Request by Hoideheymwtoday ! Loki's interaction isn't really there until the end... and it's really not that much... Sorry! >.< I tried my best, and rewrote it a few times, but I still feel like it's failing somehow. I still hope you like it though!

It was safe to say that Peter had an adequate amount of medical knowledge. When his aunt and was a nurse and one of his role models was a medical scientist, it kinda became natural for him to learn a few things. Not to mention how many times he had needed immediate Med-Bay attention (but he wouldn't get into that thought).

The point was, Peter could instantly tell the moment he got sick. He felt the moment his body started to ache and how sluggish his movements were. His stomach was in knots as well, and it took every bit of self control and strength he had to not throw up whenever he smelled food (or anything really, his stomach apparently didn't like any smell at the moment).

All medical knowledge that Peter had told him it would be best to take it easy for the day, let his body rest as much as it could and go to bed early.

Would Peter listen to all his medical knowledge?

Nope.

It wasn't entirely his fault though! He had no control over the three pop quizzes, P.E., or Flash that he faced. Those combined were enough to tire him out on a normal day, so Peter decided to go home and get painkillers and maybe a nap in before he started patrolling... Of course though, crime waits for no one and Peter had to rush into his suit when he came across some gangsters cornering a young girl.

Since he was already in his suit after that, why not just stay out and start his normal paroling routine? He had superhuman healing after all, he'd be better soon anyway!

.

.

.

Four days had passed and he didn't get better. Only worse... And yet somehow he was still managing to do his homework and patrolling without too much hassle. He wasn't getting as much sleep as he probably should though, but that wasn't important.

The only reason his growing sickness wasn't found out yet was probably because May had been pulling double shifts for the last few nights now and wasn't around much to actually see the dark eye-bags Peter was sporting on his too-pale skin. Or the fact that he was starting to lose weight from all the food he was not eating... That probably wasn't good.

Today however, might be different.

It was Friday, meaning that he would be hanging out with the Avengers until Monday. He was probably going to get in a lot of trouble once they found out about his little sickness... and he wouldn't blame them. Mr. Stark would probably ground him and take away his patrolling for a while, Mr. Rogers would definitely lecture him, and Loki... it was only a few weeks ago that Loki was sick and he had insisted on bed rest for the man. He could only imagine what Loki would say now that the tables had turned...

Unless... he found a way to hide that he was sick. It wouldn't be easy, and it definitely wasn't smart, but if he could just stay out of the spotlight until he got better, then there would really just be a slap on the wrist and someone telling him not to do it again! 

Forming a plan in his head, Peter swung through the streets of New York to go home and prepare. He had a few hours before Happy came to pick him up, meaning that he had to work fast. It was kind of like when you had a major test in school and you were just studying the subject the night before... But whenever Peter did that, he normally passed. So he thought that this was a good sign.

Once he was home, he took the bottle of orange juice out of the fridge and started gulping it down, walking with it to the bathroom (he almost water boarded himself, who knew walking and drinking was so difficult?). He lowered the juice and placed it on the counter as he started digging through the medicine cabinet, finding the strongest bottle there was and taking two pills. He thought about taking a cough syrup as well, but he really didn't want to do that... So instead he went and raided May's vitamin cabinet. 

Once he was sure he had enough healthy stuff in him to make even the most devoted 'Nutritionally Correct' person cringe, he went to start on his homework as he waited for Happy. Which wasn't long as the man arrived early.

"Hey, Happy, thanks for picking me up," Peter said with a smile, doing his best to swallow down a cough.

Happy grumbled something out as he raised an eyebrow at Peter in the rear view mirror as he pulled out onto the street. "Are you okay? You look awful."

"I do?" Peter frowned as he looked at himself in the window reflection; he had thought he looked pretty okay... Maybe it was the fact that he had the mother of all migraines destroying the inside of his head? He had no idea if he was hiding that well or not... Shouldn't the medicine have kicked in by now?

"Like you haven't slept in a few years. I know you admire Tony, kid, but copying his sleep schedule isn't a good idea."

Peter chuckled (hopefully not in a nervous way) as he glanced at Happy. He had to be careful now, if Happy caught on that he was sick... It wouldn't be a pretty picture when he told the Avengers.

They made small talk for the rest of the ride, some awkward conversations about May, and a lot of silence.

Peter almost sighed in relief when they got to the Compound; he loved Happy, but the man always noticed the smallest details that Peter didn't want him to... 

Looking up at the large building, Peter smiled. He felt like he was home... With his designated mom-friend waiting for him.

Loki stood in front of one of the window walls on the top floor, the silhouettes of the others moving behind him. Even from that distance, Peter saw the welcoming smirk Loki gave him, his head jerking slightly in invitation.

Peter didn't wait, he ran inside and into the 'family room' (as it had started to be called) where everyone was. The sight before him made it clear about why they had started calling it such a name... Thor, Steve, Scott, and Clint were playing Just Dance; Sam and Tony placing bets on who would win; Nat, Bruce, and Bucky were watching them from the sofa with amused soft smiles; and Hope and Pepper laughing at their friends from their seats. Loki and Wanda were the only two that weren't participating with the activities... Wanda was reading a book in the corner of the room, and Loki was still standing by the windows - though he moved more towards the group.

Peter felt bad... Wanda was still mourning the loss of Vision. It was a wonder that she was even here, since she normally went off on her own unless absolutely needed. Peter should spend more time with her and find a way to cheer her up. It was the least he could do now that they were both the two youngest on the team.

"Pete!" Tony grinned, waving him over, "It took you long enough to get here, I have fifty on you to beat Scott's high score. If you let me down, you're out of the will."

Peter blinked as he looked at his mentor, "I'm in the will?"

Tony couldn't answer him because Clint let out an exclamation at his loss. Scott was the undefeated champion it would seem...

"Think you can beat me, Spidey?" Scott chuckled as he tossed the Wii remote in the air, flipping it and attempting to catch it again - but he dropped it and awkwardly jerked down to swipe it up.

"I'll try!" Peter laughed (despite his head pounding in time with the loud music) as he took the remote that Clint begrudgingly gave up.

Eight rematches later, Peter was at the top of the chart and (unknowingly) nearly one-hundred dollars richer.

A few of the team members surrounded Peter, patting his shoulders or back. Loki hung around the edge of the group, closely watching the boy. There was something... off about him. During his dancing battles, he seemed to be in pain. Not to mention how thin he was, or his pale skin and dark under-eye bags. Still, if Peter was sick, it was impressive how well he was able to dance. Not that that was any reason Loki would let him off the hook...

While everyone was celebrating his victory, Peter suddenly had the sinking feeling that drinking an entire bottle of orange juice earlier was a bad idea... His stomach was twisting in knots with bile rising in his throat; when he felt the color draining from his face and a cold chill come over him, he knew what was about to happen.

He took a step back from the others, placing one hand over his mouth and the other on his stomach, praying that he wouldn't throw up on the floor of the Compound in front of the Avengers. He knew that was exactly what would happen though if he didn't do something soon...

"Peter?" Loki questioned, noticing the boy's sudden strange behavior and placing everyone's full attention on him. The trickster was shocked by the look of desperation in Peter's eyes, stunning him only for a second before he jumped into action.

Grabbing the small garbage can by the edge of the sofa, Loki held it under Peter just as the boy lost his battle with his stomach.

The team all took an instinctive step away as Peter dropped to his knees, clutching the can close to him as he threw up. Loki knelt down, gently rubbing Peter's back as pained tears slipped from his eyes. When he started to dry heave and gasp for air, Bruce pushed his way to the duo and felt his forehead.

"He's burning up..." He shook his head in disapproval, "We need to get him in bed, he's really sick - probably has been for a while."

Loki's frown deepened as he continued to rub Peter's back, gently picking him up as soon as his body calmed down enough for it.

"I-I can walk-"

"Do not try to fight back, child," Loki murmured as he adjusted his grip on the boy. "It's a battle you will lose."

Peter kept silent, knowing full well what that tone of voice meant when coming from Loki. He was definitely in a lot of trouble. And to make matters worse, he caught a glimpse of Tony before leaving the room... he'd be lucky if he ever got his suit back after this.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Loki asked as he got to Peter's room, laying him in the bed.

"I didn't mean to hide it...!" Peter argued, ending in a hard cough at the strain it cause on his throat. "I thought it would get better on its own... but it never did and I was too deep in to admit it."

Loki rolled his eyes as he took up residence in Peter's desk chair. "You should care for yourself more. Besides, what was it you told me? 'Going out will only make you suffer and spreading germs isn't cool'?"

"That was... different."

"Only because it's you, you stubborn fool."

Their conversation was cut short when Tony and Bruce came in the room, neither one of them looking happy as they brought in medicines and other things to set down on the desk next to the bed.

"I'm going to ask you this once," Tony started, "how long have you been sick? And you better not lie to me because so help me I will-"

"Nearly five days now." Peter quickly answered, looking down at his bed. "I took medicine for it this morning though, and drank a lot of juice and vitamins."

Bruce shook his head slightly, "Your metabolism is a lot faster than a normal person's, so you probably already worked that medicine through your system. I created a pain reducer for enhanced a few years ago, that's what this is," He raised a small bottle and shook it, the pills rattling inside of it. "Take one every five hours, no skipping or overdosing."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Loki announced, drawing everyone's eyes to him. Tony looked like he wanted to argue at first, but held his tongue and nodded.

"Okay, but if he gets worse, tell me immediately." He smirked a bit as he patted Bruce's shoulder, "Or I'll send the Hulk after you."

Peter fought down his laugh as Loki's body tensed, the man only responding with a nod.

After making sure Peter took his first pill correctly, the two geniuses left the room. It was quiet for a while before Loki's body disappeared from his seat just as the door opened and Loki walked in with a bowl of water and a small towel.

"You are still pretty warm, bringing your temperature down will help you feel better," He said as he set the bowl on the small table and squeezed the towel out. Peter hid a chuckle as he leaned back in the bed to let the towel sit on his forehead.

"Thanks, Loki," Peter smiled, relaxing a bit. Loki was right; the coolness seeped into his skin and eased his headache, which also gave a little comfort to his achy body. He couldn't help but close his eyes at the feeling, the pain slowly leaving him even more.

The room was filled with silence once again. Peter heard Loki turning pages of something; he could only assume it was a book...  He had tried to go to sleep so that Loki could read in peace, and he was very tired now that he thought about it, but he just couldn't push himself that extra bit into the land of sleep. He tried to count, hoping that the boring activity would lull him, but after he got to one-hundred he wanted to see how high he could count and realized that it was only waking him up. Then he listened to Loki's even breathing, which worked for a while until he got bored.

Normally when Peter couldn't sleep, he'd work on his homework... But he doubted that Loki would let him do that now. He slowly opened his eyes to see the man still sitting in the chair reading, his mind debating if he should interrupt him or not. 

"Is there something you need, child?" Loki asked, not even looking away from the book. His sudden voice breaking the silence stunned Peter for a second before he looked away to the corner of the room with a sheepish and tired smile.

"I can't sleep..."

Loki nodded as he closed his book, looking at Peter. "What do you normally do to help you sleep?"

"My school work-"

"Out of the question," The man's eyes narrowed as he shook his head, the book disappearing as he crossed his arms.

"You see my problem."

The two looked at each other for a little while before Loki sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Would you like a story?"

Peter's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, "Like a bedtime story?"

A chuckle escaped Loki as he shook his head, "No, I will never be caught reading a bedtime story. But you seemed to enjoy the tale of Thor and I as children..."

For a moment, Peter's eyes brightened as he nodded excitedly - then he was rudely reminded that he was sick and such a fast movement really hurt his head. He groaned softly as he leaned back in bed again, trying not to pout when Loki chuckled again.

"Do not hurt yourself just because of a story," The man murmured as he straightened in his chair. "Now is the hard part: what story to tell..."

"What's the most beautiful place you've ever seen?" Peter asked, opening one eye to look at the trickster god. Loki seemed taken aback for a second, raising an eyebrow before smiling and nodding.

"The most beautiful...? There are quite a few, but the most memorable would be the first time I had left Asgard with my mother."

The boy felt as if his heart started to beat faster, Loki never liked to talk about his mother... Peter never pushed to know either. He assumed that it was too painful for Loki to think about, or that he just really didn't want to talk about it with someone who wouldn't understand...

"Mother owned a small castle in Alfheim, sometimes called 'The Land of the Light Elves'. She loved to visit it when she wanted a quiet place to relax or practice her magic. I was around the human age of six when mother invited me to go with her for the first time. I wasn't... the best when it came to physical strength as a child, and so mother decided to teach me about her magic.

"I remember the first time I landed in the field..." Loki smiled faintly, "The grass was the brightest green I had ever seen, with little pink flowers sprouting here and there. The trees were taller than the Compound, but in nearly every color of green; all kinds of animals lived in them as well, even some people that preferred the more... humble lifestyle. I would go to read many times under the trees, sometimes being visited by animals similar to deer that would graze the grass around me. Sometimes we could even see the fawns playing around the castle, making it that much more beautiful...

"Mother's castle was made of gold, hidden deep in the woods with a large lake in front filled with the clearest water you could imagine. She never told anyone when we would arrive there, but the servants were always waiting for her, as if they could feel it when she stepped foot on their planet."

Loki trailed off for a second, his eyes far away as he recalled that time from so long ago. It seemed like a dream, now that he thought of it. Was there really such a time in his life that he was so inexplicably happy and peaceful?

"Mother..." He continued, "she loved walking along the lake, that's where she taught me how to skip rocks, swim, and even where she taught me magic a few time. And in the evenings, the water was a perfect reflection of pink sunset skies that you could hardly tell which way was up or down."

As Loki continued to retell his time on Alfheim, Peter closed his eyes and tried to imagine it. And he did. Peter could see the land of the light elves. He could feel the wind as he ran through a meadow, smell the flowers as he rolled through a field, see all the vibrant colors and beautiful people... He could experience it all with a younger Loki right there with him. Peter himself even felt younger in his mind as he ran and played with Loki in the almost fairy tale-like world...

As Peter drifted more into his dream and farther away from Loki's voice, the man smiled a bit. Loki watched as the green light seeped out of his hand and surrounded Peter's head, reflecting his memories of Alfheim onto Peter - with a few alterations and illusions mixed in. If it helped him get to sleep faster and deeper, then what was the harm in altering their ages in his dream so they could explore together.

When the magic connection was strong enough that Loki needn't concentrate so hard on it, he lowered his hand to Peter's head to check his temperature. It had gone down some, which was good. Maybe by the end of the week he would be back to full health. 

If only it were sooner... He would never admit it out loud in front of anyone else, but Loki hated to see Peter so sick and miserable. He remembered what his sickness felt like and that it was much worse for the little human spider-kid.

 But under the care of all the Avengers, Loki had faith that the boy would get better soon. 

And once Peter was better, Loki was going to give him an earful for pushing himself so much while sick. Loki didn't push himself; he simply didn't stay in bed. Peter was crime fighting and schooling and God knows what else while being sick and only getting worse... The child was related to a healer and spent regular time with Banner, he should know better than that. Not to mention how insistent he was when Loki was sick.

The man watched Peter sleep, a small smirk on his lips as he whispered, "Just you wait, I'll make sure you never do something like this again, young one..."