A/N: Hello and welcome to a new story! If you've come from my other one In the Dark, don't worry, that will be updated soon (hopefully). If you're new here, hello and welcome!
A few notes: this will not be a one-shot story. I have a hard time writing things like that, sorry. Also, the timeline does not follow the movies. I wanted it to take place as if Infinity War didn't happen (so right after Thor:Ragnarok), but also Civil War isn't a thing because Peter hadn't been bit yet. Lastly, I don't think I'll be putting dates/times in this story like I have for my other ones. Unless it gets too confusing, I just decided to leave them out.
That should be all, so I hope you enjoy! Please leave any comments/suggestions in the reviews below, I love hearing your thoughts. :)
Warnings: descriptions of blood and knives.
Peter's skull whacked against the ground painfully, sending sparks across his vision. His thin jacket ripped, exposing the skin on his elbows to the rough asphalt. The ratty red and blue mask that covered half of his face threatened to fall off. He scrambled to yank it back on, wasting precious seconds to his opponent.
Peter was bitten a month and a half ago (right after it happened), and had only been Spider-Man for three weeks. These had undoubtedly been some of the worst weeks of his life (nothing had been this bad since-) and he was just starting to get the hang of the whole super powers thing.
Unfortunately, the spider couldn't have waited until Spring. Cold air blew right through his rag-tag costume, causing goosebumps to prickle his skin. His sixth sense (Spidey sense, he liked to call it) tripped and he rolled to the left. (Right. I'm fighting someone.) A bony fist landed where his head was. Peter groaned and attempted to hop to his feet, head and shoulders throbbing.
"You're not so powerful, are you?" The man said, raising his arms. Peter tasted blood and wiped his mouth.
"You're not so bad yourself," he replied, shooting a web and smirking. The sticky substance landed in the dude's eyes, and he scrambled to rip it off.
"What-? What is this crap?!"
Taking advantage of the situation, Peter swiped his legs from underneath him. The skinny man fell to the ground with a thud. He shot more webs to secure him to the ground.
"Now," he said, leaning over the weasel-like criminal. "Where are your buddies? Did they leave you behind?"
"On the contrary," Weasel said, returning Peter's previous smirk.
His Spidey Sense went crazy, but it was too late. A dark shadow darted from the wall, and silver glinted in the low lighting. Pain exploded in Peter's stomach, pushing him backward onto the rough alley ground. A black handle protruded from his gut, and he assumed it was attached to a knife, which was now embedded in him. (I should be a detective) If he weren't in so much agony, he would've laughed at his own joke.
Clutching the handle with one hand, he rose again, spitting blood at their feet. Every twist of his torso sent hot fire up and down his body, but he ignored it and focused on Weasel and Stabby, who were now both on their feet again.
"That wasn't… very nice," he gurgled, trying to sound normal, but failing.
Stabby grabbed the large black duffel bag from the ground and turned to his friend. "Let's get outta here before the fuzz show." Weasel nodded.
"Not s-so fast, guys. I can't… just l-let you leave," Peter managed. He shot a web at the dumpster to their right and pulled with all of the resolve left in him. That was enough. It slammed into them and knocked them to the ground, unconscious. "Sorry, fellas… g-guess you… s-shouldn't have… become c-criminals."
xXx
Iron Man landed with a clang, arms poised to fire at anything that looked suspicious. Loki (he still could not believe he let Thor talk him into this one) and Cap flanked him; their weapons were also at the ready. They scanned the situation.
"What do you see?" Nat said over the intercom.
"He beat us to it, yet again," Tony said, sounding slightly impressed. Two guys were webbed to the wall, a note signed by "The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man". A small duffel lay several feet from them. Spider-Man had stopped another bank robbery, apparently arriving minutes before they had.
Of course, Tony was the only one who knew that "Spider-Man" was none other than 16-year-old Midtown High student Peter Parker. When the masked vigilante first showed up on his radar, he looked in to it. FRIDAY figured it out within minutes; she was a super computer after all. After deciding that the kid could do no harm, he let it be. If a problem arose, they would handle it.
"Wait a second," Loki's cool voice filled the air. "He didn't leave unscathed."
He gestured to the ground. Blood splattered the walls and trickled along the cement. It trailed to the back of the alleyway and then pooled, before disappearing.
"That's not good," Cap stated bluntly.
"Really?" Tony said. "I thought it was! Thank you, Sherlock." Steve rolled his eyes as Tony crouched down to inspect the sticky red puddle. "It's fresh. Holmes, you take the streets." He turned to the black-haired man and thought for a moment. "Glinda and I will take the skies. Find the kid, and don't let him bleed out."
Loki looked like he was tasting something sour, but nodded slowly and vanished, reappearing to a building on the left.
Tony blasted off. "FRIDAY, scan for any traces of that blood."
"Trail detected," she replied, highlighting some dark spots on buildings in blue. He followed it.
xXx
Peter staggered onto an apartment building, debating on whether he should pull the knife out. Obviously he couldn't go to school tomorrow like this, but the TV shows always say never to do that… School won his mental battle, and he braced for the hot pain. Grunting he yanked it out in one swift motion and immediately applied pressure to the area.
That was not fun, Peter thought, panting heavily. Every breath was agony, but he stumbled forward, determined to make it to-
"Aghh," he moaned, hating that he had to keep steady pressure.
Peter ripped his sleeve and made a bandage, tying it tightly around his middle. "That should do for-"
"Hey you! Freak with the costume!" A voice called. (You have got to be kidding me.)
He turned, forcing a calm face. "Listen, guys, I've had a really... long night and I-"
Peter instinctively dodged to the left, sensing something. A crack sounded and a bullet whizzed past him. It exploded against the brick and the culprit stumbled forward from the shadows. It was a man, medium sized and strong-looking. He appeared panicked and jumpy, even with a gun aimed at Spider-Man.
"Hey n-now, I think we… both d-don't want.. To fight," Peter said, lifting a hand to negotiate. The other he kept on his wound, worried the bandage would fail.
"Come on, man," Jumpy said, arms shaking. "My brothers are in jail because of you! W-we had a mantra. 'If one of us gets caught, kill the guy that caught us'. You got them!"
"But you n-never liked that, did... you?" His words were getting slower and he could feel strength slipping from his limbs. "You don't-don't have… to do this… you c-can just… walk away."
Jumpy's arms shook harder. Peter could see him wavering.
Suddenly, Peter fell to his knees, weakness consuming his legs. Jumpy looked surprised, seeming to just notice the blood leaking between Peter's fingers and spilling onto the floor.
"What-"
Crash.
It all happened at once. There was a flash of bright green light and Peter collapsed. There was banging and shouting and speaking, but he couldn't seem to decipher any of it.
Someone dropped down in front of his face. "Hey, Spider-kid? You alright?"
Their face was blurry and weird, but he still responded, "Yeah, yeah, I'll… be ok.. Is' only… a scratch…"
Everything went black.
xXx
Loki spotted the masked figure the same time Tony did. They both conveined and headed toward the rooftop and just made it when Spider-Man fell to his knees. There was a dude that had a gun raised, but Tony wasn't sure if he would shoot. They landed with a thunk, and Loki sent a stream of energy at the guys back, blasting the gun from his hand. He dropped, hands above his head.
Tony ran over to the kid, who had fallen and was currently bleeding. A lot. He leaned down and looked into the mask's goggles. "Hey, Spider-kid? You Alright?"
He could barely hear the response. "Yeah, yeah, I'll… be ok… is' only… a scratch…"
His head dropped the short fall to the floor.
"Get bruce ready at the Med Bay!" Tony shouted over the comms. "We've got a Spider-Man situation!"
"On it," Natasha replied.
He cradled the kid's head and looked at Loki. "How fast can you get back to the Tower?"
Loki approached and gently took the child from Tony's arms. He kept a hand on the wound, applying enough pressure to slow the blood.
"Faster than you." He was gone in a flash of emerald light.
xXx
"Peter, I larb you," May smirked, pointing at the dish in front of him. She swished her brown hair behind her shoulder.
"Larb you, too," he laughed, rolling his eyes. She had the best sense of humor. May knew how to make him laugh even if he didn't feel like it. Especially when he didn't feel like it.
"Peter…
Peter.
Peter!" He dragged his heavy eyelids open a crack. There was a white light that hurt his face, and he tried to cover his aching eyes. Something was moving. Was he moving?
"Five more minutes," he mumbled, closing them again.
"What?" (That voice. It isn't-)
His eyes shot open. "Where am I? What-" Peter struggled against something. It was arms. He was struggling against arms. "Who-"
Pain.
Pain.
Pain.
He cried out, stomach burning.
"Peter, relax. My name is Bruce Banner. You've been injured, but we're going to the best we can to fix it. Try and lay back."
Peter forced his nerves to settle, and the aching brought him down to something soft. "That's right," he mumbled, tasting metal at the back of his throat. "Stabby… he… stabbed me…" he finished dumbly.
"Did he?" A new voice said sarcastically.
"Lay off the kid, he literally had a knife in his stomach ten minutes ago!" This person sounded familiar, but he wasn't sure why.
"Shut up!" The doctor, Bruce, said. (Bruce Banner… Why do I know that name?) "You two stay here, he's got to go into surgery." A door slammed. At least, it sounded like a door slamming. Peter wasn't entirely sure.
"What?" Peter said. (Surgery? It was just a scratch…) "Why…" he slurred.
"You've been injured," Dr. Banner repeated. "Just relax." Something pricked his arm. "I'm going to need you to count back from 100 for me, ok?"
For some reason, that didn't process. The last thing he said before succumbing to black once again was, "Aunt May…"
xXx
"-yes, but we couldn't find out where." Voices brought Peter out of his slumber, but he could still only concentrate on a few words.
"Jeez… does anyone know-"
"-that I can think of-"
"-avoided them for-"
"-his Aunt?"
At this, Peter found it in him to moan. "May?"
The voices quieted. Someone made their way over to his bedside (these senses are really handy sometimes) and sat down.
"Hello Peter. It's Bruce… I don't know if you remember-?"
"Doctor. Surgery," Peter managed. "Stabbed. Where am I?"
"You're in a Med Bay. Do you think you can open your eyes?" (Med Bay? Was that a weird way to say hospital?)
He nodded and slowly lifted his lids. The first thing he saw was Dr. Banner, who had a kind face and a white lab coat on. Something clicked in Peter's mind.
"Banner? Bruce Banner? As in renowned and genius scientist? We learned about you in-"
The next person he saw stopped him short. Iron Man. Tony Stark. Iron Man. "Oh my- you're. You guys are-"
"The Avengers, yes," Tony Stark (TONY STARK!) said casually, giving a small smile.
"I'm a big fan of you guys, you have no idea, I mean when you saved-"
And the third person who occupied the room. "Loki. O-of Asgard." He didn't say it unkindly, just a little confused.
"Pleasure," the tall man said dryly. They stared at each other. A beat passed.
Feeling awkward, Peter blurted, "Your magic is really cool! Green is my favorite color. My aunt used to say-" he stopped. "Nevermind."
Loki looked surprised at the mini outburst, but said nothing.
"Peter," Bruce said. "Do you know what happened?"
(I'm in a room… with the AVENGERS. And Loki, who is cool… but evil? I'm not sure.) "I got stabbed and- crap! What time is it? I have school and-" he began to sit up.
Dr. Banner pushed him gently back down. "Don't worry about that right now. You're still on pain meds, but we don't want to reopen the cut."
"Pain meds? Those don't usually work on me…"
"Because you're Spider-Man?" Tony adjusted his tinted yellow glasses. "Am I… wrong?"
Peter looked down. "You already know the answer, don't you…" he fiddled with the white hospital blanket. "Are you going to… tell anyone?"
Tony folded his arms. "No. It's not our secret. But, seeing as you were stabbed, we couldn't exactly keep the mask on. You understand."
The kid looked up, nodding rapidly. "Yes. Yes, of course. Thank you, sir."
"Call me Tony. I'm not that old."
"Yeah, yeah. Of course, sir- er, uh. Tony," Peter said, practically glowing with excitement (Tony Stark! Iron Man just told me to call him Tony!). He had the sudden urge to jump up and dance, but the growing pain in his abdomen stopped him.
Mr. Stark came closer and stood at the foot of the bed. "Ok, kid. We have to get some things straight. First of all, where do you live?"
Peter looked away, finding an interest in the wall. "Queens," he said quietly.
"Yeah, but where?"
"My Aunt always told me not to give my address away to strangers."
Tony turned to Bruce. "Did he really just say that to me? Am I hearing things?"
"Don't push it, Tony," Bruce replied in a hushed tone, sensing Peter's discomfort.
"Alright," he consented. "How about family? You got anyone we can call? You mentioned an Aunt…?"
Peter's fist tightened around the sheet. He said nothing.
"May?" Dr. Banner suggested.
"Don't bother," he said, voice shaking. "She's dead."
Loki stirred from the corner, growing uneasy. He didn't exactly love the touchy-feely conversations. Despite this, he felt a pang of understanding, memories of his mother flashed through his head.
"Three months ago," Peter continued. His eyes were filling, but tears didn't fall. "Car crash."
Tony froze. He took off his sunglasses and looked into the kid's eyes.
"I'm sorry." His expression was that of someone who knows.
Peter wiped his eyes and sniffed. "I'm sorry, this is probably really lame." (I'm crying in front of Tony Stark)
"It's fine," Bruce said, smiling. "Who do you live with? We can take you back home."
"My Mom's sister, Jane." He had told that lie so many times, it came easily to him (great, now I'm lying to Tony Stark, too). "And please don't… I prefer walking."
Dr. Banner looked down at some papers. "I'm going to finish running some tests, but you should be free to go. Be. Careful. Don't do anything to aggravate that until I say so. You can come back here next week for the results of the tests." He patted Peter's shoulder, shot him one last stern look and left.
Tony's phone rang. "Just a minute, Pete. Yeah?" A pause. "You have got to be kidding me, Pep. I thought we-. Yeah, yeah. I know." He rubbed his temples. "I'll be there in five. Ok, bye." He hung up and rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I have to go to some stupid- nevermind. Glinda."
Loki grimaced at the nickname, but acknowledged Tony with a nod.
"Walk the kid home, will ya? Or, better yet, do the magic-zappy thingy." He wiggled his fingers. "It'll be much faster." Tony rushed to the door. "Consider this a redemption! Don't screw it up, or," he stopped at the door frame, eyeing Loki. "Or I will kill you. Later!" And he was gone. Peter laughed, but it sounded pained.
Slowly, he stood, leaning against the bed for initial support. Upon realizing that he was in a large Scooby Doo t-shirt with matching pants, his ears went red.
"Hah… uh… do I need to tell you where I live?"
"Ideally." Loki observed the boy. He didn't look like the other superheroes that Thor had forced him to interact with. He wasn't graceful like Natasha, or ridiculously large like Mr. America, or a rage-monster like Banner. In fact, he reminded Loki of himself. He could tell Peter was fit, but he was relatively lean and had a clever twinkle in his eye. It wasn't mischief, like his own, that was for sure… Loki decided he'd find more about it later.
"Are you going to… zap us?"
"I actually can't, I don't know the city very well. I suppose you'll have to guide me?"
"Yeah, sure, I guess." He shrugged (this is going to be so awkward).
"Shall we, then, Spider Child?" Loki peered at him from calculating green eyes.
Peter trusted him, weirdly. His Spidey Senses usually did a good job at warning him about people… and this time. Nothing. Other than the fact that he was taught Loki was the bad guy, there was nothing telling him not to trust the God of Mischief.
"Uh… you can call me Peter. I was Peter before I was Spider-Man. And yes… uh, I guess we shall."
A/N: I hope you understood that everything in parentheses and italics are Peter's thoughts (unless it's implied to be another character's thoughts). Anyway, I hope you liked it :)
See you next time,
-katilange