A/N: Wow... This is my 20th chapter...! I can hardly believe it! It might not seem like much but I don't think in all my 10+ years of writing I have ever kept at a story for this long. It was always a miracle if I wrote 10 chapters!

This story literally started as a joke... I had never even considered a Peter and Loki pairing in any form until a friend sent me a tumblr post about the two first meeting. I thought it would be funny to add to it! I had absolutely no intention of continuing it! I mean... What could I even have written for this pair? But by popular demand, I posted a second chapter and people seemed to love that too! So I kept writing and posting and I did requests and I got so many positive reviews...!! So many people commenting and saying that my update made their day (those are my favorite types of reviews)! I know what it feels like to drop everything and read the new chapter to my favorite fanfic when I see it updated, but I never imagined that people would do that for me! I've gotten votes within MINUTES of posting! That's crazy!! I can't wrap my head around it!

I know you're all eager to get on with the story, so I just want to say thank you to everyone that reads this story. And a huge thank you to everyone that comments!! All the positive feedback is probably the only reason that this story has made it this fair.

I love you all 3000 <3

Peter could honestly say he was not a fan of ninja enhanced super humans. He really wasn't... Especially when they could do dumb things like turn into toxic gas, blood bend his body, and a whole lot of other stuff that he wasn't fond of...

It had started out as such a good day too! His teachers didn't give him any homework except for a really easy reading assignment that he had already finished during his lunch, Flash had only been a minor annoyance, MJ praised him during their Decathlon practice (she told him he didn't suck, which was basically the same thing), and a little girl had called Spider-Man her favorite Avenger! It was a great day!

But then this group had to show up and ruin it all...

"Okay, wait," Peter held up a hand, adjusting his mask with the other, "I have to ask... Did you really get the idea for blood bending from Avatar? Or is that just what you've always done- Ah!"

His eyes closed in pain as the man moved his hand, Peter's body slamming against the concrete ground.

"You talk too much."

"What can I... say? I like a good conversation."

A jerk of the wrist and Peter slapped himself. A smirk and low chuckle left him as he lifted his head again, "Hey, if I punch myself and it hurts, does that mean I'm weak or strong?"

The sound of his jaw snapping shut as his fist collided with his face was slightly sickening, but he had to admit he was asking for it...

"Why don't you tell me?"

"Well-"

"Enough!" A woman's voice cut through, marching into the room with a trail of men behind her. "Why are you playing games? Capture or kill, those were our orders. You've captured, so why are you still here? Why has he not been sedated yet?"

Peter felt like he was in the middle of an action movie or something... Of course the leader of the ninjas was a killer Asian lady in a black body suit that could rival Nat's. She even had that super-villain perfect hair and flawless makeup that seemed almost unnatural... Overall, she was a villainous queen that could one-hundred percent kill him with a single look.

"You've got a little problem with that, ma'am," Peter lifted his head, smiling behind his mask. "Your ninja guys here stuck that needle in my neck earlier, it lasted a few minutes. It was just long enough for me to be moved from that room-" his head nodded over to a room through an open doorway, "-into here. It would take an awful lot of that stuff to keep me out for however long you need to get me to your boss. So why not save us all the time and effort and just turn yourselves in?"

They all stared at him for a while, the woman's eyes narrowing as she took a step forward. "You are very-"

"Brilliant? Dashing? Funny?"

"Annoying."

"Yeah, I get that a lot... But at least I keep things- Hey!" Peter's eyes were wide as he looked up at the woman, her hand pulling his mask off. The bright sunlight in the room assaulted his eyes, causing him to squint and look away. There was a cold draft that sent chills down his spine - or was that his spidey-sense going off? Either way, he didn't like it.

A cold hand grabbed his face and turned him to face upwards, forcing him to look at the woman. "You are a child... That is good; you are more trainable this way."

"Trainable? What am I, a dog?"

"You will be."

Peter raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant by that. And he was fully ready to ask a thousand questions to find out when she swiftly turned away from him.

"But you see, Spider-san, you missed the part where I said they could kill you. My boss does not care either way; he just wants your body. Having you alive was only a luxury. So if you do not cooperate with us, we will have no problem with killing you."

That definitely made Peter's hair stand up and a bad feeling swell in the pit of his stomach. "Now listen-"

His body flew against the wall, his arms spread out to the sides and head pressed firmly back. Overall a very uncomfortable experience...

"Tell me, Spider-san, do you know what happens to the body when all the blood stops flowing for an extended period of time? The blood is what transports oxygen to the cells, but with no blood flow there's no oxygen. Once the oxygen tension in blood is low, muscles start to release certain factors to dilate the vessels. After some time, when the cells cannot cope up without oxygen and nutrients, cells start to die. During cell death, potassium is released. Later the whole limbs starts to die, it is called gangrene. Ischemia as such can cause pain, by release of local factors from muscles which stimulate nerves. Later when nerve is also affected there would be patesthesia and paralysis.

"But say the flow of blood returns just before all the... bad stuff happens? There should be sudden inflow of blood with oxygen in an oxygen deprived area. This would produce reperfusion injury, which is more damaging than ischemia itself. Because of vessel wall injury there would be more leakage of plasma into interstitium. Free radicals produced would damage more tissues. There is also enhanced inflammation. Not to mention the toxic products produced due to cell death is released suddenly into the blood stream. One would be the local factors produced from cell injury which can cause global hypotension. Other would be potassium, which can cause cardiac arrhythmia," She paused slightly and looked at Peter, a dark smirk playing on her lips, "and sudden death."

Peter blinked a few times, an eyebrow raised as his eyes darted around the room before landing on her again. "...Yeah, no. I have absolutely no idea what you just said. I'm a physics nerd, I don't really do... medical... stuff."

She sighed loudly, her shoulders dropping slightly. "You will die very painfully. Like thousands of needles stabbing you from the inside out as your heart attempts to explode from your chest."

Cringing slightly, Peter made a face and shook his head. "Can we not do that? Don't tell anyone but I thought it would be cool to try sleeping on the ceiling once - turned out to be a horrible idea. My leg came unstuck and dangled with no movement for an hour or so, when I woke up the pain was so bad I couldn't walk. I had to tell Mr. Loki that I had sprained it in the gym so he wouldn't be suspicious!"

He laughed for a second, expecting some of them to at least crack a smile. But all of the crazy ninjas didn't have a sense of humor it would seem. Someone should invent a 'humor no jutsu' for them or something...

"Kill him." The woman commanded, her blank stare turning bored as she turned her back to him.

"I don't think so," Twitching his finger slightly, Peter managed to press the trigger for his web shooter, a ball of the white stuff flying into the air and catching everyone's attention. Just the distraction he needed for the blood bender to release him.

Quickly taking action, Peter shot the bender full of webs to make sure he couldn't stop Peter again. Once the man was in a nice little cocoon he moved onto the others. By now they had all realized what was happening and starting to use their powers against him, or bullets for a few cases... But Peter wouldn't judge them, not everyone had attack powers.

Dodging bullets and powers alike, Peter climbed up the wall and shot webs at the hands of all his attackers. When he wasn't being controlled, it was actually pretty easy to take these guys down. Even the boss lady was webbed up without that much of a fight.

Until the toxic gas man decided to shift into his gas form... It was actually really gross to have a giant green cloud with a face attacking him.

And his webs didn't really have an effect on a gas substance, so he had no choice but to run-

"Enough!"

Peter's eyes widened as his body slammed against the floor, a pressure all over his body and keeping him from moving.

Heels clicked against the floor and Peter almost cursed. Of course she wouldn't go down that easily...

"You," Her long nails scrapped his head as she grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head up, "Are much more trouble than you are worth."

The second her hand let go of his hair, his body flew back to the wall. A low groan escaped him as his head connected with the wall, his vision swimming with black spots as he watched his webs dissolve away from everyone. This wasn't going to be good...

"Kill him, and make sure you don't let him go again."

"Hai, Ito-sama," The blood bender bowed his head before looking at Peter with rage-filled eyes.

Definitely not good.

Peter's eyes glanced to the window on the other side of the room, wishing more than anything he hadn't told Loki he would be an hour late to their meeting. Loki would have been looking for him if he would have just kept the original time, possibly even found him already. But he wasn't and Peter could tell that he was in serious danger right now and-

His body froze painfully so, his eyes widening as his mouth parted slightly. He could feel it... he could actually feel his blood stop moving. Within seconds his body started to lose feeling, that slight numbness starting to take over him.

"Did you know," The woman was in front of him, her dark eyes searching all over his face, "that it only takes a few minutes for your cells to start dying? Only four-to-six minutes, in fact. What will it be with you? Four or six?"

Peter did the best he could to glare at her, but it must not have worked because she only laughed at him as she started to walk away. "Bring his body when you're finished with him, I will go ahead to the master."

That tingly feeling was becoming more pronounced as he did his best to fight against the power, summing up all his strength to make another attempt at freedom. However, his strength wasn't enough... He couldn't even move a finger this time.

His breathing became labored, every breath causing him pain but every breath more needed than the last. He wasn't getting enough air, he needed more... He really needed more or he was going to die. He had to get out of this or-

"Peter!"

Peter's eyes darted to the doorway, seeing the woman there again. Something didn't make sense about that... Why didn't that make sense...? His name... How did she know his name-

Loki. That was Loki. Loki was here!

Hope flooded Peter's chest as he looked at his friend in disguise, a small smile on his face for just a second before a scream ripped through him as he collapsed to the floor.

His blood flow was back, moving much too fast through his veins. It felt like liquid fire mixed with razor blades were shooting through every part of him, stabbing and cutting him in places he didn't even know had feeling. Then there was his heart... His heart felt like an inferno was lit in it, the fire causing it to expand painfully. It felt as if it kept swelling and swelling and it would burst at any moment, the pressure building every second. He was in complete and utter agony...

And then everything was black.

~*~*~

Loki had been alerted by Stark of a protocol in Peter's suit that had gone off a short while ago, which of course sent Loki into a rant about how Peter was always getting into trouble. Stark was already en route but he had been out of state and it would take some time for him to arrive, so Loki went ahead without him.

The GPS in Peter's suit was only a short distance away, a few minutes tops. Loki wasn't extremely worried; Peter could take care of himself after all. He wouldn't even be surprised if Peter had pulled the demonic child act again and had the criminals cowering by the time he got there. Loki almost hoped that the boy had thought of another act to play, it was quite amusing to watch...

When he arrived to an abandoned store in a shady part of the city, and there were no screams of terror, a small pang of fear shot through him. But he wouldn't think about that now, he didn't have time.

Casting an illusion on himself, he walked down the sidewalk to the building, pausing as he saw a woman exit and get into a car with two men following. An idea forming in his head, Loki smirked and cast another illusion after the car was down the road.

The men guarding the door on the inside didn't even look at him as he walked in, he had to fight to keep a straight face. It had been so long since he was able to infiltrate something like this, it was nice.

All pleasant feelings went away once he entered the main room where all the people were... Peter was strung up by something unseen on the far wall; his arms spread and skin a sickly pale with a blue hue. His mouth was parted slightly as he attempted to gasp in air but winced every time.

Something was very wrong with Peter and Loki did not like that at all.

"Peter!" He called his name before he could stop himself, everyone's attention suddenly on him.

Peter's body dropped to the floor, an agonized scream leaving him as he started seizing on the cold ground. Loki let his illusion fade as he took a step forward, his eyes locked on Peter's form. Everyone else seemed to tense, their bodies positioned to move as they half watched Peter and half watched Loki.

Then Peter stopped moving, a small, barely audible sigh passing his lips as he went limp on the ground.

Half a second later, everyone was moving. Loki dodged most of the attacks as he ran towards Peter, his daggers appearing in a flash of light as he threw a few attacks of his own to the humans that wouldn't get out of his way.

Just as he was about to reach Peter though, another hand grabbed the boy's arm. In a flash of red, the boy and man were gone.

"Peter...!" Loki's eyes were wide as he stared at the floor where Peter's body had once been. It wasn't an illusion magic hiding them, because Loki would have been able to feel them. They were... gone.

"You won't ever find them now," One of the men said from behind him. "Spider-Man is ours, and the next time you see him will be your death."

Taking a deep breath, Loki slowly stood up. He tried to gain control of the burning rage inside him, tried to keep himself from giving in to the voice in the back of his head that told him to destroy these lowlifes for even thinking of hurting Peter. Because Peter wouldn't want that...

"We will force him to kill everyone that he loves."

"...Du uforsiktig narre."

"What-"

Before the man could finish his question, a dagger was thrown at him and hit right in his chest. He went down before he even knew what happened.

"Who wishes to die next?" Loki asked, turning around to face the others. They were all silent for a second or two, staring with wide eyes at their comrade bleeding on the floor. One by one they all looked to Loki with glares that rivaled Peter's - extremely weak and not scary in the least. The masks they wore should have covered their whole faces and not just the eyes, it would have done a better job of hiding the obvious fear they all felt.

The first to move was a rather skinny man in the back; his top half lurched forward, his hands around his middle and body shaking in what appeared to be pain. The shaking became more intense as he started disintegrating, turning into a green gas form. Any other time and Loki would have rolled his eyes.

Positioning his hands, Loki let his rage out in a blast of ice that surrounded the gas monster and turned it into a frozen... thing on the floor. He could tell the man was trying to transform back, but the ice was too solid for such an act.

A quiet grunt caused by moving a body with excessive force alerted Loki to the sneak attack behind him, quickly ducking down to avoid the leg aimed at his head before twisting around. Another dagger appeared in his hand as he slashed at the man's chest, carelessly tossing him to the side as he moved on to the next man.

They all rushed at him then, attempting to overwhelm him. Thankfully all those years of following Thor into battle had given him more than enough training to handle them. However, he had to send a particularly powerful illusion to the one that tried controlling his blood. That one could almost be a problem.

"One of you knows where that man took the boy," Loki started, dropping another person to the ground, stepping on his chest to get over him, "and you will tell me - eventually; even if I have to force it out of you. And trust me when I tell you that you do not want me to do that."

There it was, Loki thought with a smirk, the hesitance and unsure glances between them. They believed him - as well they should. Loki had no problem with destroying them for that information; he had no problem with destroying this entire building if it would mean they would cave to him faster.

That might actually be an idea...

With a wicked smirk, Loki stood up straight and glanced around. "Alright, I will give you until the count of five to tell me where the boy is, or I will flatten this building and you in it. One," He held up a finger, gauging all of their reactions.

Someone in the back turned their body to steel, another started conducting electricity into his hands, one even glanced at the door as if trying to think of an escape plan... Loki would never allow such a thing.

"Five."

Their eyes widened as he skipped over all the numbers, his palm open to them as a green flash filled the room. Loki took a small amount of pleasure at the scream Steel Man let out when he saw the room explode. They all ducked for cover, letting out various noises of pain or fear at the illusion Loki was making them see.

Walking forward, Loki stood over Steel Man, watching as he struggled to keep the metal covering his body. Waiting just a second, he threw a dagger into the man's flesh hand and pinned him to the ground.

"Tell me where the boy is," His green eyes scanned the man's body quickly, "before I put the next one somewhere more... delicate."

"N-No!"

"Have it your way," Loki shrugged as he pulled the dagger from the man's hand, aiming it at a different part of his body. Just before he could carry out his promise, a weaker voice called from behind him.

"Onii-san...!"

Turning around, Loki spotted the smaller man on the ground, eyes opened slightly and hand reaching for the cur at his feet. Quickly making the connection in his mind, Loki wasted no time in striding to him and grabbing his arm, hoisting the man to his feet and looking into his eyes.

"If you don't want me to kill your brother, tell me where they took the boy." Watching the hesitance pass through him, Loki let out an aggravated sigh and yanked the poor man closer to his brother. "Tell me!"

"Italy!" He whimpered, moving as far away as he could. Loki could hardly believe that this was a warrior apart of the group... He was displaying such shameful behavior.

"Where in Italy...? I am losing my patience with all of you!" His hand flashed again, the young man seeing another illusion that made him scream in fear.

"I don't know! I don't know, please! They don't tell us locations! No locations until it is time to meet! Only the higher ups know!"

"You will need to do better than that-"

"Please..." Steel Man reached over to them, "Please don't hurt her. I know where they are, just leave her alone."

Loki raised an eyebrow as he looked back at the person in his hold, pulling the mask off their face. He sighed as he did indeed see the face of a young girl, not much older than Peter... He tossed her to the side before concentrating on her brother again.

"You know where they are, so tell me. I wasn't lying when I told your sister that I was losing my patience, and now it is nearly nonexistent." Loki took a deep breath as he glanced around at the people still in the room before looking back at the man and kneeling next to him, "Tell me now, or I will not hesitate to end the life of every person in this room. The person that you took is just a child that wants to help others. He is too innocent and trusting for his own good, and your leader wishes to do terrible things to him that I will not allow. So don't think for a second that I will go easy on you just because I now hold the title of an Avenger, that boy means much more to me than being a hero."

It was silent for a second as the man took in a breath, his body fully returning to normal as he stared into Loki's green eyes. "The outskirts of Atrani there is a large cave hidden near the coast; high tide covers it completely, but the inside is raised enough that the water doesn't fill it completely. Deep inside that cave is the base of the people who hired us. That is where you will find the boy."

With a smirk, Loki stood up and dusted himself off. "There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He released the illusion on the room as he dusted his pants, "Someone will be here shortly to clean all of you up. I recommend not putting up a fight with him either; he thinks of this boy as a family member and will probably destroy you all."

Loki walked out the building, leaving behind a group of groaning enhanced.

Now... He just had to figure out how to get to Italy.

~*~*~

It was cold. And his body was numb, mind confused. He couldn't feel anything and he really didn't want to... He didn't know why, or what happened, but he knew that he didn't want to feel. Because feeling would cause pain and he wasn't a fan of that.

What was he a fan of?

His mind was in a haze, like there was a thick fog covering his memories. That couldn't be good... Why couldn't he remember anything? Why did he think he'd be in pain if he felt? Was he often in pain? Who was he?

Panic started to fill him at the last thought. Why did he not know himself? Of everything in his life, he should be able to remember his name at least! So why-

Before he could think anymore, warmth started to fill his chest and made him aware of just how cold he really was...

He was right, pain was his first feeling. The warmer his chest got, the colder the rest of his body seemed. It got to the point where his fingers were so cold they burned... He was almost ready to scream.

"Awaken," A deep voice suddenly commanded, the sound of it filling his entire being.

With a gasp he sat up, back straight and stiff as he grabbed at his chest to make sure he wasn't on fire - or frozen solid.

Satisfied with his quick evaluation, his head lifted to look around the strange room he was in. The walls were like rock - dark and rough looking - there was a single light hanging from the ceiling and a cold metal table beneath him. The room was small and void of anything else aside from the open doorway carved from the rocks. Where was he that rocks surrounded him?

"You listen well," The voice from earlier spoke, causing him to jump and look at the man next to him.

He was large, but old. His hair, combed back and styled neatly, was graying at the roots and contrasting against the dark brown - almost black - color of his youth. His face was tanned and wrinkled with a large scar across his right cheek, eyes stern but gleaming with an unknown emotion. He wore a white lab coat with hints of an expensive suit peeking out from underneath.

"My name is Beniamino," The man smile, his heavy accent adding a charm to him, "but you may call me Ben."

"Nice to meet you..." He swallowed thickly as he took Ben's hand to shake. He didn't know why, but that name stirred an emotion in him. "Where am I? Who am I?"

"Oh, forgive me, your amnesia slipped my mind, I was just so happy to have you home again." Ben patted his hand as he helped him to stand. "You are Angelo, and you are home in Italy."

"Angelo...?" That name didn't sound right. It sounded foreign and wrong... His name couldn't be-

"Angelo, my angel, my messenger. You were taken from me and brainwashed into believing you were someone else. But you are with me now, my son. You are safe at home once again."

His eyes were so sincere... Angelo had no choice but to believe him. He was home.

"What happened to me? Why don't I remember anything?"

Ben placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently, helping him to stand and steady Angelo's weak legs, "Walk with me, my child, I will explain it. The exercise will be good for you as well, you were asleep for some time..."

Angelo took a step, one hand holding onto the metal table. His legs felt numb, needles stabbing him painfully as he tried to get the circulation back.

The two of them walked out of that room and down a hall, passing multiple other branch offs. Angelo could already tell that if Ben wasn't with him, he would be hopelessly lost. How could there possible be this many halls?

"You, Angelo, are my most trusted and favorite person here." Ben started, ironically smiling at a group of people they passed. "You are the strongest, my best fighter. You send messages to my enemies that strike fear into their hearts, and wipe out the ones who oppose me. You-"

"I hurt people?" He looked up at Ben, his eyebrows furrowed and a small pout on his face.

Ben chuckled and patted his back, "Quite effectively, yes."

"But I don't want to hurt anyone..."

There was a small and awkward silence as Ben stared at him, his face unreadable. Angelo felt like he had made a mistake, like he should have just accepted this... Because why would Ben lie to him?

"Angelo... You are brainwashed by some very bad people... They taught you to spare people, how to show mercy and kindness and other disgusting things like that. But that's not who you are. You are ruthless, lethal, a killer. People fear you. You are evil, and that is good."

Angelo nodded slowly, "If you say so."

"Do not worry, my child, we shall cure you of your weakness."

They started walking again, having turned back to take a new route. Angelo was completely lost now, he didn't even know which path they had originally come from... How Ben was able to expertly maneuver through all of these was way beyond him. 

After a walk that was much too long for his tastes, they ended up in a large room that had exercise equipment lining the walls and a large boxing ring in the center. There were a few people sparing in the ring or punching the bags, but they all stopped when the two of them walked in.

"Attention! Everyone, my favorite child is here!"

Applause filled the room, causing Angelo to duck his head a bit. While this was flattering, it didn't feel right. Maybe it was just his amnesia getting the best of him, but he felt like choosing favorites could make the others feel bad. He really didn't want to hurt anybody, despite what Ben said; he didn't want them to be jealous of him or try to push themselves to do what he could. Wait, what could he do? Was he something special? Why would he think that he could do something they couldn't...?

"Listen," Ben continued, "Angelo is currently suffering, he doesn't remember anything from his past. So we will help him, shape him into an even better person than he was before." 

He started walking, pulling Angelo along with him toward the punching bags. "Angelo, my child, you do not remember who you are now, but fear not because I will show you. I will open your eyes to the greatness that you can be, train you to use your powers for our betterment, make you feared by all." Ben gestured to the punching bag in front of them, "Hit it with all your strength."

Angelo looked from Ben to the bag, unsure as he brought his fist back before letting it go forward to hit the bag with a light thump. The silence that followed was deafening... Except for a single chuckle in the back; that caused a blush to bloom over Angelo's cheeks.

"Who laughed?" Ben's nostrils flared in anger as his dark eyes scanned over the people, everyone parting like the Red Sea to single out a boy standing in the boxing ring with his arms crossed.

"This is our 'savior'?" The boy asked, taking a step forward. "He's weak, pathetic. There's no way someone like him could 'strike fear into the hearts of our enemies'."

"Guerriero... My warrior, I should have known you would object to this." Ben sighed as he waved his hand forward, "Come here, child."

Angelo scanned the boy, immediately noticing that he was definitely more fit and prepared for a fight at any moment. Guri... Guerre..? ...Angry Warrior Boy would definitely beat him if given the chance. 

"I want you to fight." Ben announced, causing Angelo to look at him in shock. Angry Warrior Boy could murder him! He would die! He would most definitely die! There was no way that he would survive a fight with him! What was Ben thinking?

As if sensing his worry, Ben smiled down at him and patted his shoulder. "You will be fine, I have faith in you. Do not hold back from what your body tells you to do, and you will win."

With a push forward, Angelo barely had time to process what was said to him before the fight started, a glowing fist flying towards his face. Strangely enough, his body was already moving out of the way before he even fully realized what was happening.

Back bending low to avoid the follow up punch, Angelo caught himself on his hands as his feet were brought up and slammed into the other boy's chest, knocking him back a few feet. With a rolling jump, Angelo was standing again and slowly circling the area as Angry Warrior Boy followed suit. 

A chill went down Angelo's spine as he suddenly stopped and jumped away just as an ice spike grew from the ground he was standing moments before. He landed on one of the punching bags, climbing to the top of it and crouching. There were a few chains hanging from the ceiling and he felt like he could jump to them if he put enough power in the leap. He didn't know why he felt like that, but he wasn't going to question it for too long as Angry Warrior Boy - AWB as he would now be called - was running at him with that same glowing fist. 

Taking a deep breath, Angelo leaped into the air just as the fist hit the punching bag. His eyes widened as he went far past the chains and neared the ceiling at a dangerously fast speed, holding his hands in front of him in an attempt to cushion his crash. He was surprised once again when his hands stuck to the rocky ceiling and kept him up there, hanging above everyone.

"What...? How am I...?" Staring at his hands with wide eyes, he tried moving to the wall. His hand almost lost its grip at one point and he kicked his foot up in a ridiculous attempt to get better support... But then his bare foot stuck to the ceiling as well.

Angelo closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, following the advice Ben gave him. Letting his instincts take over, he crawled across the ceiling to the corner where the two walls met. Placing a hand and foot on each wall, he positioned himself directly in the middle and looked down at the awed faces below him. AWB was trying his best to hide it behind a frosty glare, but Angelo still saw it with a smirk.

His muscled tightened a second before he launched himself out of the corner, hurling through the air and back to his opponent. AWB dropped to the ground to avoid a collision, but quickly jumped up again when he heard the thump of Angelo's body on the ground.

Halfway turned around, AWB was met with a foot in his face that snapped his head to the side and knocked him back down. Angelo stood up over him, panting slightly and arms raised to protect himself when AWB got back up.

"Very good!" Been called, walking over to grab Angelo by the shoulders and bring him away. "I knew you would beat him!"

"What- But he's," Angelo tried looking back, wondering why the boy hadn't gotten up yet. 

"He's fine, just out cold. Don't worry about him, my child! What you did was eccellente! That jump and kick! Bellissimo, bellissimo!" Ben slipped into his native language as they walked, Angelo not able to understand a word he said...

He glanced back again just before they left the room, seeing the body of AWB still laying on the ground. A few of the other people were gathered around him, one of the older teens placing a hand against his neck for a pulse. Angelo didn't know if he found one or not, because they had turned the corner and blocked his view.

A thought hit him suddenly... If he was supposed to be Italian, then shouldn't he understand what Ben was saying? The man was still gushing over the fight (probably) yet the more Angelo tried to understand, the less he did.

The words soon stopped sounding like words and more like a buzz that filled his head, like white-noise that lulled him to sleep. He was having trouble thinking and his vision was starting to turn black around the edges...

"Go to sleep, my child. Things will be better when you wake up."

Angelo had to admit, that sounded like a great idea... Without fighting it any longer, he closed his eyes and succumbed to the call of unconsciousness.

~*~*~

"Loki has gone rouge..." Thor's fist clenched as he stared at the humans littering the floor, all bleeding in some way - or dead. Even if they were evil, he shouldn't have done something as extreme as this! Humans didn't stand a chance against them, he should have held back just a bit.

"They must have been the ones that took Peter," Tony said, his face plate lifting to get a better look at the damage. "Loki probably did this to find out where he is. He was successful, or he wouldn't have left."

"He hurt them though-"

"Don't you start-" Tony scowled, pointing a finger at him, "You hurt the enhanced humans you fight with. What's so different about Loki doing it, huh? That's what these guys get for being bad, pain. Given, it was a lot of pain, but they basically ask for it!"

Thor went silent for a while, accepting the information. It was true... and Loki was very fond of Peter. If something had happened to him then Loki would have done what he could to prevent it - or fix it.

Now the question was: where were they? If neither of them were here, that must have meant that something did happen to Peter and Loki was on a mission to save/fix him. They just didn't know which...

"Did Loki leave any messages for you to give us?" Tony asked one of the enhanced that was being lead out in chains by the authorities. The girl barely raised her head, glaring at the two of them as she kept moving. "Very helpful, thanks for that."

"Keep moving!" One of the guards shouted as he shoved an enhanced toward the door. The man was larger than his companions, more fit and definitely able to take that guard out if he wanted to.

"Is there a problem here?"

The man lifted his head, his dark eyes staring at Tony for nearly a full minute before he quietly asked, "His name was Peter?"

The past tense in that question gripped Tony's chest, his breath nearly stopping. It took a while for him to recover, but he nodded slowly, "Yes, his name is Peter."

It was quiet for a while, both of them staring at each other. Finally, the enhanced man sighed. "Peter is in Italy, Loki is headed there now. Our leader has recently... gone into business with a man there, to capture or kill other enhanced. Loki walked in and distracted Tsukiyomi-san... There was nothing we could do for him."

Tony sucked in a deep breath, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to process what that meant. "Nothing you could...?" He shook his head slightly, taking a step away. "What does that mean? 'There was nothing you could do for him'? Peter's dead-?"

No one was brave enough to comment about the way that Tony's voice hitched on the last word.

"For now, yes."

It was Thor who spoke next, standing in front of the enhanced with a frown, "Enough games already. Tell us everything!"

"He will be alive again soon, that is the power of the Italian - one of the powers. The man has many; he can steal powers and give them to others. He has been building an army of young enhanced for years, Peter was his last target. The Italian... he has many plans for Peter. I will pray you get to him before his plan comes to pass."

Tony squared his shoulders, bringing his emotions under control as he turned back to them. "What is the Italian's name?"

"Beniamino."

~*~*~

It had been a week since Angelo had returned home, and things were now as if he had never left. He was an expert in maneuvering the paths and tunnels through the base, he made sure that none of the other workers were slacking off, he went into town to pick up the food orders, even going so far as to helping punish the workers who stepped out of their place.

It was hard at first, the people who had captured him before must have done a number on his mind... But each time Angelo woke up, he was returning more and more to normal. He could even fluently speak Italian again. All was right with the world...

Though, deep down, he could still feel as if something wasn't right. Like something in his stomach was twisting every time he hit another boy for speaking out against Beniamino, or when he held a knife to the neck of a town merchant that grew too suspicious of the food orders... It was strange and he didn't like the feeling, but he passed it off as remnants of his previous time in captivity.

That was another thing Angelo found odd; no one would talk about his time in captivity. Beniamino would brush it off and tell him to go rest, and none of the workers would say anything more than 'I am just glad you're back'. It was like the subject was forbidden... Angelo didn't like not knowing though, and luckily he knew the perfect person that would defy orders.

Walking through the dorms, Angelo made his way to the door on the far side of the room. He dodged the beds of the lower level workers in the center, doing his best not to step on their things. The dorms were the only place where the workers were permitted to slack off, as long as the blanket evenly covered the bed everything was fine. Angelo had some complaints about personal belongings... but he would keep them to himself.

Making it to the door, he knocked twice and waited. This worker was no where else in the base, so he had to be here.

Half a minute later, the door opened to show the somewhat shocked expression of Guerriero.

"Angelo, this is a surprise," His upper lip pulled up slightly as he sneered at him. "What do you want?"

"Your help."

It was quiet between the two for a minute, Guerriero staring at him with a blank expression. Soon though, he started to laugh a low chuckle that was building louder and gaining attention.

"The world must be ending if you are coming to me...! What's the matter, Ben told you no?"

"Exactly."

Guerriero blinked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, "Seriously?"

"He won't tell me what happened while I was captured by the enemy, everyone else fears him enough to turn me down as well. You are the only one who doesn't fear him and possibly has a high enough level to know what happened. Will you tell me?"

Any trace of humor that was left was completely gone now, Guerriero's expression serious and stern as he stepped aside and let Angelo into his room, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Why do you want to know that? This information can get us both in a lot of trouble - yes, even you, Mr. I'm-A-Perfect-Pet. You're here and second in command, why do you want to risk that?"

Angelo thought for a moment, glancing around the room. "I feel... remorse... every time I need to punish a worker, or threaten a civilian. If I did this so much before, what could have possibly happened to me that gave me this feeling? Based on what Beniamino tells me, I should be happy when I'm hurting others - he said it was my greatest pastime. But I'm not, I hate it... Something is not right and I want to know what it is, I want to know happened so that I can fix it."

Silence filled the room again, the two boys staring at each other. Angelo couldn't tell if he would find help in the pale blue eyes of Guerriero or if he would be turned in for asking. This was a risk, a fifty-fifty chance that Angelo didn't like, but he was in desperate need of answers.

The silence seemed to go on forever until the other boy finally sighed and went to sit on his bed, "You don't understand, Angelo, I can be killed for this - all of us here can be killed for telling you this."

"I won't-"

"It's not you who would. You are Beniamino's prize; he has been after you for so long... All of the workers here were put here specifically for you to command. This whole thing was set up for you."

His head tilted slightly, "I don't understand."

Leaning back, Guerriero tried a different approach. "How do you think we all got here?"

"You were orphans that Beniamino took in."

A bitter chuckle passed Guerriero's lips as he shook his head. "All of us? All of us combat trained and enhanced teenagers were orphans that he happened to stumble on? Please, even you're smarter than that."

Angelo blinked, his head tilting again. Now that he thought of it, that really didn't make sense... None of it made sense really. Everyone here was trained and enhanced, just like an army. They all had uniforms for every occasion, ranks, strict rules they all had to follow, round the clock guards...

"We're an army of enhanced..."

"Exactly, but that doesn't answer my question. Where did we come from?"

Angelo's eyes snapped to Guerriero, slightly wide with realization. "We were kidnapped?"

Shaking a finger at him with a bitter smirk, Guerriero nodded. "Bingo."

"Our memories were erased and replaced with lies..." 

"Now you're catching on," He clapped his hands sarcastically before leaning back in the bed. "Everything that Beniamino tells you is a lie, he's a master at deception and no one has the power to resist his suggestions. Chances are, you're probably going to have your memory erased again soon. Everyone's noticing how you've been slacking with the punishments... He knows you're questioning things. It's only a matter of time before he gets you again. And sooner or later, you won't even have enough of yourself left to keep asking these things. You will turn into his personal doll and do whatever he pleases."

"I won't!" 

"You will."

Angelo glared at him as he swiftly turned around, marching out of the room and to the nearest door out of the dorms. He needed to go out, get fresh air. He needed to breathe. The sounds and smells and everything was just too much, he couldn't take it. 

Rushing down the hallway, he almost ran into another worker that was coming in.

Stopping short, Angelo blinked at him. "What are you doing here?" He quickly checked the watch on his wrist, "It's past curfew, and there are no patrols at this time, you shouldn't be here. Why are you here?"

The boy's mouth was opened slightly, as if trying to speak but somehow unable. His eyes were wide as he stared at Angelo in what seemed to be awe... But that couldn't be right.

"Answer me!"

The awe left the boy's eyes, being replaced by shock. It sent a jolt down Angelo's spine, his jaw clenching shut as his ears rang. He hated this... Hated it! None of this was right!

"Are you alright...?"

His eyes opened - when had he closed them? - and stared at the boy in front of him. His head was pounding and his heart racing. It was all becoming too much way too fast... And the wide eyes of the child in front of him only made it worse!

"You don't-"

A growl passed his lips as he slammed his fist against the wall, the passage shaking as small pieces of rocks fell. "Enough!"

"Angelo?" A concerned voice called from behind him, "Angelo, my child, what's wrong?"

He wheeled around to Beniamino, eyes set in a hard glare as he held a hand out. "Don't you dare take another step closer! Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!"

"I don't understand, my-"

"No, no, that's just it! I'm not your child! I never was your child! You lied to me, you told me that this was home but it's not! Not for me or any of the other kids here! You kidnapped us all, didn't you? You told us we were something, you trained us into these warriors just for your sick joke! How many kids have I beaten for you; how many civilians?"

"You are confused, Angelo-"

"No, for once this week my head is perfectly clear!" That was a lie, his head was pounding and foggy. But he couldn't show weakness... Not now. "I bet my name isn't even Angelo, and I'm not really Italian! That's why I couldn't understand you when I first woke up...! That's why none of this has felt right since the moment you first told me my name! What even is my real name?"

"Perhaps I can help with that."

Angelo had nearly forgotten about the boy behind him, though a flash of green paired with the voice caused him to remember and turn around. Though instead of the small and scared boy from before, a tall and dark man stood there with arms crossed and a deadly glare at Beniamino.

A searing headache flashed through Angelo's mind, along with the memories of late night conversations on the roofs in a city. Green eyes that were practically glowing in rage were the same as a man that he trusted, each having risked their lives for each other multiple times.

"You..."

Those eyes flashed to him for a second, the smallest of mischievous smirks aimed at him. "Loki of Asgard, pleased to have finally found you, Peter."

Peter... That was his name. Hazed memories started filtering through his head of Spider-Man and the Avengers and his family and friends and his life before. All of his memories breaking free from the fog in his mind, finally filling in the puzzle he had been working on unknowingly since he awoke.

Unfortunately, with his memories came a headache like never before. He slammed his palm into the wall, hoping to keep himself upright as his other hand went to his head in a futile attempt to rub the pain away.

"Are you alright, Peter?" Loki asked, a hand on his shoulder as he stepped in front of him, hiding Peter from Beniamino's view.

"Y-Yeah, just give me a minute."

Loki locked eyes with the older man, the two of them glaring at each other. "As soon as you are able, evacuate this place. Make sure that there are no others in the caves; get everyone outside and a good distance away. Stark should be making a flyby soon, his scanners should find you."

Peter struggled to stand upright, but forced himself to as he started walking down the hall, thankful there was another passage that lead back to the dorms. He hesitated slightly, glancing back at Loki's back; his shoulders to stiff and straight, head held high, and fists clenched. He was definitely mad...

"Go now, child," Loki instructed, not having to look to know that Peter was still there. With a deep breath, Peter took off running down the hall.

With a slight sigh, Loki placed his full attention on the man in front of him. "I have to say, you were a very difficult man to find, even for me. I commend you for that, however, I simply cannot allow you to continue living. I do hope you understand, it would give me too much anxiety knowing that you're alive and could still go after the boy; and that boy already gives me enough things to worry about."

"Yes..." The man looked Loki up and down, "I completely understand. I should have done the same with you when I first heard about that man that took down my foot soldiers single-handedly to find where Angelo was. But never mind that, I will take care of him now."

"His name is Peter." Loki smirked as he opened his hands, his daggers materializing, "And you are a fool if you think you are able to kill me. Many have tried before you, beings much more powerful than you could ever hope to be, and yet none of them succeed. You will be no more than an annoying insect that bit a child under my protection. And for that you will be sorry."

They stood there for a second longer before rushing towards each other. Loki turned his dagger in his hand, the blade parallel with his arm as he swiped it at the man's face while his other dagger thrust forward towards his stomach. Beniamino somehow managed to avoid both of them, moving his body in a way that no elder should. That, however, didn't slow Loki down as one of the daggers disappeared from his hand; now free, he was able to grab the man's head and slam it against the rocks, his other blade stabbing into his back.

"Shame," Loki whispered as he leaned closer, "I had hoped you'd put up more of a fight."

"Don't let your guard down yet, monster."

Loki's eyes narrowed as he went to pull his dagger back - yet it was... stuck... inside of him. Loki's eyes soon widened as the dagger was pulled out of his hand and completely into Beniamino's body. He jumped away just as a barrage of daggers flew out of his back. Loki managed to deflect a few, but the majority of them stabbed into his body.

Beniamino started to chuckled, though ended with a frown as he saw Loki disappear in a flash of green. Glancing around, his eyes widened as he barely had enough time to roll out of the way as Loki reappeared next to him, swinging down an alien spear directly at his neck.

Loki twirled the spear around his arms and neck, blocking attacks while still able to get a few hits in. While this man had agility others his age didn't, he was still just a human that didn't stand a chance. Like the others, Beniamino would soon fall as well.

With a grunt, Loki spun the spear around and slammed it into Beniamino's leg, pinning him to the ground. The old man yelled out, gripping the area tightly as his eyes screwed shut in pain.

"Fear not, elder," Loki smirked as he stood over him, another dagger appearing in his hand, "It will all be over soon."

Loki held his dagger up with one hand, placing his free hand on the man's shoulder to hold him there in case he tried to move. However, as soon as his hand touched the shoulder, Beniamino's body disappeared in a flash of red - much like how Loki's did earlier.

There was a burning sensation in Loki's back, the force behind it slamming him against the wall with a pained grunt. Glancing back, he saw the wisps of fire flickering in the air, Beniamino standing behind it with a wicked smirk on his face.

"You're a Frost Giant, correct? That means you don't like fire..." The old man's entire body lit on fire as he took a step closer to Loki. "That's a shame, because this battle is about to get heated."

~*~*~

Peter panted as he ran through the halls, his legs aching but pushing through the pain. He called out to any of other teens he saw, ordering them to leave the cave as fast as possible; thankfully they all still believed he was in charge and left. Another think Peter was thankful for was retaining his memories from the past week, meaning he was able to run through the cave and not get hopelessly lost.

A part of him wondered if that meant he could still understand Italian now too, but now was definitely not the time for that.

Or maybe it was...

"Evacuare immediatamente!" He called out as he burst into the dorms, the last room. Everyone stared at him in confusion, causing Peter to sigh and clap his hands. "Affrettarsi, affrettarsi! Evacuare immediatamente!"

That seemed to get everyone moving, some grabbing their things as others just ran for it. Peter started making his way to the private rooms, opening every one to make sure that everyone got the message. 

The caves shook suddenly, small and large chunks falling from the walls and ceiling. Peter really hoped everyone would be able to leave before the fight got too intense for this place to handle; the last thing they all needed was all these piles of rocks falling on top of them.

A flash of a memory crossed his mind, still hidden by a bit of fog. Peter couldn't quite place it, but for some reason it made the idea of rocks falling on him nearly unbearable. Doing his best to ignore that thought and the pieces of rocks falling, Peter continued to check all the rooms.

Once he was sure that no one was left, he started to run down the halls again, making sure that the base was absolutely cleared. Only then did he make his way outside with the others.

Everyone had gathered on the cliff above the cave entrance, confused and talking among themselves when Peter climbed up. As soon as they saw him, everyone was immediately asking various questions and voicing their concerns. Peter, who was still struggling with his 'war flashback' now had to deal with sensory overload.

The foreign smells, shaking ground, and loud crowd were becoming too much for him way too fast.

"Q-Quiet... Tranquilla, tranquilla per favore...!"

They weren't listening to him... The ground rumbling fueled their panic as they edged closer to Peter, causing him to take a step back. Any further and they would start going off the cliff and into the water below... This wasn't good.

A loud whistle brought everyone's attention to focus on the back, whispers starting to break out as the teenagers parted. Peter narrowed his eyes, his body tensing in preparation for whatever was there. The quiet hum of a machine told him it was Beniamino, and his mind found peace in the sound... But he was still too fogged to connect the dots.

He didn't have to worry for long though, because as soon as the last of the teens parted, Peter knew exactly who it was.

"Mr. Stark...!" Peter ran forward, barely giving Tony time to step out of his Iron-Man suit before launching himself into his arms.

Tony stumbled back slightly, his arms wrapping around the kid. "Welcome back to the grid, kid."

"Took you long enough to find me."

"Hey," Tony chuckled, pulling away, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a single man just from his first name? Not to mention having to track Loki down as well, he wasn't exactly a team player in all of this."

"Loki!" Peter's eyes widened, looking back toward the cliff. "He's fighting Beniamino by himself! We have to go help him, Beniamino's dangerous! That's why the ground keeps shaking; they're fighting so hard that they could make the caves collapse!"

"Peter, Peter, listen," Tony held his shoulders, looking directly into his eyes and not continuing until he had Peter's full attention. "I need you to breath, you've been borderline hyperventilating this whole time. Loki will be fine, he's fought worse people before. Right now, we need to help these kids. We need to get them on the Quin jet, okay?"

Peter glanced at all the teens that were staring at them, slowly nodding in agreement. "Yeah... Yeah, okay. Then we go help Loki."

"Of course."

As they walked over to the jet on the other side of the field, Peter's eyes squinted slightly at the aircraft before looking around at the teens again. "Hey, Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah?"

"...I think we're going to need a bigger jet."

Looking back at the group and jet, Tony nodded slowly. "Pete, you are absolutely right."

~*~*~

Loki glared at Beniamino, holding his burnt side as he panted. What Loki thought would be an easy win turned into much more of a challenge once the man discovered Loki's hatred of fire. He was able to dodge a considerable amount of the fire, though not nearly enough... He hated to admit it, but Loki would probably a lot of time to recover after this.

"I will commend you," Beniamino announced, the fire swirling around his hands now. "My opponents are normally dead by now, you must truly value Angelo."

Loki didn't bother to respond as he threw three knives at him, jumping to the side to avoid another blast of fire.

"Can I tell you something? I think you would enjoy this information..." He chuckled, a twisted smirk lining his face. The expression was just enough to make Loki curious, holding back his next round of attacks. "All of those children... Every single one of them... They are mine. I am the one that brought them all back to life, I am the one that programmed their minds into believing they belonged here. With just a few words, I can control them all and bring them down here to kill you for me. Wouldn't that be nice? Being killed by the hands of my Angelo would be very entertaining... He seems to value you as well, maybe I will make him watch as he kills you...? Such a trauma would surely break him, making it easier for me to control his mind afterward. Wouldn't that be great?"

They stared at each other for some time before Beniamino's body lit on fire again just as Loki's disappeared. "You should learn by now-"

The man's words were cut off as Loki reached through the fire, his arm blue and coated in a steadily growing ice-glove, grabbing him by the shoulder and throwing him across the hall. His body slammed against the rocky wall, creating an indent as the fire flickered out.

"If you dare even think of hurting that boy anymore than you already have, I will see to it that you regret the day you were born."

Another Loki appeared next to him, grabbing him with both hands and pulling him against the wall with his feet dangling below. "Your first mistake was mentioning Peter, I don't particularly care for that. But then you started bragging about the pain you could cause him..." Loki shook his head slightly, "I will kill you for that."

The ice on Loki's hands started to travel onto Beniamino, covering his shoulders and chest. He tried to light himself on fire again, but Loki only made the ice travel faster and thicker so that it wouldn't easily melt while also cooling his body to make it even more difficult to light.

Loki could see it in his eyes then. Desperation. Beniamino knew that he had messed up, he knew that he was in trouble... And this was the moment that would count.

He opened his mouth, inhaling and preparing to yell something out, but Loki chuckled and simply slapped a hand over his mouth and put a piece of ice there. "Silly human, did you really think I would allow you to call out and ruin Peter's life? How truly foolish of you."

Loki let go of him, the weight of the ice causing him to crash to the floor. Placing a foot on his side, the mischievous (and angry) god kicked Beniamino down the hall and further inside the cave, "All of this ends here."

~*~*~

After Tony called the others to inform them that he had Peter and about three-hundred other teens, a few stops were made to commandeer enough vehicles to transport everyone to a shelter in the nearest town. Multiple trips were made, but they eventually cleared the area of all the teens.

That took a lot of time and effort out of Peter, as they soon realized that he was the only one that the enhanced would listen to. Even Natasha tried to order a few of them, but they wouldn't have any of it and simply stayed in place until Peter told them otherwise.

That put a lot of attention and pressure on the boy that just wanted to hide in the darkest corner of the Quin Jet, but he shoved all his feelings away and started barking orders to everyone.

It was long and hard, but Peter was finally allowed to go rest on the jet as Tony and Thor went into the cave to get Loki.

They had all just parted, Peter barely able to lean back in his seat when everything started shaking, Nat cursing under her breath as she quickly started the jet and lifted them into the air. Peter jumped from his seat and ran to the cockpit, looking out the windows in shock as the ground started to crumble and collapse.

A loud thud on the jet alerted them to Thor's landing, Iron Man hovering nearby as he watched the scene unfold. But Peter couldn't think about them now... Loki was still down there. Loki was still in the cave and being buried under tons of rocks.

"Loki...!" Peter called, as if that would somehow reach the man. Quickly turning, he started to run for the exit but Natasha grabbed his arm.

"There's nothing you can do for him now... Just keep your fingers crossed he somehow makes it out of that." She whispered, squeezing his arm in reassurance. When Peter gave a slight nod, she let go of him and piloted the jet over to a grassy part of the land that hadn't crumbled away. He was outside as soon as it was safe to open the door, running over to the new cliff and looking into the mass of rubble below.

"Loki!" Peter called, desperately searching for his friend. This couldn't be happening... This really couldn't be happening. He had just gotten his mind back, just remembered everyone...! He couldn't lose one of his best friends now! "Loki! Loki, please...!"

A heavy hand placed itself on Peter's shoulder, the boy's wide eyes looking up to Thor. "Have care, child, my brother has survived worse. It is only a matter of time until he appears again."

"But what if he's hurt?"

"He will live."

Peter's brows furrowed as he looked back down at the rocks below, his fists clenching then loosening as he watched Tony fly down to scan the area with his sensors. Despite what they told him, Peter couldn't help but worry. He needed Loki to be alive, he needed to know for absolute certain that his designated mom-friend would live through this. He couldn't just put it all in blind faith. Faith was hope, and hope could be deadly if it was wrong. And Peter couldn't let this be wrong... He couldn't lose another parental figure. He couldn't!

"Loki!"

"No need to shout."

The three standing near the cliff all spun around, Peter's eyes wide as he saw Loki leaning against the jet with a weak but knowing smirk. 

Disregarding all sense of pride and dignity, Peter ran towards Loki as he felt the hot tears building in his eyes. He barreled into Loki's chest, his arms wrapping tightly around his middle. He heard the small grunt of pain that Loki gave out, but didn't have time to act on it as Loki's arms wrapped around him as well.

"Don't do that to me again," Peter muttered with a slight pout, his body shaking as he did his best not to cry.

"Ye of little faith," Loki chuckled teasingly, but smiled slightly when Peter remained silent. "I will do my best not to make you think I'm dead again, child. You have my word."

The two of them stood there for a while, both taking in the fact that the other wasn't dead. It wasn't until Peter smelt burnt skin that he noticed Loki was badly hurt and needed medical attention.

They all piled into the jet and headed for the shelter where the other members of the team were waiting; Nat flying, Tony treating Loki (because the ladder did not want his brother anywhere near him when injured), and Thor and Peter watching.

Peter had to stay in Italy for some time afterward, making sure that all the teens were sent home or to the proper places. It wasn't really necessary, everyone had regained their full memories after the death of Beniamino, but Peter's presence made them all feel better; and as much as Peter wanted to go home, he was more than happy to help.

Loki had gotten sick shortly after his fight with Beniamino, the man unable to stand - much less leave his hotel room. Although Peter was strung out from helping all the teens, he still found more than enough time to spend with Loki to make sure he was taken care of.

But once everything had been finished with and Loki was healthy again, they all made their way back to New York. As most of the team members found things to do on the jet, Peter fell asleep in his seat that was right in the middle of Loki and Tony. The two men were convinced that this was the first time the boy had slept at all since rescuing him and did everything in their power to make sure he wasn't awoken.

Watching the boy sleep, Loki had to admit that this whole ordeal put many things into perspective. Peter had somehow managed to get so deeply rooted under Loki's skin that he was willing to track his kidnappers down across the country and destroy multiple things in order to save him. Loki didn't think he would even go that far to save Thor... In truth, there was not another person in the universe that Loki would do such a thing for. It was terrifying and powerful at the same time. 

Loki knew right then that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do in order to protect this boy... And everything he went through in this past week proved that.

A/N: Wow... this chapter... I will probably never top the word count on this. 12,591 words... What was I thinking?

Since this is a kinda special chapter... I thought I would announce that I have a Ko-Fi now! Ko-Fi is a site where Creators(me) can get small donations from Supporters(you) for the content I make. The minimum amount to give is $3, there is no commitment and sign up is free! On there I will post previews of my chapters to my supporters a few days before I post a chapter (as well as exclusive cosplay pictures occasionally). I may even turn some chapters exclusive for my Ko-Fi supporters only!

My Ko-Fi is in no way obligatory, so please don't think I'm money grubby! Just think of it as a way of saying 'thank you for your stories!' and giving back for all the time I've spent writing. And if you can't give now but want to in the future, you can follow me! It will still give you access to all the things I post there.

For those interested, my user on Ko-Fi is Karmitara. It would really mean a lot to me if you would check it out!

And while on the topic of money, updates may be happening less now. I'm slowly starting a business of making plushies! I create my own patterns, cut the fabric(mainly felt), and sew everything by hand. It takes a few weeks to make one, and I've gotten a few orders in from friends right now... So I would like to concentrate a lot of my efforts on that so I can be a good business person. And then hopefully sometime after that I can open my Etsy store! I have big dreams for the future, so wish me luck!

Blood flow info credit: Parthiban Bala, MBBS, MD (Radiodiagnosis) on Quora. I basically copy and pasted parts of his post, editing slightly for it to fit into the story. I am in no way a medical genius, I just write characters a lot smarter than me.

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"So why did the cave collapse?" Peter asked, doing his overdue homework on the island table in the Compound's kitchen.

Loki glanced over from the stove where he was making tea, chuckling slightly. "I blew it up."

Peter's eyes widened as he looked up, his pencil sliding across his notebook paper. "You blew it up? Why? What if you hadn't made it out in time?"

"I didn't want anything to be left, in case the old man had a final trick up his sleeve." Loki shrugged as he removed the tea packet from his cup, going to sit across from Peter on the island.

The boy was silent for a while, staring at Loki with a deep in thought expression. Loki was almost anticipating what he would say next, knowing it would be something fun.

Finally, Peter broke the silence as he set his pencil down and looked Loki right in the eyes. "I believe that was a level fifteen on the evil scale."

The trickster blinked once then twice before letting out a small laugh. He had almost forgotten about that 'evil scale' that Peter had come up with when they first met. "Just a fifteen? I had hoped I was a solid twenty."

"It would have been twenty if you had left a trail of bodies across the globe; so you're just at fifteen for now. We'll need to work on lowering it once I stop drowning in school."

Loki took a sip of his tea as he looked away. There was no way he was about to tell Peter that there was indeed a trail of bodies across the globe...