They gave Peter 24 hours to recover once he woke up before they were willing to let him move much further than his quarters.

Thor chafed at the delay, but he didn't have much say in things, really. Besides, when Strange and Stark both pointed out that if Peter failed because of fatigue or something else that could have been avoided with some extra rest, Loki's portal could have a catastrophic failure in the reforming, he had to admit that a delay would be better than such an outcome.

He wasn't happy with the long list of people who were going to accompany him to Asgard, either. If he had his way, it would have just been him and Peter – and then Peter could have been sent home via a portal if he couldn't handle the Bifrost – or by use of the teleportation stone. Stark vetoed that idea immediately – to no one's surprise. Peter had made one solo trip to Asgard, and Tony wasn't about to let him take another. Peter would have company, or he wouldn't go at all, and they could take their chances releasing Loki in the deserts of Arizona and hope that the protections hadn't grown that far, yet.

Thor hadn't been amused at the ultimatum, but he knew two things. Stark was absolutely serous, and that if he had to take anyone to Asgard with him, the Avengers were probably as safe a group as anyone. They were as close to being friends as he had, really. He'd backed down with very little complaint, and had been given the rest of the list of people that were going as well, and a sound reason behind each one's inclusion.

The only one that didn't really have a valid reasoning behind going was Pepper, and she flat out refused to allow Peter to go anywhere unless she was with him.

Yes, Tony would be there and of course she trusted him with Peter's safety, but she wasn't going to sit back on the sidelines this time and wait to see how things went. She was well aware that with the amount of 'gifted' people going, she wasn't going to be in the way and there was very little chance of her being injured. They weren't going to some dead world with a hostile environment, after all. She didn't have to be a superhero to survive there.

Thor had simply thrown up his hands and told Stark to invite the entire planet if he wanted to, he just wanted Loki back in one piece.

OOOOOOO

When Peter had made his first appearance in the lounge for dinner the evening before they were planning on going back to Asgard, even the god of thunder had to admit that waiting was probably a good idea. The boy was pale and a bit wobbly as he walked into the room, with Stark on one side of him and Stephen Strange on the other. They walked him over to the tables that had been pushed together in the corner and Peter had nodded an awkward hello to Thor who was seated between Natasha and Steve.

"It is good to see you on your feet," Thor told him, sincerely.

"Thanks."

It was obvious, though, that he was grateful to get off of them. He sat down next to Pepper and Peter nodded when Stark asked if he wanted something to drink.

"I heard about your aunt," Thor added. "You have my condolences. She seemed a remarkable woman."

Peter swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. It wasn't every day that Thor told you how great someone you loved was, after all.

"She was," he agreed, feeling Pepper's hand slide along his back in silent support. "Thank you."

"How do you feel, Peter?" Clint asked.

He and Steve were going to Asgard, as well. Not because they didn't trust Thor – because they all did, really – but because if Nat got to go, then they wanted to go. Who wouldn't want to? And they could justify their inclusion by saying that Peter might need all the support that he could get.

"I'm good," the boy assured him.

"You look better," Steve said, approvingly, as Strange sat down beside Natasha and Stark brought over a cup of coffee for himself and the doctor and handed Peter a cola before settling into the space on the other side of the boy.

Thor couldn't help but wonder at the display in front of him and if they had done it on purpose for his benefit. Peter was a simple seeming boy. Fairly scrawny and young, unassuming and puny, really. Yet he had been escorted into the room by two of the most powerful men Thor had ever met. They had flanked him, placing the boy in between them, protectively, and had then seated him at the table with the Avengers as if it were the most natural thing, to allow the child a place among them. He studied the boy, knowing that there was much more to him than he appeared, but still unable to believe that Peter had managed to take down someone as powerful as his brother in mere moments.

Obviously, he would bear watching as he matured and grew into whatever it was Fate had in store for him.

"What's the plan for tomorrow, Stephen?" Stark asked, now that everyone involved was assembled except Wanda, who didn't need to be there just then. She could pull the plan from their minds when she arrived the next morning, after all.

"We'll go after breakfast," Strange said, looking over at Thor to make sure he was all right with that. It was his home they were invading, after all.

The Asgardian nodded.

"You will create a portal? Or do we all take the teleporting stone?"

"No. A portal will make more sense with the size of the group we are taking. We just walk through that way. As Peter knows, there are some serious side-effects to using the teleportation stone such a long distance. Once we know for sure that he's good to go, Wanda will help him by connecting with the Mind stone – in case he needs it - and Loki should emerge."

What condition he would be in was anyone's guess – and one of the reasons that so many people were going to accompany Peter when he restored the god of mischief. If Loki came out spells at the ready, Wong and Strange would be there as a magical deterrent – against Loki, and even Thor if it came to that. The others were there to protect Peter from anyone else – again, if it came to that point. They weren't expecting trouble.

But it never hurt to be ready if it came knocking.

"Very well."

"We'll stay long enough to make sure you don't need us, and then we'll leave the same way we came."

"I'd like a tour of the place before we go, though," Natasha said, looking at Thor, pointedly. "How often does someone get to visit a place of legend like that?"

If the Asgardian disapproved of that, he did a good job of hiding it. He simply nodded, taking a drink of the wine that he'd been given by the bartender earlier.

"Of course."

Dinner arrived, then, and the conversation turned from what was coming the next day to the more mundane. At least, as mundane as a conversation could be when the group consisted of so many remarkable people.