not being able to stop him from getting backhanded so hard Loki feared the boy's neck would snap; hated watching his body fly back through the air it had just come from, hitting the rubble from damaged buildings until he finally flopped to the ground. Loki absolutely hated - no. He loathed it. 

"Peter!" Quickly getting off the sidelines where the boy had dared him to stay, Loki sent a knife flying at the enhanced and pinned them to a nearby wall before rushing to Peter's side.

The boy groaned slightly as he slowly started moving against the ground, tentatively placing a hand on his head. "That... That didn't go as planned."

Loki took in a breath as he examined the youth, eyeing the ripped fabric of the mask that showed a large mark already starting to bruise Peter's cheek. "I should hope not..."

"Next time will be better though, now that I know what they can do...!"

A frozen heart jumped inside his chest, words from a nightmare forcing a buried memory to the surface. Images of a lifeless Peter filled his mind, both injuries and exhaustion taking the last breath away from him. That dream was completely possible, Loki realized with a start. "No."

Peter blinked, looking up at the man with narrowed lenses. "No?"

"You won't be facing them again. It's too dangerous; I never should have let you talk me into sitting this one out." Loki shook his head as he stood up, sending a heated glare to the enhanced that was trying to free their jacket from Loki's knife. "I will handle this, you sit here."

"Loki, you can't be serious...!"

"I am." The man didn't even spare Peter a look as he turned his back and started walking toward the enhanced. "I won't allow you to be hurt on my watch; Stark would throw a fit."

Stark was always his excuse... He knew Peter didn't believe him anymore, no one did, but it gave him some sense of control back. Loki only had a mild care for Peter, he was only protecting him to avoid a lecture from Stark later. It wasn't true, but he would rather fake it than risk letting his emotions get the better of him.

Peter watched his friend walk away from him, seeming so much colder than any other time he could think of. Even when he first met Loki, the man had been at least a little more open than what he was now. He didn't understand though... Loki had seen him hurt many times before and they had both just laughed it off as they went to the med-bay; what was so different this time? What shook Loki enough to order him on the sidelines?

"I can help though-"

"No!" Loki wheeled around, his green eyes almost glowing with emotions strong enough to make Peter flinch back. "No, you are going to stay right there where you cannot be hurt. This enhanced is not one meant for you at this time."

A beat of silence passed over them as Peter's brows pushed together beneath his mask, his head tilting slightly. "At this time? What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you are older and more experienced to handle something like this. Not a child recklessly swinging into the middle of battle with no clue what this person can do."

Peter pushed himself up, his fists balled as he marched up to Loki. "No, not you too, Loki. Don't start treating me like a child too...! Please! This wasn't even that bad! You've seen me get hurt worse than this many times!"

"You are a child." Loki's eyes were narrowed, looking down his nose at Peter. "I was a fool for thinking that you could handle this on your own... I should never have made that mistake."

"I'm not a child! Not anymore!" Peter tugged his mask off, no longer caring about the enhanced or the way that Loki seemed taken aback by his hurt and angry expression. "Not after everything I've done, after the things I've faced! I've been to space; I've fought Thanos and his army; I've been fighting enhanced criminals long before I met you! One little slap shouldn't change anything!"

"Peter-"

The boy glanced over at the enhanced, his eyes narrowing as he looked back at Loki with a glare, "I really thought you were different from the others, that you wouldn't look down on me or treat me differently just because I'm the youngest. Sure, you're the mom friend, but you're my friend! I thought you were the only one that didn't care about my age and treated me as an equal! You valued my opinions in ways Mr. Stark never did!" Peter swallowed thickly, angrily blinking away his tear, "I guess I was wrong."

Before either could say anything else, Peter turned - pulling his mask back on - and swung away, ignoring Loki's calls for him to come back.  

Loki was supposed to be the one that didn't care about his age... Since the beginning, Loki had been different from the other Avengers like that, letting Peter handle enhanced with no qualms unless it was someone strong. Sure, Loki called him 'child' a lot, but it never felt like he meant it. It just felt like an endearment when Loki said it, like Mr. Stark and his arsenal of nicknames. 

Peter was almost eighteen, almost a legal adult! He would be headed to college soon, leaving the state for MIT... How long would the Avengers keep seeing him as a child? A helpless kid that couldn't hold his own? Someone that would need a babysitter - or a baby monitor protocol? How long would Peter be a baby?

Clenching his jaw, Peter swung between the buildings angrily, narrowly missing the hard surfaces of some high rises or vehicles. Perhaps he was reckless, but the thrill of the risk helped to keep the anger down somewhat. It had to. Because if he let the anger fester and take up any more of his mind, he would be flattened like a bug against a windshield. 

But what was Loki's problem? Why would he suddenly just order Peter out of the fight like he had? Loki had seen him get worse injuries before, had seen him get worse from training sessions with the other Avengers! All of that just because Peter got a little slap? It was crazy!

With a sigh, Peter swung around a bus and landed on top of a traffic light. His mind was running too fast for him to do much else today... The last thing he needed was to swing into a building and be forced to call for help; so if he left the patrol early, then that would be considered a mature decision and Loki would see he was an adult!

Or he would be seen as weak... 

"Hey, Karen?" Peter started, placing a hand to his masked ear, "Could you scan the area for any kind of disturbances? Anything at all: theft, robbery, enhanced?"

"Certainly, Peter," The AI's automated but kind voice responded, going quiet for a few seconds before coming back. "There is nothing coming up on any scanners. Would you like to broaden the search to outside of the current five mile radius?"

Peter thought for a second before nodding, "Yeah, search all of Queens."

A quiet hum was the only form of acknowledgment the boy received as she did as he requested, going silent for a full minute before responding. "There is a high speed chase happening between the police and a shooter down Twenty-Fifth Avenue, multiple victims, no deaths."

Nodding slightly, Peter took a deep breath before jumping from his perch. If he couldn't end patrol early, then he would take the most difficult situations and make them look easy. That would show Loki that he wasn't a child anymore.

Nearly a week after Peter and Loki's argument, the two of them had still not spoken to each other. The longer the silence ran between them, the more emotions Peter felt; he was upset that Loki's pride wouldn't allow the man to apologize, upset with himself for pushing the issue, worried that Loki would end up hating him if he didn't apologize, angry that he would even consider apologizing for something that wasn't his fault, lonely on patrols, fighting the urge to try even more reckless stunts just to spite Loki... He was a mess.

He hadn't spoken to Tony or any of the other Avengers either, let alone go to the Compound. Saying that he missed all of them would be an understatement... But he had to be strong! He really needed to prove that he was an adult, or they would forever look at him as a child. 

Grabbing a bag of chips as he passed through the kitchen and to his room, Peter was fully prepared to put all his useless emotions to use by studying. Harnessing the power of one's emotions to fuel his mind was a rare talent that he was very grateful to have; especially with finals soon upon him.

"Peter?" May called out, leaning back from the doorway of the living room so just her head was visible. "Did you get into a fight with Loki?"

Peter froze, his hand half way around his doorknob as he looked up at her and (hopefully) faked enough of a smile to avoid suspicion. "What makes you think that?"

"Tony called earlier saying that Loki has been alone and moody for the last few days, and I'm pretty sure you were going to spend the weekend over there."

The boy mentally cursed; he had planned on spending the weekend there to work in the lab with Mr. Stark and training with the others... A part of him felt bad for abandoning them while in the heat of his fight, but he couldn't cave in yet.

"Oh, that's right...!" He playfully smacked his palm against his forehead, "Um... Well, I just thought it would be better for me to... concentrate on homework... You know - finals and all... I guess I just forgot to let Mr. Stark know."

"Right..." May's eyes narrowed. "And Loki?"

"Thor probably took his knives away." He opened his door and quickly shuffled inside, "Listen, May, I really need to study...! I have so much I need to do...! I love you!" Closing his door tightly behind him, Peter let out a breath.

Peter's talent of harnessing the power of emotions to study only worked when the emotions weren't fresh... And now thanks to the mention of the fight and a 'moody Loki', the memory was right at the front of his mind and demanding attention.

He let out a loud sigh as he tossed his backpack onto his bed and pulled his suit out. A little extra patrolling for the day wouldn't hurt...

Making sure that there was no one outside first, Peter slipped out his window and crawled up the side of the building and to the roof. He barely gave any thought before jumping over the edge and swinging away, the feeling of it as natural as breathing to him.  Loki probably would have said something about it... but Peter wouldn't listen, even if the two of them weren't fighting at the moment.

"Peter, my scanners are picking up the activity of an enhanced a few blocks away," Karen announced. "Would you like me to show you a path to them?"

The lenses of Peter's mask widened for a split second before he nodded, "Yeah! That's great; I could really use the distraction."

A electronic trail appeared in Peter's vision, leading him straight to the cries and screams of... chaos. Noisy chaos was everywhere in the alley the enhanced was in. There were quite a few police officers, though there was more... other stuff. A swarm of bees circled one of the officers, occasionally diving at him like miniature kamikaze fighters; another officer laid on the ground, stiff as a board but his eyes open and moving around - completely coherent but unable to move; there was someone else trapped in a tank that was quickly filling with water, the officer desperately banging on the glass walls; there was even a cop running from a clown...

"Karen, what on earth is going on?" Peter asked, not waiting for her answer as he jumped down and aimed for the tank. He needed to save the man before he could even think about the enhanced...

"I'm not sure... Be careful, Peter."

The boy didn't reply as he braced his muscles for impact with the tank, his feet slamming into it with all the force he had from the jump. However, a grunt of pain and mostly disappointment left him as he didn't even crack the glass.  

"I need more momentum..." Glancing at the sky, Peter hurriedly looked for the tallest building. The water was already up to the man's chest, he couldn't let it get any higher...!

Picking his targeted building, he shot a web and carried himself up into the air. He didn't know if he should be worried about the fact he had yet to see the enhanced... He probably should... But it was more important to save the people first.

Reaching the top of the building, he hardly gave himself time to adjust before jumping as high into the air as he could, shooting another web at the building again and yanking himself back down in a deadly human slingshot. Maybe he should have thought it through...

His heart was in his throat as he neared the tank, turning in the air to make sure his feet were what touched the glass first. Unable to suppress his flinch, Peter's eyes closed a second before he hit; the glass shattering under his force, freeing the officer and cutting deep into Peter's feet. 

He cursed as he landed on the ground, the movement jarring the shards in his feet and no doubt sending a message report to Mr. Stark... The man would be there within the next few minutes as soon as he saw that Peter was hurt, putting a timer on Peter's rescue and battle. He wanted to finish this before help arrived, wanted to prove that he didn't need help to finish a mission on his own...! He was an adult! He would make the others acknowledge that fact!

"Spider-Man..." A voice called from the shadows, "I was wondering when you'd come busting in."

Grabbing the wall of the alley with one hand, Peter pulled himself up and clung to it, trying his best to keep the pressure off his feet. Hanging on the wall seemed to be the solution to his problem though, so he turned his attention to the voice.

Faintly, in the dark corner of the alley, there was a female figure hiding - watching him. She made no move to step forward and show herself, and Peter really couldn't see her that well even with his heightened senses, but there was something about her... he didn't know what it was... but he really didn't get a good feeling. Not only was his Spidey Sense screaming at him to leave, but ever fiber of his being wanted to be as far away from her as possible. Which really couldn't mean anything good for him.

"Did you do all this just to meet up with me?" Peter glanced around at the chaos still thriving, "I have to say... I admire the effort and dedication, but there are a lot easier ways to get in touch, ya know?"

"Don't be so full of yourself," Her voice took a cold and angry tone. "I just wanted to make sure I was ready for you, you always cause more trouble than you're worth when someone doesn't expect you."

"Ahh... I see now. What is this, revenge for a family member? Did I get your dad - no, your brother... locked away?"

Peter's head tilted, a smirk starting to play on his face under the mask, when his heart froze in his chest. An unimaginable sense of cold washed down his spine, a chill so hard it made his body shake. But it wasn't something caused by the temperature... It was fear. A fear so strong that it made his hand disconnect from the wall, so strong that it blocked out the pain of his bleeding feet touching the ground. 

He was petrified. He was so horrified and useless that he couldn't move consciously, a voice whispering to him that he would never be good enough... That he would have to be rescued again because that's all he was good for, getting into trouble and needing an adult to help him. He would always be a child.

His lungs started to shutter, causing Peter to struggle to take a breath. The pain in his feet left him, being replaced by a burning all over his body; a fire that was consuming him completely and without mercy. He could faintly hear Karen calling him, but her voice was almost muffled and far away.

A cloth started to wrap around him, more and more pooling on him each second that passed until soon he could barely stand in it. It wrapped around his feet, tangling his legs and forcing him to the ground with a hard thud and yelp of pain. Through his heavy breathing and whatever fabric was around him, he could hear the snickering of the enhanced as she moved closer to him.

"So this is your fear?" She asked, her voice suddenly a lot closer, "Being a child? You are a super hero, but you're scared of being a child? Pathetic... I expected more from you."

"Shut up...!" Peter yelled as he struggled to untangle himself from his confines, too busy to notice or worry about how his voice changed, "I don't know what you did to me, but you're gonna be in so much trouble when I get out of this!"

Her snickers grew louder and soon turned to laughter the longer it took Peter to find his freedom, a dark and embarrassed blush heating his face. He was supposed to be a super hero! So why was he having so much trouble just getting out of a cloth? Was it a sentient cloth like Dr. Strange's cloak? That had to be it, there was no other reason he would-

Fresh air assaulted him without warning, the rest of the cloth soon falling away as well. Peter grinned in triumph before realizing that he was staring at the enhanced, who had freed him. He then realized that they were a lot taller than before...

He jumped back and away, trying to put distance so that he could get his bearings again; but to his surprise - and pain - he landed flat on his back a few inches from where he started,  still partly tangled in what appeared to be an oversized spider-suit.

Slowly, his mind pieced it all together... How big the enhanced suddenly got, the large suit, his voice change, what she said about his fear... Fearfully, he looked down at himself, seeing young hands and a smooth stomach - no calluses from swinging, or abs or muscles of any kind.

"No... No, no, no...! What have you done to me? Why am I a kid?" He glared at her, but her smirk didn't even falter.

"You see, child, I am able to bring out a person's biggest fear, I can make your worst nightmares come true." Peter flinched at the title, and she definitely noticed. "Who would have thought that New York's biggest nuisance would have feared something so trivial though... I expected more from you, something... more threatening."

Peter did his best to stay calm and think of a solution out of this... Though it all seemed hopeless. When he had attempted a jump earlier, he noticed that his enhanced abilities were gone; he truly was a helpless child now.

Child or not though, his web-shooters would still work... He eyed his suit, still tangled around his lower half and too close to her for comfort. She was - much to Peter's displeasure - very perceptive and noticed his gaze, kicking a sleeve towards him. 

"Think you can do something with this? Go ahead, I won't stop you. I'd really like to see what a powerless baby can do."

Peter's eyes narrowed as he grabbed the sleeve and shoved his hand inside. It was so much larger than what he was used to, his fingers not even reaching the end of his gloves... There was a chance that this wouldn't work, a chance that he truly was helpless even with the suit, but he pushed those thoughts away. He couldn't afford to think like that. The enhanced seemed to follow that mindset, but he couldn't. This was his one chance, he couldn't throw it away.

Pulling the sleeve as far as he could on his hand, he felt for the web triggers and aimed. Her smirk stayed the same and that was just what Peter wanted to wipe off first. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Peter pressed down on the trigger.

A quiet grunt met his ears, causing the child to immediately open his eyes and see that his webs hit their mark - right in the center of the woman's face. A large grin spread across Peter's as he started to fire off more webs to her, pinning her arms to her side and blocking out her vision; it wasn't long before she was completely covered in webs and couldn't move. 

With a triumphant nod, Peter gathered as much of his suit as he could and stumbled towards the police officer getting chased by a clown. His legs were way too small for his liking... How did kids manage to walk with legs this small - let alone run? It didn't help at all that Peter's spider ability to stick to things was gone now, making him realize how much he relied on it to not trip. 

By some miracle though, he was able to stop the clown and bees with very little maneuvering. Peter had no idea what he would do if those Fears had decided to chase him as well... But once the Fears were immobilized, they disappeared into a puff of smoke and the police officers that were plagued by them promptly passed out.

Surveying the scene and seeing not much else for him to do, Peter turned to leave down the dark alley the enhanced came from. It wouldn't be long before some of the Avengers would be arriving, some kind of protocol had to have gone off by now... And Peter really didn't want to stick around to hear their laughter at his situation. He was an emotional child the first time, Peter really didn't want to find out if that were true for a second time around.

Holding the suit around himself as best he could, Peter hobbled off to the darkness. He wasn't sure exactly what he would be able to do to get back to normal, but he'd think of something-

"Peter?"

The boy's eyes widened as he froze, swallowing deeply. Of all the heroes that had to come check on his fight, it had to be him. Why couldn't Mr. Stark be overprotective just this once?

Clearing his throat and doing his best to deepen it to a normal level, Peter called back from the shadows of the alley. "Yeah, what is it?"

It was silent for a moment before Loki let out a small and guarded chuckle, "You're still angry?"

There it was... That condescending voice he used during the argument. The voice that Peter hated more than anything. "No more than you."

"I'm not angry."

"Then neither am I," Peter turned, seeing the perfect opportunity to leave dramatically - but Loki's voice stopped him again.

"If you weren't angry, then you wouldn't be hiding in the shadows. If you're so eager to prove yourself an adult, come out."

Peter took a deep breath, his eyes closing as he tried to stay calm. Loki was pushing him... bringing him closer to the brink of another fight. If their first fight riled him up so badly, Peter feared what would happen after a second one. "I am proving my adulting by not lowering myself to petty taunts. I got the enhanced for you, I have other places to be, so why don't we just do what we do best and mind our own business?"

Not to mention that Peter would never hear the end of it if Loki found out he was currently a child. Nor would any of the other Avengers... His best bet was to get to Dr. Banner, the man was probably going to be the most level headed one in this kind of situation.

"Peter, please."

Surprisingly, that was all it took for Peter to regret every decision that brought him to this moment. Loki's voice wasn't dramatic, it wasn't loud or begging or condescending... It was normal, maybe sounding exasperated to any one else. But Peter knew Loki better than that; Peter could hear the underlying desperation in his voice that was fighting through so many layers of pride and demanding to be heard. He heard the desperation and hurt and loneliness in Loki's voice, knowing that's just what it was because Peter felt it too.

The two of them had spent so much time together that it was unnatural for them to be apart now... 

Peter heaved a sigh as he shuffled back towards the end of the alley, "Okay, but you have to promise not to laugh."

He could see Loki blink in confusion before nodding, "Alright..."

Hesitating for just a moment, Peter stepped out of the shadows, allowing the man to see him. They both stood there in silence for a minute or so, Loki's face unreadable. As the silence grew between them, Peter found himself awkwardly shuffling his weight from one leg to the other. He had expected the man to laugh, to make some witty remark, a smile at least...! Not... whatever this was.

It was a few minutes before Loki actually responded, his eyes blinking him out of whatever thought he had been in, "You're a... child."

The boy nodded slightly, looking at his feet. "Her power was to make people's fears come true... You know how much I hate being looked down on because of my age, and after... last week... It got a lot worse. I still managed to take her down though, as well as stop two of the Fears that were running around! I was powerless and a child and I still stopped them! So you and the others can't say I'm useless anymore!"

What was remaining of Loki's shock melted away at Peter's final words, his eyes narrowing and eyebrows pushing together. "Peter... I never called you useless, nor have any of the other Avengers. We would never call you that."

"Well that's what it feels like you mean when you order me out of a fight because I'm a child...!"

Loki let out a sigh, glancing away from the small child and shaking his head slightly. "That's not why I did that."

"Then why?" Peter almost threw his hands in the air, but he really needed them both to hold his suit up. "Why didn't you want me to fight after I got hit?"

The man's eyes narrowed more, glaring at a rock on the ground. To a stranger, it would seem as if Loki was refusing to talk; but Peter knew better, he knew that Loki was battling with something inside his head. Whether it be how to tell him, or if he should tell him, Peter didn't know that much. But he knew that he had to wait for the outcome.

When Loki drew in a deep breath a minute later, Peter knew he would have his answer.

"I grew up on a planet of warriors, most of them didn't like me so I didn't really care if they were hurt... But they were trained to kill since birth, the wounds they received would normally kill a human. I have not been genuinely concerned for another's well being for a long time, Peter..." Loki let out another sigh, "But then I met you, and your cheery attitude is surprisingly nice company. We are together almost every day, you've shown me so much about this world, this city... You have become so involved in my life that I can no longer imagine myself without your constant chatter; and I don't know how I feel about that.

"The thought of you injured freezes my chest and halts my breath, the thought of you dying nearly renders me unconscious. There are nights when I am plagued by nightmares of your death, pushing yourself into exhaustion or refusing help to fight a villain much too powerful... I have never been so attached to a person before to actually blanch in fear their death. Seeing you get hit by the last enhance just reminded me too much of a dream I had of your death, I couldn't process anything properly. 

Loki looked at him, his green eyes holding an emotion that caused Peter to nearly step back. "Your fear is being a child, my fear is your death."

Silence fell over them once again, both of them absorbing what had just been said. Peter honestly felt bad now, because of course Loki wouldn't suddenly start treating him like a child with no reason. Peter knew the man better than that. There was a reason to everything Loki did, and Peter was too blinded by anger to see that... 

Loki's expression nearly had Peter's child-like emotions spill out, causing the boy to awkwardly run over to him, tripping occasionally on the spider-suit, and hug his leg. He hated the fact that his head only came up to the man's knee... But he would ignore it in the name of comfort for now.

Loki stiffened slightly, gazing down at the small Peter with caution and confusion before reaching down to lift the boy up into his arms and allow him a proper hug. Peter's arms wrapped tightly around Loki's neck, his face burying into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry..." Peter muttered, "I didn't know... I should have, but I didn't. I'll try not to make you worry like that again. I'll do my best to be safer."

Loki patted his back gently, slowly relaxing to the child's touch, "How could you have known? Are you secretly a mind reader now?"

Peter let out a small chuckle and shook his head, "No, but I do know you."

It took the man a moment to process that Peter did, in fact, know him just as well as Thor after their time together. He felt himself grow impossibly more attached to the boy...

"Now," Peter grinned, sitting up a bit, "let's go find a way to turn me back!"

A smirk slowly pulled at Loki's lips, raising an eyebrow at him. "Must we? I kind of like you this size, child."

"Hey...!"

A/N: Some of you may have noticed the latest announcements in the summaries and titles for the last few weeks, but requests are now CLOSED! As my university start date gets closer, I'm worried I won't get to everyone in time. So until further notice (meaning when I actually say so/the announcements are taken down) I won't be taking anymore requests. 

Classes start on the 12th this month, and if it's anything like last year, I'll only have Monday and part of Tuesday free. And as a cosplayer/crafter/small business owner/anime convention goer, my time is going to be divided up really thin... I don't have any promises about when posting will be happening again, but just know that I'm always thinking about this story! My birthday is the 30th this month, so I'm really going to TRY to get something out for that!

Until then, I'm wishing you all the best for the new year!