Chapter 14

A Trial of Trust

NOTES:

Hi everyone, welcome back!
so first of all, sorry about the last chapter ^^' Don't worry! Peter and Loki will get together!
(little hint, it will happen in chapter 21)

So until then, we truly hope you will still enjoy these upcoming chapters!
Thank you all for sticking with this story for so long! You guys are just so awesome!

'Lokes?' Peter asked hesitantly as he stood in front of the trickster's door. 'Lokes, please, we need to talk.' Still no answer came from the room and Peter sighed as he tried to open the door, finding it unlocked. Cautiously he stepped inside, now noticing how it was completely deserted. 'Lokes? You here?' he tried nonetheless, but it was in vain.

The teen stepped further into the god's room, looking at all the neatly stacked books which stood proudly on some shelves. His eyes were then caught by the raven's original royal battle tunic, which was carefully displayed on an iron mannequin-frame. Peter cautiously took hold of the golden helmet, studying it with a melancholic smile. 'Come on, Lokes...' he whispered, watching his own desperate expression in the reflection of the headpiece, 'Where are you...' After letting out a deep sigh, he placed the helmet back, walking out of the trickster's room and closing the door behind him.

He searched through the entire Tower, from the kitchen to the training grounds, the lounge, the bar, he even tried knocking on Bucky's door to ask if the raven was with him, noticing how the two have become better friends over these passing months, but no one had seen him.

Suddenly, the sound of blazing engines hit him from the roof, and instinctively he ran up the stairs to where the noise came from. He threw the door open which lead to the roof, staring at The Milano as it took flight and within a minute vanished into the atmosphere. Peter then heard some muttering and as he looked aside he found Tony, fiddling with some machinery and tools.

'What are you doing?' Peter asked, a little confused, but his mentor did not reply.

'Tony?' He tried again, but the man still didn't look up.

'TONY!'

'Hm?' the playboy said as he took out one of his earplugs, smiling at the teen. 'Hey, Peter, what are you doing up here?'

'I was looking for Lokes. Do you know where he is?'

'Sure, he just took off for some space ride with Quill,' Tony said and he signaled to the spot in the sky where the ship had disappeared. His face then became a little surprised. 'He didn't tell you?'

Peter shook his head and sighed as he sat down, trying to block some memories from the last time he found himself on a roof.

Tony put down his tools and wiped the sweat of his forehead. 'You, uhm, you okay?' he asked as he sat down next to the teen, suddenly becoming more serious. 'Something happened between you and Lokes?'

'I don't know,' Peter said, staring ahead. 'I, I think I screwed up, something went wrong, I think, I don't know what though, but he was acting so strange, I feel like he's trying to avoid me or something...'

'Ha! Well, looks like those girl hormones are still in his system, huh?' Tony said with a scoffing chuckle in a brave attempt to make the teen laugh. 'You know, 'cause women usually give you the silent treatment when they're angry.'

Peter looked up at his tutor and could not help but smile a little as he shook his head. 'I guess. I just thought we were, you know, doing pretty good, and I was going to tell him that...' Here he stopped and he looked at Tony, after which he just smiled and shook his head. 'Never mind.'

'No, tell me, it's okay. What were you going to say to him?' Tony asked, sitting down next to the teen and casting him an encouraging smile.

'Well, I, I just...' Peter stared at his tutor for a moment, after which he took a deep breath. 'Okay, I'll tell you, but you can't get mad at me okay? Or at Lokes.'

'Sure thing, kid, I'll try to keep my cool,' Tony replied with a smirk.

'Okay,' Peter nodded, taking deep breaths to try and steady his body which was shaking with nerves. He forced himself to look at the playboy as he uttered the words. 'I... IloveLoki...' the last syllables coming out as one soft murmur.

'... What?' his tutor eventually asked, staring at his pupil for a while, surely he must have heard wrong. 'Repeat that for me, will you?'

'I, I,' Peter gulped and remained silent for a confusing moment. He then spoke up as he finally found the courage, 'I love Loki.'

'…Ooo-kay…? And, you're sure of that?' his mentor asked hesitantly. He then suddenly stared deep into the teen's eyes, both relieved and surprised to find them in a deep shade of amber instead of bright blue.

'Yeah, yeah, I know,' Peter sighed and he crossed his arms agitatedly. 'I got a whole lecture from Thor about, about, being the first to die and how Lokes will be left to mourn my death and what not, so tell me, what do you have to add to that?'

'Uh, well,' Tony started as he tried to process what the teen had just said, 'For starters… The guy is at least trice your age. Hell, he's even four times my age, at least. Isn't he a-uhm… a bit too old for you?'

'For starters? Really? Well, he is only seventeen in human years, okay?' but as Tony raised a brow, Peter continued. 'Okay, so he's over a thousand years old, but it's not showing now, is it?' Peter asked desperately. 'I mean, he hasn't got those, well, wrinkles, you know? Like you have when you frown, or laugh... or stare at me like you do now? Also, isn't Steve about trice your age as well?' The teen remained silent for a moment and then looked at Tony in astonishment, 'No, wait, he's also somewhere in his thirties, right? So, what does that make you?'

'Okay, drop the age-thing, kid, it's working against you, or it will,' Tony said, not knowing whether to laugh or correct the kid, 'So, age is a bit of a relative construct with Avengers, fine, but what about his past? I mean, I'm glad he's part of the team and all, but he's still the guy that tried to invade Earth. Do you have any idea how much blood there is on his hands?'

'Yeah, I know but... have you ever tried asking him about the invasion? Has anyone ever? I mean, what if he didn't mean to, or, I don't know... just had a bad day?'

'He didn't mean to invade a planet? He just had a bad day and thought "Oh, boy, let's invade a planet and murder hundreds, capital idea!"' Tony asked highly sarcastically, crossing his arms. 'Come on, Pete, I know where you're going with this, but... I'm not convinced.' As the teen looked at his mentor with a serious face, Tony sighed and shook his head. 'You're a smart kid, Pete, I just want to make sure you use that brain and think this through before doing anything that you'll come to regret, okay?'

'Well... I do not regret my question,' the teen continued determinedly. 'Has any of you ever tried to talk with Lokes about the whole invasion thing?'

'Well-'

'Shouting at him about it doesn't count,' Peter reminded him quickly, causing the playboy to sigh.

'Maybe not with so many words, but we did talk about it and he never gave a real explanation. It just happened, and he regrets it, that was all he had to say. He didn't really try to prove his innocence or anything and hardly talked about it… He's keeping secrets from us, Peter, and believe me, I would have been okay with that if it didn't concern the total submission of our entire freaking planet. I just don't trust him. I mean, if it wasn't for Thor pleading for him, I would never let him on the team in the first place.'

Peter sighed in frustration, 'He's not all that easy to talk with, I know…' he muttered, now playing a little with his shoelace. 'Tony, I, I know Lokes isn't really the role model super hero, but at least he's trying, right...? I mean, it must be hard to confront a past like that, having always been the bad guy. It's not as easy as when you've been a good guy all your life, surely you must know.'

'I know, but,' Tony looked at Peter for a while, then nodded slowly, a defeated smile appearing on his face. 'Yeah, a few years ago I wouldn't have been a good example either, I guess. I still have my flaws, sure, but it's about trying to make up for them, right? To be better than you were before, for the sake of others.'

'Right,' Peter nodded, 'I know you will never like Lokes but… This really means a lot to me, Tony, and I, I would hate it if you would be against it. I just want to be with him, I-I don't even know if he actually wants to be with me…' A deep sigh followed. 'So please, could you live with that? Would you be okay with it if me and Lokes would be together…?'

'"Okay" might be a bit of a strong word, but I'm not necessarily against it, I guess. Not if it really means this much to you, anyway...' Tony thought this through and sighed, laying a hand on the teen's shoulder, 'I trust you, okay? Just, trust your judgement and think it over, that's all I ask. I'm not a huge fan of the guy yet, or the idea of you two together, but hey, I'm just an old man who pays for your suit, right?'

'What? No! I-I mean, you're more to me than that Tony,' Peter looked at the man with a careful smile. 'Way more.'

'I was being sarcastic, kid, but I'm glad to hear it anyway,' Tony snorted, amiably ruffling the boy's hair. Peter laughed, trying to slap the hand away, but Tony already retrieved it and smiled. 'So, now that we're on the subject,' Tony continued, his face growing a little more serious, 'What is going on between you two at the moment? I mean, he just left and he didn't tell you. You two got in a fight or something?'

Peter sighed and thought this through, not knowing what to answer. 'Tony… How did you tell Steve you liked him?' He asked after a moment of silence, catching the man off guard.

'Uh...' Tony stammered, but he managed to reply with a shake of his head, 'I kinda took him on a date without him knowing it... then I blurted out that it was a date...'

'Oh, like when I took Lokes to prom? I mean, I didn't know I liked him and I didn't tell him, I just kissed him, I guess...' As he said this the teen turned red and he looked at Tony. 'It's different, then, I guess.'

'Different but the same,' the playboy chuckled and then looked up, 'Wait, how do you know about me and Steve?'

'Uhm, well, Steve told me a little about your date,' Peter rambled awkwardly, not knowing how much he was supposed to give away.

'Ah, I see,' Tony sighed as his face turned a little red. 'Listen, kid, we all know Loki can be... hard to deal with, right? Maybe something else is bothering him... I mean, try seeing him like an animal,' Tony looked at Peter, noticing how the teen stared back at him in utter confusion. The playboy quickly cleared his throat and continued, 'An animal can act differently and can be snappy without telling you why, and you just start wondering what you did wrong until you notice that you forgot to feed it or you forgot to clean the cage or whatnot.' The playboy then placed a hand on his chin, thinking back to the days when he was a kid himself and Howard thought it was a good idea to give him a hamster. 'Though usually you're already too late once you figure that out...' He then looked at Peter and quickly smiled, 'Though Lokes isn't a hamster, I mean, not really, he can talk, right?'

'…Right...?' Peter guessed as he tried to grasp what his mentor was trying to tell him, a confused smile forming on his face for a brief moment as he imagined the trickster as a hamster. 'So, you mean that something else might be bothering him? That it's not me?'

'Exactly!' Tony nearly shouted, happy to notice his wise words came through.

'You do have a point there,' Peter said as he thought this through. 'Lokes tends to shut everyone out when something is bothering him, or he just pretends that everything's fine… I'll just wait until he gets back and then we'll talk. I'll make him talk, he won't be getting away this time.' he chuckled. 'You don't know when they're coming back, do you?'

'Nope, no clue, but it can't take long, right? I don't think Quill would ever miss a free meal, so I bet they'll be home before dinner.'

Peter smiled, 'Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Tony.' He then looked at the sky one more time before walking towards the door that led back into the Tower.

'Hey!' Tony shouted at which Peter turned around, almost startled by the sudden cry. 'Great advice like that doesn't come for free,' the playboy said as he stood up and smiled, 'How about that hug, huh?'

Peter first stared at the man in bewilderment, but then he smiled and walked into Tony's welcoming arms.

'You'll be okay kid, don't stress it,' Tony wrapped one arm around the teen's waist, his other hand resting on his head, his fingers amiably tangling in thick brown locks.

'Thanks, Tony,' Peter said with a smile. 'I'll just go and ask around a little. Good luck with... whatever you're doing.'

'Uh, yeah, you know what,' Tony said as he let go of the teen, patting him on the back, 'You go ahead and get inside, it's hot out here, don't want you to get a sun burn.' Tony laughed as he tried to move the teen towards the door.

'Yeah, it's pretty crazy to be out here in this weather,' Peter agreed and he looked over Tony's shoulder, 'What were you doing anyway?' Then he noticed a scorched part of the roof that seemed about to collapse and some mechanical parts scattered around it that resembled an Iron Man prototype that had exploded.

'Nothing happened, just some maintenance, you know how that stuff goes,' Tony replied quickly.

'Yeah, "just maintenance",' Peter chuckled. 'Just everyday maintenance at the Stark Tower.'

NOTES:

Now, instead of three super hero facts, I have a question for you guys. some of you might already know this through my other fic, but I have three ideas for a new fic and I would really appreciate it if you would give me your opinion on them.

I have been trying to think of something which I haven't seen/read all that much, so these ships/ideas are not all that common :) (or at least, so I think ^^')

1. After being tasered by Thor right before their escape from Sakaar, Loki is found by the Grandmaster who takes him back in. With his hands now full on Ragnarok and his fellow Avengers, who broke up like the Beatles, Thor decides to send Loki some unexpected help to escape from Sakaar. (a GrandmasterxLoki and LokixQuill story)

2. The Avenger's have broken up and Earth seems to be doing just fine without its super heroes. Tony is managing to get by as long as he can still be with the one person who decided to stay in the Avengers Compound; Steve Rogers. But as the ex-assassin Bucky Barnes comes living with them, a slow and burning jealousy starts to take over Stark's mind and body. (a fic with a very dark Tony Stark)

3. Peter Parker just doesn't understand why the other Avengers could not come to trust Loki. He was a very polite god, a kind person and a strong Avenger, but most of all, he was his boyfriend, secretly of course, but still. Eventually, he decides he has had enough of it and wants to start a life away from his judgmental super hero family. Just him and the trickster. (A fic in which I will ATTEMPT to write a very dark Peter Parker (if that is even possible XD)

These are all some rough ideas, as you can see. These fics will be a little darker than this one :) Please let me know if you like any of these ideas OR if you have any suggestions! I'm open for everything :)

Thanks again for still hanging in there! Next chapter will be up in two days! :D