Peter was surrounded by darkness, by black, but for some reason it didn't scare him. He could feel his stomach clench in anticipation for something… but he didn't know for what. Soon the darkness became illuminated by thousands of light dots, giving it the likes of a starry sky. It was beautiful, like drifting in space, but without the cold and lack of oxygen. All of a sudden Peter's calm demeanor was disturbed though, when a flashing bright light suddenly seemed to shoot out of nowhere and surround him like a net that captured him. It was so frightening that Peter couldn't help but scream. He pinched his eyes and rolled on a ball while he got quite thoroughly wrecked by what felt like a roller coaster ride in the strange light. When he finally lay still, Peter felt as if he was going to throw up… He opened his eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't done so. He was sitting on the floor of some building, rather demolished, and as he looked around he saw nothing but unpleasant things. A disgusting scent hung in the air, the sky was blood red, and in the distance he could distinguish fires. There was screaming and fighting and a lot of things Peter really didn't want to think about. He crawled up, and his mouth fell open when he saw… Loki, and another man he had never seen before, caught up in a ferocious fight.
The god was wearing his usual battle armor, but it was ripped and stained with blood, and the look in his eyes was so demonic it made Peter want to hide himself. The magic that filled the air was dark and dangerous, like gaseous vapors just waiting for a spark to set everything ablaze… Peter couldn't think straight. Somewhere in his mind there was a voice that seemingly told him something important, but he couldn't understand it. His eyes flashed to and fro, from one party to the other. The other man wore a horned helmet as well, though different from Loki's, held a seriously huge sword, and swung it around like it was nothing. Loki was well-armed with both a staff and his magic though, and the fight was like wild dance, a whirlwind that Peter could barely keep track of. There was a lot of screaming, and Peter didn't understand a word of it, but it didn't sound as if they were being very polite. Suddenly things became misty, and he felt himself being pulled from the premises by some unknown force…
(Pagebreak)
Peter was lying in the sickbay, with Loki and Bruce trying everything to break the fever while the other avengers sort of hung around in the lab not knowing what to do. Bruce recognized the symptoms as Loki had done, but the combination of fever-reducing medicine and tranquilizers that had worked on Hela seemed to have no effect on the young spider boy. Bruce was distressed, knowing that such high fever could damage the brain and lead to death…
"Maybe it's his mutation, maybe that's why it isn't working… I must find something…"
Loki knew that stress was bad for Bruce, and he placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder.
"Hela had been sick for a couple of days already when you gave her the medicine. Maybe we simply have to wait."
Bruce shook his head.
"I don't know much about Hela's physiology, but she's definitely cut from a tougher wood than us mortals, Loki. Is there nothing you can do? This fever…"
Peter was delusional, he screamed and talked incomprehensible things, and Bruce was afraid that the abnormally high body temperature had already damaged the boy's mind… Loki had tried everything he could, but Death's grip on Peter was still too strong, unusually strong even, and his magical attempts at breaking the fever simply got deflected by it.
"I have tried everything, Her grip is too strong. I do not claim to understand the ways of the Lady Death, the only one who could perhaps shed light on this is Hela, and my mother told me she is too shocked to be woken any time soon…"
The light got shed on it… but not by Hela. It came from an unexpected corner. Loki looked up when he heard Thor's voice.
"Creepy eyes like the stars, huge sword? Sounds like Heimdall to me."
"Huh?"
Thor had been listening to Peter's ramblings for a while now, and although they did not make sense at first he couldn't help but recognize a description of Asgard's Gatekeeper when confronted with one. Loki's mouth fell open.
"No… That… that can't be…"
(Pagebreak)
"The white mist had cleared, and Peter found himself standing on some kind of balcony made of black marble. He recognized the surroundings from somewhere, but he couldn't tell from what, his mind refused to function when he tried to remember anything. There was a ship, a pretty enormous ship, and many thousands of people who entered it… Dead people. Peter didn't know how he knew; perhaps it was the pallor of their skin and the empty gaze in their eyes that led him to that conclusion… They formed an army, the biggest army Peter had ever seen. It seemed as if the cordons of dead soldiers just kept coming… He was glad to be on a balcony, above the madness… A terrible screech made him shiver and cringe. A creature he had never seen before rose from the dark depths behind the gates from which the soldiers streamed… Its scales were blood red, eyes wide with hunger and bloodlust, and a huge mouth filled with many rows of teeth opened and let out a screech once more… Peter felt his blood run cold. The whole place seemed to shiver and tremble on its funds… And then he saw someone was actually riding the enormous, fearsome creature that towered over the probably millions of dead. A woman, wearing a regal looking black dress reinforced with pieces of armor and a huge silver crown with horns on her head. Black hair framing her face, that was half alive, and half… dead. A flash of recognition went through Peter's brain, causing him to sink to his knees in pain, clutching his head.
"Beautiful isn't she, my girl?"
The voice was soft and smooth like velvet, but also colder and deeper than any sound Peter had ever heard. How could something so beautiful sounding cause him so much fear? It was a fear that came from the most primal part of his brain, causing him to cower and curl up, not wanting to face the source of the voice.
"Come… Don't fear me… Don't you remember me?"
Peter wanted to say remembering anything hurt, that there was a painful blockage in his brain stopping him from remembering, but he couldn't gather the words. All he managed were pain-stricken guttural noises. A soft, ice-cold hand stroked him over his head, easing the pain.
"Come…"
Peter was still terrified, but now less overcome with pain, and he looked up. She was misty, smoky, as if she had no solid form… And at the same time he could see her night-black eyes without irises, her curves, the elegant form of her eerie body, the… Peter couldn't help but feel awe when seeing her, awe and more fear than he had believed his body could muster. With her velvet voice she spoke.
"Can you see it? The beauty… Isn't it beautiful?"
Peter crawled up, and realized the décor had changed, and it kept changing. All he could see was death, demise, pain and bloodshed… Every situation that came forth from the mist was different and yet the same. There were monsters, there were fighting soldiers, wars, there was rain of blood and tears over the plains and cities blistering under a sun red as blood… And Peter saw. In every horrible thing he could see the beauty of the shady form that had taken his hand in hers, sending chills of fear and cold through his body. With a broken voice he spoke.
"H-how… can s-something s-so… t-terrible… b-be so… b-beautiful…"
And the velvety voice spoke up, a chuckle in her voice.
"It seems my girl was right about you…"
And he felt the icy hands run over his body, and despite his fear Peter couldn't say he didn't… desire it. Something in the scent of this smoky figure that seemed to be all around him sparked a bit of memory that wasn't painful, but blissful and happy.
When the shady lips touched his, he felt all fear slip away, leaving only the bliss. He relaxed completely and his eyes sank close, and he could hear the strange woman with her skin of illusion and her eyes black as the night whisper things to him in her smooth voice, things he didn't understand and didn't have to either… Her coldness felt warm as she held him, almost like a lover would…
(Pagebreak)
The alarms in the sickbay started beeping violently, and immediately the space around Peter's bed was filled again with commotion.
"Shit! He's gone into cardiac arrest!"
Bruce yelled for the defibrillator, but Loki had a better plan. He pinched his eyes and whispered.
"Please don't hold this against me…"
Then he placed his hand on Peter's chest and concentrated. A green glow followed, and almost immediately the boy's eyes shot open. He screamed in agony, his face a grimace of pain. The strange dark glow that had hung over Peter's eyes faded, and when Loki pulled his hand back Peter was left panting, his eyes open and panicky. Bruce saw on the machines that his heart rhythm had stabilized –although it was still too fast- and that as by wonder the fever had gone down. Carefully he asked.
"Peter?"
Immediately the boy started to cry. Long, deep sobs testimony of a sadness Bruce didn't understand. Loki did though. He pulled Peter up and held him close like he had done with Hela, softly rubbing his back. It was strange to see, Loki comforting Peter, who cried his eyes out for no apparent reason. Peter uttered incomplete phrases in-between cries, but Loki knew their meaning well enough.
"Sssh… It's over now child… Sssh… It's but a dream…"
The others could clearly see the green glow of Loki's magic that surrounded Peter, and soon the boy had calmed enough for the god to put him back in bed.
"Sleep."
As on command, Peter's eyelids dropped. Loki tucked him in and then turned to the others, his eyes dull with exhaustion.
"Let him sleep. I… We… I can't explain it now."
Ton knew his husband well enough to feel that Loki had overexerted himself… again. He took the god by the hand and led him out of the sickbay, ignoring all the other's stares, and their whispering as soon as the door closed. Outside, he wrapped his arms around Loki.
"Thank you…"
Loki smiled and rested against Tony, feeling drained of all energy. Tony couldn't pick the god up so easily anymore –many hearty meals by Frigga had somewhat solved Loki's underweight problem- but he led him to their bedroom, carefully supporting him so he wouldn't trip. Loki was surprisingly compliant when Tony undressed him and put him in bed. Only when he wanted to get up, Loki protested.
"P-please stay…"
Tony couldn't ignore that. He also rid of his clothes and joined the god in bed, embracing him. Loki crawled up in Tony's arms while Tony stroked his hair. As his breathing evened out, Tony himself felt very sleepy too all of a sudden. Maybe it was the panic rush brought on by Peter's sudden illness that had caused it… He relaxed and sunk into sleep as well. The feeling he got while falling asleep was strangely familiar, and when he suddenly found himself in "Loki's Room", he knew why. The god stood in front of the window, his back to Tony.
"Loki? You okay?"
"I… I needed to talk to you in private. Really private, where even your invisible servant cannot hear us."
Loki turned to Tony, and the engineer was startled by the sorrow on his husband's face.
"Go on…"
"Peter's illness is Hela's doing."
"What!?"
Tony remembered very well that the death goddess had been ordered to spread disease once, and the thought she had gotten to it after all… Loki seemed to guess his thoughts and shook his head.
"Not like that. She didn't mean to. They… fornicated… while Hela was in her natural form, and somehow…" Loki shook his head. "I still find it hard to believe, but somehow Hela's Mistress has taken an interest in your ward."
Tony didn't like this one bit.
"Who is Hela's "mistress", and what exactly do you mean with "taken an interest in"?"
Loki sighed.
"The Lady Death, Tony. The Lady Death has taken an interest in Peter, I don't know how or why, but instead of killing him She…" Tony could see there was a distressed type of embarrassment in Loki's eyes. It could not mean anything positive… Finally the god said. "She engaged in fornication with him."
Tony's mouth dropped open.
"Peter had sex with Death?"
"Something like it. She must have extended Her caress to him while he had sex with Hela, through Hela herself. I don't understand why, but it's the only way to explain what has happened."
"So… Death possessed Hela?"
"No. Death is an integral part of Hela, in a way. Their bond is the core of my daughter's magic."
Tony sat down on the bed.
"Wow. This is a little much… Is he going to be all right? I mean, he's just a kid… He's clever and a bit precocious, hell, I was too, but… He's not going to die is he?"
Loki bit his lip.
"That is the real reason I pulled you in here. Death… Death is known to be a very picky lover… She doesn't easily take a liking to someone. But when she does… it comes with certain conditions."
Tony got up again and walked to Loki, looking concerned. He put his hand on the god's shoulder.
"Stop being mysterious. Please. I love you and no matter what it is I will still love you. Just tell me what's going to happen before I self-combust in tension here."
"He can't die anymore, Tony."
Tony's eyes widened.
"You mean… he's immortal? That's… Err…"
Loki shook his head.
"Death will not claim him. It's not immortality like me and Thor possess… It's different. Our constitution is simply resilient to the passing of time. Peter's… not so much. But I have felt that Death has changed something inside him. More than one thing, I'm afraid."
"Will he still grow older?"
"To a certain age, like me and Thor… You can't tell him, Tony. You are his warden, his surrogate father almost, so I found you deserved to know, but he's too young to be burdened with something like this. He's too young to be Death's lover…"
"I don't know Loki… it seems like a pretty big thing to keep from someone…"
Loki shook his head, trembling all of a sudden. When he looked up Tony recognized the fear that accompanied a flashback.
"No one can know, Tony… If they would know… So would… s-so would Thanos…"
Tony wrapped his arms tightly around Loki, and the god crumbled in his embrace, crying all of a sudden.
"I… I d-don't w-want Them to f-find me…"
"He won't find you. I protect you remember? No one will hurt you."
Tony hadn't heard of this Thanos type before, but he supposed it was the leader of the mysterious "They" that had tortured Loki. Many things were unclear to him, but Loki was in no state to be questioned…
"T-The wrath… of a scorned lover… is unparalleled in destruction, Tony… He will come… He will come for Peter… but… h-he will find me as well… T-they will find me…"
"They won't. I will keep it a secret; no one ever has to know what really happened. He won't find you, ever."
Loki sobbed, and Tony led him to the bed.
"Come, let's go to sleep. It's been a hectic day for both of us."
Tony had to hold Loki through more than one nightmare… He didn't want to think what it would be like if they weren't in this protective dream-dimension. From what he had understood of the whole explanation, Peter had fucked Hela, and accidentally also Death, and with that he had caused himself immortality. So far so good, only Death had while doing so cheated on her partner –why else had Loki spoken of "a lover scorned"- and that partner was apparently not the nicest guy. Even worse, the guy was somehow related to Loki's torture, and this whole endeavor might just lead his tormentors back to his front door. All in all, no good news… While Loki cried in his sleep, Tony was lying awake in the dream dimension, pondering over this messy situation…
(Author's Notes)
So... Peter has made himself a pretty bad enemy, and he doesn't even know (yet). Loki has a point with not telling Peter; we all know what happens to young people convinced they're invulnerable... I wonder if Loki has thought about Hela, and about the fact she won't be under sedation forever... If anyone could tell Peter of his new "condition" it would be her...
So... Suggestions, critics, comments? Please REVIEW! I hope you didn't think my descriptions of apocalyptic Ragnarok-ish situations too lame... Also don't worry about Peter going male Mary Sue all of a sudden, if anything I'm going to throw even more trouble at his head...
REVIEW PLEASE, I ask you again! I update this story during my exam period, this is asking quite a lot from me and I would appreciate a little bit of acknowledging for that...
PS: Hulk-hug for the whole group and jaquelinelittle... And a batch of Frigga's chocolate chip cookies for TheSillyKitten and LadyoftheWeirdwood! (jaquelinelittle can have cookies too xD)