While the tunnel may have been long, Max was pleased that there was some sort of light source at last. It filtered in through random holes in the ceiling, and although there was a considerable distance to the street level above, Max could hear more of the outside world now than she had since they hopped onto the tracks. Loki's frustration with the sewer system seemed to have ebbed temporarily, and he was more focused on finding the endpoint to the cluster of heavy-duty wires running down the center of the circular corridor. He plucked a string every so often, pausing to listen to the sound the vibration made, and then carried on. Max heard nothing discernible about it, but she assumed he had godly hearing—or something to that effect.

She tightened her grip on him when he slipped, losing his footing over the increasingly slippery siding.

"Maybe we should go back?" she suggested as he straightened up, knocking her head against the ceiling. Wincing, she ducked down as much as she could. "I mean, we don't even know if this goes anywhere worthwhile… That place with all the other tunnels seemed better than this."

"We're getting somewhere," he muttered. "I cannot be sure where, but I feel as though this is the direction we ought to take."

"Right."

Max resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but once again reminded herself that she was in no position to question him about directions. After all, he had basically been carrying her for two days now—she couldn't complain about anything ever again.

Loki walked more carefully this time, a hand hovering over the nearest wire. It wasn't long before they reached a break in the monotonous scenery, and he paused as the tunnel spilled into a much larger circular area. The light from the world above didn't quite filter in as much as she would have liked, and the walls were coated in shadow. The wires continued across to the other side, where it appeared that the tunnel resumed, and Max could see dull beams of light trickling onto more wire. Between them and the other side was a dark pool of water, into which a stream trickled.

Max bit her lip as she peered forward. "That looks deep."

"Yes," Loki agreed, glancing up and curving his long fingers over the edge of the tunnel. "It appears far deeper than I would like to tread through."

She almost suggested turning back again, but Loki appeared to have another idea.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, squishing down against his back as he starting to climb onto the wires.

"This seems to be the most reasonable way to cross—"

"No," she snapped, gritting her teeth when he knocked her head again. "No, it doesn't!"

The wires groaned and dipped under their combined weight, and Max locked her limbs around him anxiously until he found his balance.

"There," he chuckled, inching forward with painful slowness. "No sudden movements and I believe we shall be just fine."

"I'd just like to say upfront that I'm one hundred percent against this—"

"Hush, woman."

She sighed pointedly in his ear, which he seemed to ignore. He held both arms out and continued to inch along, a foot balancing on each wire. Max shot a nervous look toward the dark pool ahead of them and gripped him tightly, her muscles clenching when he finally stepped out of the tunnel. The ceiling was much higher here, so high that Loki was able to stand up straight and take a moment to gather his bearings. He still leaned forward, clearly preferring to fall forward rather than backward, and for that she was thankful.

"This isn't so bad," he mused.

"Just keep walking." She tried not to sound pushy, but the sooner they were over the giant black pool of death, the better. He nodded, arms still out, and Max suddenly realized she was breathing in shallow, uneven breaths.

Suddenly, something squished between her body and Loki's—it felt like an arm. Max shrieked when something—or someone—dragged her upward, and she let go of Loki in shock before she even realized what she was doing. Up she flew, a strong arm around her, and she screamed as something massive barreled out from the shadowy wall and tackled Loki off the wires.

"Loki!"

Everything happened so quickly, and she watched the dark mass consisting of Loki and an attacker slam into the stone wall on the other side of the chamber, breaking through like it was nothing but cardboard. With her only source of defense currently occupied (and quite noisily so), Max turned back to her own situation, wriggling and twisting in the arms of whoever had her.

"Stop moving!"

The voice was human (male), but how could she know for sure? Those aliens sounded just like people most of the time too.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, pushing at the arm around her and digging her nails into the thin fabric of the man's shirt. Just as she reached for the gun in her pocket, she twisted far enough that her attacker lost his grip on her, and Max plummeted back down onto the wires. She hit all four with such force that she actually bounced back up a little and tumbled over the side into the pool.

"Loki!"

She cried for him as the current took hold of her and sucked her under. She kept her eyes open, trying to keep her head above the water, but she didn't have the strength to combat the force dragging her down. When she called for Loki, the sound was gargled with water, and she was pulled under for the last time.

A body broke the surface as she sunk down into the murky water, and her hands groped upward when she saw something vague swimming toward her. At this point, she didn't have the luxury to be choosy: she didn't want to die, and if her rescuer was one of them, so be it. She took hold of the mass of red and blue, wrapping her arms around a slim, muscular chest, and held tight as they shot toward the surface—like they were being pulled by a rope of some kind.

Max gasped for air once they breached the surface of the pool, and her attacker—or rescuer—pushed her toward the cement edge. She clambered out gracelessly and cowered back against the wall, eyes wide and heart racing. There was a massive hole in the wall itself, and she assumed this was where Loki's attacker waited until Max had been taken. In fact, she could actually see artificial light in the corridor beyond.

The water sloshed noisily as her attacker dragged himself out, and Max scrambled away when she realized he was wearing a mask. In fact, she couldn't see a single piece of skin anywhere on him—just red and blue and black, expect for a pair large white eyes. She screamed again when he crawled forward, though the sound was nothing more than a breathless wail.

"It's okay!" he insisted, holding up his hands. "Hey, it's okay!"

She continued to back away, slipping on the wet siding and almost tumbling back into the pool, but she stopped when he pulled off his mask.

"Hey," he started again, tossing the garment aside as he also panted. "It's okay… I don't want to hurt you. I mean…" He took a breath, swallowing thickly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Her eyes swept over his face—he was just a kid. With a wet mass of thick brown hair, he couldn't be older than twenty, and that was being generous.

"My name's Peter," he told her softly, and Max turned quickly when she heard Loki grunt from the other side of the hall. Something cracked noisily, like a rock being split in two.

Suddenly, the guy's hand was on her wrist, and she pushed him away with all her might, crawling back a little further. She glanced down at his chest and, in the light that filtered in from the nearby hole, she saw an insignia of sorts.

"Oh my god," she muttered, leaning forward a little to scrutinize the image. "You're… You're that guy from the news, that… the…"

"The spider-man?" he offered, and she nodded. Ben had forced her to read about him when he first broke onto the news scene, though she, like many, didn't believe the footage was real. Even now, she couldn't imagine the thin kid sitting in front of her to be the same guy who battled a giant lizard in Manhattan.

"Peter," he said again. "My name's Peter."

She was about to offer hers, but stopped when Loki stumbled out of the other hole without his attacker. He then leapt across the entire chamber, clearing the wires and pool before landing directly between her and her newfound superhero. He then hoisted Peter up by the neck and hurled him into the hole, teeth gritted and eyes wide.

"Wait, wait," she called, reaching out for him before he murdered the Spider-man. "Wait, he's on our side!"

Just as she was about to grab him, she slipped into the pool again, but Loki hauled her out before she had a chance to panic. He set her down in the hole, far from the pool, and crouched in front of her. Somewhere behind her, she heard Peter groan.

"Are you alright?" he asked, running his hands over her face and arms and shoulders, eyes sweeping her for injuries. She nodded, grasping both of his hands and holding them against her cheeks. It was then she noticed that his lip was split.

"Are you?"

"Of course," he muttered, stroking her skin with his thumbs. "What came after me was not human—"

"Hey," came a gruff voice at the entrance of the hole. "I'm more human than you are, pal."

Loki straightened up immediately, and Max scuttled behind him—horrified—as a giant creature strode toward them. He looked like he was completely made of rock, though she saw a pair of shorts hugging his waist. As Loki prepared himself for the attack with Max hiding behind his leg, Peter reappeared, stepping between the two foes with his arms outstretched.

"Guys, guys, let's just cool it," he said quickly, looking between them both. "We're all human here… sort of."

She arched an eyebrow at him when he looked down at her, a small smile on his lips.

"I'm Peter," he repeated with a hand on his chest, this time for Loki's benefit, "and this is Ben. We're sorry that we attacked you… We thought you were… the other guys."

"Well we're not," Max insisted, wrapping her arm around Loki's leg when it seemed like he was going to lunge at both of them. He shot her an irritated look, clearly unhappy to be cowed.

"Okay, and neither are we," Peter said slowly. "We gave our names, so…"

"I'm Max," she offered, and then nodded toward Loki, "and his name is Loki."

"Nice to meet you." Peter extended his hand for Loki to shake, but he simply stared down at the boy with an unimpressed expression. "Okay then."

"Wait a minute… Loki?" The rock creature known now as Ben took a step forward. "Loki as in… the asshole who tried to level Manhattan a couple of years ago? The guy the Avengers dealt with?"

"You seem well-informed," Loki purred, his head cocked to the side. "Are you another one of Fury's lackeys? Or are you simply a S.H.I.E.L.D. experiment gone awry?"

Max braced herself when Ben started forward, but once again Peter played the referee.

"Look, we can stand here and fight and destroy more of the sewer line," he reasoned, "or we can go somewhere safe. We're hauled up in an apartment building on Central Park West. There's food and water and shelter—"

"Hey, since when were we extending the hospitality?" Ben demanded, nudging Peter with a thick, rocky finger. "It ain't your building, kid."

"We'll be finding our own shelter, anyway," Loki told them stiffly. "We have no use for handouts."

Max's stomach gurgled in protest. The thought of somewhere safe and clean, stocked with food and normal people, was too appealing to turn down. However, before she could try to reason with Loki, Peter made his most persuasive argument yet.

"Look," he started, pointing down at Max, "she isn't going to make it out here much longer. She looks like she's about to pass out… Ben's friends are doctors—"

"Not that kind of doctor—"

"But they can fix her up," Peter argued, turning back to address his companion. "I mean, we have some first aid kits… and he could be useful." He thumbed Loki over his shoulder.

"No." Loki sounded even less keen now than he did before. "I'm not useful to you—"

"Loki," she whispered, tugging on his pants hard enough that he looked down at her. "Please?"

"Come on, man," she heard Peter say to Ben. "We can't just leave her down here to die."

"You don't know who these people are, Max," Loki whispered, ducking down to speak to her on her level. "They could be just as bad as the rest of them… It's better if we find our own shelter."

"No, no, he's the Spider-man," she told him, glancing up at Peter and nodding. "He's a superhero… He fought a giant lizard that was trying to take over the city."

Even with the shadows across his face, she could see the skepticism. "Fought a lizard?"

"It was on the news," she said sheepishly. He ought to believe that sort of stuff, considering he was technically a god from another planet. "Anyway, we should find more people like you."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Like me?"

"You know," she continued, pointing between him and the other two, "superhuman… type… people."

For a moment, he looked like he wanted to laugh at her. Instead, he sighed deeply.

"Max—"

"I just want a bed tonight."

"They could be anyone—"

"He had the mask and costume—"

"Anyone can wear a mask."

"I can prove that I'm who she says I am," Peter interjected, which made Loki grit his teeth. They both looked back at him, and the man darted toward the nearest stone wall and started to climb, completely unaided by any sort of strings or pulleys. Instead, he scaled the wall with the tips of his fingers, and Max smiled triumphantly up at Loki.

"See?"

Loki looked between both of them, the same severe expression on his face. It was then that she realized she was shivering, chilled to the bone from her soaked clothing and hair, and Loki touched her arm, which was covered in goosebumps.

"We will accept your hospitality," he said stiffly, scooping his arms under her knees and around her back. Max let out an embarrassing squeal when he hoisted her up, and even if this was a little more demeaning, Max preferred to be carried like so instead of clinging to his back: her legs had had enough.

"We've got about a half-hour walk that way," Ben grunted, pushing by Peter and glowering at Loki as he passed.

When he marched through the light cast by a flickering light bulb, which appeared to be set over a control panel of some kind in the wall, Max studied him. Peter may have said they were all sort of humans, but she couldn't see an ounce of humanity in the guy: he was completely made of light brown—almost orange—rock. Yes, there appeared to be ten fingers and toes, but that was the extent of it. She couldn't see his ears, nor did he have hair, and he lumbered along rather than walked.

Loki blocked Peter's path before he could catch up with Ben, and Max glanced up hesitantly at him.

"If you even think of attacking either of us again," he said softly, "I will slaughter both of you."

"He's kidding," Max chuckled, patting Loki's chest. "Totally kidding."

"I'm really not." Loki took a step toward him. "I mean it, Spider-man."

"Yeah, of course," Peter babbled. "Truce for now… We're all in this together." He gave a nervous laugh. "You know, that sort of thing."

Peter darted around them and jogged after Ben. He paused briefly to grab a knapsack from a crevice, from which he pulled out a flashlight, and then slung the bag over his shoulder. Loki watched them for a moment as Max tried to figure out where to put her arms—around his neck? In the end, she tucked them up to her chest, using the heat to warm herself. Her feet were actually starting to sting now—more than before, anyway—and she just wanted to sit somewhere soft and rip the damn duct tape off.

And eat. And sleep. And shower. And brush her hair. And wallow.

She sighed.

"You know," she muttered when Loki finally started to follow their new companions down what looked like some abandoned mining shaft one might see on a TV show, "you could try being nicer."

"No."

The way he spoke was enough to keep her follow-up comment to herself, and Max bit her lower lip as she readjusted her arms again.

Fine. She wasn't asking for him to be best friends with everyone they ran in to, but they weren't going to survive without the occasional helping hand from the ones who were willing to give it. She glanced up at him, but he looked too focused on the other two to even notice her anymore.

She felt so small in his arms.

Loki tried not to look at her, to keep his attention on the two creatures ahead of him, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. With her stamina decreasing over each passing hour, Loki wondered just how long she would last until she succumbed to her injuries. In fact, he was surprised—and a little proud—that she had lasted this long.

In the beginning, Max was the last person he wanted to see on his third, and hopefully final, venture to this abysmal realm. She was a reminder of a time where he was actually content with his lot in life, when he could spend a day in bed with a woman and not feel guilt or regret. She was the blissful summer afternoon showing up in the middle of a hailstorm, and Loki would have preferred she stay a happy memory. But then she spoke. She yelled at him, her anger drudging up emotions he had buried long ago, and then he realized he didn't want her to go. She woke him up again.

No, Loki realized he needed her. She had helped him survive on Earth before, and even if she was nothing more than a silent supporter, he knew that she would help him comb through the darkness once more. With his strength returning, he knew he needn't be a prisoner for long—not when he had someone on his side. He was lucky to have her with him, and once she yanked that horrible device out of his mouth, Max Wright proved her worth. His loyalty and affection for the human woman ran deep—deeper than he expected, anyway—and he wasn't about to leave her in the mess his foolishness had created.

She was more or less the same as he remembered. Her hair was longer, her face a little older, but she looked like the woman who crawled into his bed after a long day at school and complained about cafeteria workers ruining her lunch. She was the same woman who cut his hair, who brought him footwear when he ran from their home in a rage—barefoot and stupid. Her smile was different these days. Before, she gave it so freely and willingly, and Loki had wanted to keep her grins all to himself. Over the last few days, her smiles were rare and half-hearted.

He needed to constantly remind himself that she was not accustomed to war. While he could wipe out a contingent of soldiers without a care, Max shrieked over vermin and cried over violence. She was strong, stronger than people would give her credit for, but there was only so much an inexperienced human could take in a situation like this. It was difficult to be patient with her, to tolerate her inability to see the bad in her fellow man, but he vowed to try.

Once, long ago, he considered taking her away from this realm. They could travel the universe together, she and he, and he imagined that she would go willingly. As he carried her on his back for these last endless hours, Loki realized his thoughts on that particular situation hadn't changed much. He would leave this place. If he could escape undetected while the Pagurolid race devoured the planet, he would have her in tow with her curiosity and naivety and outward delight for his magic. She had laughed before and asked him if he had lost his mind, but now that her world was crumbling—and would surely fall—Loki suspected she would sing him a different tune when he made the proposition again.

He wished they hadn't gone along with Peter the Spider-man and Ben the abomination. When the rock creature first attacked him, Loki thought something had exploded and he was hit with the aftermath of the destroyed sewer system. Much to his surprise, the rocks moved—and they threw a good punch. The only way he was able to beat his foe was to out-dance him, to be the faster fighter, and Loki had always been so nimble on his feet. After making his escape, he saw to Max, and while she looked wetter and not bloodier, he knew she was exhausted. The boy might become a problem, but Max appeared to know something about him that Loki did not. He wasn't willing to trust them, but he could trust her.

Stark Tower would have been the ideal base. It was a building Loki actually knew in this mammoth city, and with all of Stark's advanced technology, he might have been able to contact someone who could be of use. Unfortunately, all those plans fell to the wayside when the boy mentioned Max's poor health, and Loki realized he couldn't push her anymore.

It would have been faster to leave her behind. He could have been across the city by now, fighting his way through Pagurolids in order to find an escape. But leaving her hardly even felt like an option, no matter how much she occasionally irked him.

He wouldn't call it love. No, not love—he lost that with her when they were torn apart. However, beneath the anger and the malice and the broken outer shell, Loki's affection for her remained almost entirely untouched.

They needed to get out of this realm—fast.

She jolted upward, inhaling sharply and struggling a little. He looked down at her again, noticing the way her eyes darted around wildly, and readjusted his grip so that she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"I think I fell asleep," she muttered, rubbing her eyes and breathing heavily. "At least… I hope I was asleep."

"You were," he assured her quietly. "Whatever it was you saw, it was a dream."

She nodded. He had been wondering when she might start having nightmares; her mind was probably saturated with the horrors she had seen these last few days, and she would need to learn to get through them on her own.

"Good." She stretched her back, arching her chest forward and then leaning her head against him. "How long was I out for?"

"Not long." The tunnel was almost as monotonous a march as the sewer pipes had been, but at least he could stand straight here. He cleared his throat and called out to the boy, who had been keeping a safe distance from him.

"How much longer, Spider-man?"

"Don't call him that," Max muttered, smirking a little in the dull lighting. "He may not like it."

"I don't care whether he likes it," he said in return, careful to keep his tone light. She wasn't truly chastising him, after all. The boy slowed somewhat, but he still stayed an arm-length away from Loki.

"Maybe another ten minutes," he told them, using his flashlight to highlight the route they needed to take. Ben carried on as if he was the only one in the tunnel, never once glancing back to check on the rest of the party. "We go up some stairs and through a door, and then we're in the basement of the building."

"So, it's all a big secret then?" Max asked, sounding less drowsy now. "You guys have been able to move around without them knowing?"

"So far, yeah," the boy said with a nod. He readjusted the thick strap over his shoulder, and Loki wondered what he was carrying around. "We've taken the precautions to keep the other guys out… For a while, it looked like they were going building to building to get all the people into the park. I was just lucky that I was in the neighbourhood and Reed took me in."

"Reed?"

"Reed Richards," the boy clarified as he pointed at the creature's back. "He's Ben's friend, and we worked together as Oscorp last year."

"His name sounds familiar," Max insisted, which made the boy chuckle.

"It should… A week doesn't go by where Reed Richards doesn't make the paper for something or another."

"Oh my god, he's in the—"

"Fantastic Four?"

Max paused, worrying over her lower lip. "Well, I was going to say restoration society who worked on all the old nuclear testing sites recently, but… yeah, that's ringing a bell too."

Loki spoke up briefly. "Should I be aware of this… Fantastic—"

"Is that… the Thing?" Max carried on, cutting him off as she gestured toward their fourth companion. The boy wrinkled his nose, holding a finger over his lips.

"Yeah, but don't call him that."

"Holy shit."

"It really grates on his nerves."

"I can't believe it."

"And I'm sure you noticed he has a pretty limited temper with strangers."

"Spider-man and the Fantastic Four."

"Yeah."

"That's just…"

"I know."

"I mean—"

"Enough!" Loki snapped, silencing both of their pointless babbling. He rolled his eyes. "Were you being honest when you claimed to have supplies?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely," the boy insisted. He seemed to prefer speaking to Max, but that was more of a luxury in Loki's eyes. "They bought this massive apartment building and converted it into three different apartment suites, a lab, a testing facility… with four or five kitchens. We should be good in there for a while."

"Okay, so what was with the wires then?" Max asked, pointing a thumb over Loki's shoulder.

"We're filling all the nearby tunnels with them," the boy explained, "and when someone walks along them like you did, we'll be able to detect them. It's sort of a… cheap security system that we don't have to waste expenses on."

"Ah."

"I mean, aside from my webbing," he muttered, briefly touching his right wrist with a frown, "but safety's worth more than that."

When Max said nothing in return, Loki looked down at her. She appeared perplexed, her forehead wrinkled and eyes unfocused, but he chose not to comment on it. Instead, he started walking faster, closing the distance between them and the rock creature with the boy lagging behind.

Sure enough, they came upon a set of stone stairs that climbed up along the side of a wall. With a metal railing for support, Loki wondered if this was always meant to be some sort of escape route from the building should the occupants ever need one. Ben only barely fit through the archway, shoving the metal door open with his massive hands. Loki ducked slightly to get through, and once he passed under, it was like stepping from one world to another. The sewers—and most of the train tunnels—felt humid and uncomfortable, even to his toughened skin. The basement, on the other hand, was cool and clean—not a hint of debris or rat in sight. Max tugged her body up by his shirt, sitting straighter and head darting around to take in the new sights, and Loki heard the boy lock the door behind them.

The one element that did look damaged was the elevator shaft. Loki had been in several during his various visits to Earth, and none of their doors were permanently bent open with the car sitting outside.

"What happened here?" Max asked as she nodded toward the damaged elevator car.

"We took out the elevators," the rock creature insisted. "Didn't want somebody getting into it that wasn't supposed to… We also welded the doors on the first couple stairwells shut. I'm sure they've tried getting in to the building, but there's no way it's been easy."

"So how do you get out?"

"This is the only way," the boy told her, darting around them and throwing his bag into the abandoned elevator. "This or off the roof, actually."

"Oh."

"How clever," Loki droned. He knew he ought to give credit where credit was due, especially if these people were about to fix Max. Ben shot him a look, his small eyes narrowing somewhat, but said nothing.

The boy reached inside the elevator shaft and knocked on something. Moments later, Loki watched the space light up with various small patches of light in the walls, and he moved closer for a better look. There appeared to be two thick cables swinging down in the middle of the shaft, and he assumed he would be climbing them in order to get anywhere in this building.

"We can use the stairwell about four floors up," the boy told him, "but it's faster to just go at it like this."

"Hurray," Max grumbled, practically curling inward in his arms. "So glad I took my super strength pills today."

"I will be carrying you, obviously," he said. He then rolled his eyes somewhat at her dramatics.

"Actually," the boy interjected, "I thought it would be easier if I took her… You probably need both hands to climb."

"Max will be perfectly fine on my back," Loki said tightly. He scoffed: as if he was going to hand over her well-being to some stranger.

"Yeah, and I'm sure on a good day she could hold on for a couple of minutes, but today's not a good day," the boy carried on. "Look, I can hold her with one arm and scale the elevator with the other. It'll be better for her—"

"How about we not talk about her like she isn't here," Max added, squirming in Loki's arms. He assumed she wanted to be set down, but he still wasn't completely comfortable with the idea. "Peter, let's just do this."

"Max…"

"It's fine," she murmured as he gently set her grey-coated feet back on the ground. "I'm fine."

He didn't trust them, but he had to trust her. He needed to trust someone. He took a deep breath, hovering around her as she limped over to the boy and wrapped her arms around his neck. She seemed so fragile in that moment, and Loki bit his cheek to keep from yanking her back and doing everything himself. Instead, he simply watched as the boy took a few steps closer to opening of the elevator shaft, and then pointed his arm up into it.

"You ready?"

Max nodded quickly. "Yup."

"I've got you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Here we go…"

Loki watched as a rope-like material shot from the boy's wrist. Spurting out from the ridiculous outfit, the same substance as the wires in the sewer snaked up, and moments later, Max disappeared with a shrill cry. He darted forward, peering up the chute and seeing the pair fly up, pulled along by the rope—which had found its anchor on the wall countless floors up. The Spider-man stopped suddenly, which made Max's nervous laughter echo all the way back down to the basement, and Loki watched the boy swing them both into an opening (he assumed into a door) and disappear.

"You just gonna stand there?"

He turned back slowly to glare at the rock creature, who nodded toward the swinging cables.

"Get climbing, bub."

Loki's lip twitched, but he turned nonetheless and peered into the vertical corridor. There was still a bit of a drop below should he fall, but that was hardly a concern with his strength returning. So, he took a running jump at the cables, wrapping his arms and legs around them on the first try. He then started to shimmy up, staring fixedly at the location where he last saw Max. Halfway through the climb, the boy swung down to greet him—Loki understood where his nickname came from.

"Do you want a lift?"

"I assure you, I am far heavier than she was," Loki grunted. The climb wasn't necessarily tiring, but it also wasn't the most enjoyable activity he had ever partaken in. "I will be just fine."

"Are you sure?" The boy climbed up his webbing, standing perfectly upright as Loki carried on. "I've held a car with this before."

"Where is Max?" Loki asked, preferring to change the subject rather than argue. It would only frustrate him more.

"She's with Sue."

"Who?"

"Reed's partner," the boy replied. "She's going to help Max with her feet… Why did she duct tape them?"

"I… You'll need to ask her that," Loki muttered, using longer strides now to move faster. The boy shrugged and then shot back up, disappearing into the opening. Loki estimated he had about four more floors to clear, and he managed to do it in a timely manner.

Unfortunately, once he reached the opening, he was at a loss about how to get over there. He started swinging on the cable, but was once again begrudgingly grateful when the boy extended a hand to help him get out of the shaft completely.

He found himself in a foyer lined with tile and cream-coloured walls. There was a small table with copious amounts of envelopes and a rug that he found distasteful. Max was nowhere to be seen, and as he straightened himself out, he could hear Ben starting the climb from the basement level.

"Where is she?"

"She's in here."

The voice came from the man Loki assumed to be Reed Richards. He was a thin, lean man with black hair and a smattering of facial scruff. There was some authority to the way he stalked down the hall toward them, and when he held out his hand for Loki to grasp, he actually did it this time.

"Reed Richards," he said, his grip weak in Loki's palm. "Do you need any medical assistance?"

"No," he said, forcing a small smile. "No, I won't ever need any of that."

The man frowned, but seemed not to question it. Instead, he gestured for Loki to follow him down the hall. They turned into a large room lit by very low lighting that smelled like garlic, but even in a room lit only by a few lamps, Loki spotted Max.

The space reminded him of their apartment in Masonville: the sitting area and the kitchen were essentially one, and they were divided by a grand countertop island. The key difference between this room and the one he had lived in for so many months was that there was good quality furniture as far as the eye could see. Max was seated on a couch that appeared well-kept and clean, and everything actually matched, right down to the decorations on the walls.

"Hey," she greeted as he stalked across the room, his eyes flickering toward the woman kneeling in front of her, "what a climb, huh?"

He smiled, opting to stand behind her with a hand on the nape of her neck. The woman—he assumed this was the "Sue" the boy spoke of—was slim like her man, but her hair was ashen and her features were fairer. She looked tired as she assessed the small scratches on Max's hands.

"This is my partner, Sue," Reed told him unnecessarily. The woman glanced up and smiled, but quickly resumed her examination of Max. "I don't think I caught your name."

Loki pursed his lips, bracing himself for the reaction that the rock creature had—clearly his name still carried some weight here.

"Loki."

Reed's thick eyebrows shot up and he folded his arms across his chest. "Loki… Loki, the destroyer of Manhattan?"

"The very same," he remarked stiffly, his hand drifting to Max's shoulder as she shifted. "I cannot say that the name rings true this time around."

Sue continued to work on Max as the silence dragged on, getting her to stand briefly so that she could flex her arms and legs. Reed, on the other hand, observed Loki, who did the same. The man seemed pensive, not aggressive like his deformed companion, and after a few moments of contemplation, he finally spoke again.

"You're on Nick Fury's shit list."

Loki's eyebrows shot up. He then let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not all that surprised."

Reed's smile was cautious, and Loki noticed the way his shoulders slumped down when he exhaled.

"Hey," the man said with a shrug, "so am I."

"Did you also try to destroy an entire city?" It was Max who asked, and Loki shot her a look as Sue helped her settle back down on the couch. She smirked up at him, and in that moment he wanted to kiss her. Instead, he swallowed down the urge, bringing his hand back to rest on her shoulder. Now wasn't the time.

"I wouldn't work for his agency," Reed told her, "and I still won't… He's a very persistent man."

"Hungry for power," Loki added, which made the man nod.

Max cried out suddenly, shooting forward and batting Sue's hands away from her feet.

"Sorry, sorry, that just really hurt," she babbled, hands in fists as she leaned against the back of the couch. "Sorry."

"Why on Earth would you put duct tape on open wounds?" the woman demanded. It was in her voice that Loki saw her age. She and Reed were both middle-aged, but Reed's years were etched in the grey highlights in his dark hair. Sue, on the other hand, was a lovely woman by human standards, but her voice held wisdom—maturity. "These could be infected now."

"I panicked," Max said sheepishly. "I'm not… I'm not really in the best headspace right now."

"She hasn't eaten anything properly in two days," Loki insisted, feeling the need to defend her in front of the newcomers. "It is a mere wonder she's awake right now."

"There's a pizza in the oven," Reed told him, "and macaroni and cheese on the stove… It'll be ready in twenty minutes or so."

Max nodded, and Loki could only imagine her colossal hunger pains: his appetite was nonstop as a human, but it had receded back to its original state now that he was fully restored.

"This needs to come off now," Sue muttered, pushing herself to her feet and running a hand through her hair. "I'll get some scissors and antiseptic creams… Hopefully there isn't too much damage."

Loki watched the panic set in across Max's face as the woman hurried out of the room, and he tightened his grip on her shoulder. She grabbed his hand, taking a few calming breaths.

"Why is Fury displeased with you?" he inquired as the silence lagged, hoping some conversation would distract her. Reed rolled his eyes.

"Sue and I decided after Valeria was born that we would only work legal jobs," he explained, glancing up at the door as his woman jogged back in. "You can't take the kind of work Fury has when you've got kids."

"Is that why you guys aren't doing anything?" Max asked weakly as Sue kneeled in front of her. "I mean, about the alien invasion."

"We—"

"Aren't you supposed to be superheroes?" Loki frowned when he heard the way her voice trembled. "Don't you… save cities and stuff?"

Loki knew what she wanted, what she saw in him now. She saw him and these people as extra-human, as individuals who would sweep in to save the day. Unfortunately, as Loki looked between Reed and Sue—and thought back to the wiry boy and the rock creature—he didn't see warriors. They weren't fighters—not the kind needed to fend off an invasion, anyway.

"Max," he said gently, "hush."

"Give me your foot," Sue murmured, taking the limb gently and setting it in her lap. "This is going to be painful."

Max's hand tightened around his again, her nails digging into his flesh.

"You can stay here as long as you need to," Reed told them. "We could always use a man of your… ability."

"I am not a defensive strategy—"

"We've got that covered," Reed insisted, nodding back to the doorway. Loki looked over his shoulder and spied the rock creature lurking. They made eye contact briefly before the creature stalked off, grumbling loudly.

"I see."

"It's helpful to know you'd be good in a fight," the man continued. Max whimpered. "That's all."

"Ow!"

"It doesn't seem infected…" Loki leaned forward to watch what the woman was doing to Max. She appeared to be peeling the tape off slowly, using some sort of oil to aid the process. "You're really lucky—"

"Yeah, that's me," Max ground out through gritted teeth. "All luck."

"But I'm going to need to wrap these after I clean them," Sue sighed, shaking her head. "It's going to really hurt."

"Okay." Max shut her eyes and dug her nails further into Loki's skin, every muscle taut under Sue's ministrations.

"We have some rules for the building that everyone has to follow," Reed started, perhaps also realizing Max could use the distraction. Loki arched a curious eyebrow. "Don't go in the labs without us… I know it'll be tempting, but there's dangerous stuff in there."

"Consider my curiosity leashed," Loki droned.

"We try to use the water and electric at night," the man continued, checking each rule off on a finger. "If they're monitoring utilities while they look for people, they'll notice spikes during the day when the prices are highest. Also, any lights that are on have to stay on. We want to building to look abandoned, which means no going near the windows during the day, and no ventures onto the roof."

"A rule Peter needs to start sticking to," Sue grumbled, snipping away some excess tape. "You need to tell him, Reed."

"Yeah," the man said absently, "I will."

"We will abide by whatever rules you have set in place," Loki promised.

He wasn't there to cause problems, nor did he want any to arise because of this new alliance. However, as he surveyed Reed and Sue interact, talking about the best way to proceed with Max's feet, he decided that they could have stumbled into worse people to seek shelter from. The rock creature—Ben, he reminded himself irritably—might prove to be an annoyance, but that seemed to be the way of this realm.

Ben: always a problem.

"How are your feet?" Loki inquired, one arm around Max's waist as his other hand helped her balance. They climbed the well-lit, clean stairwell of Reed's tower slowly, as it was the only safe way for her to travel to get to their new lodgings. She let out a long sigh, clearly focused on taking it one step at a time.

"Better," she managed tightly, wincing when she put too much pressure on the fresh, thick bandages. "It's nice to have some padding… Your wife did a really good job."

"She's not my…" Reed trailed off behind them, and cleared his throat. "I'll pass the message along."

It took a painfully long time to remove every last bit of tape from Max's feet, and afterward, Sue dressed her wounds with as much precision as she could. Despite not being a medical doctor, the woman did a perfectly fine job. By then, their dinner had finished cooking, but Loki and Max were treated to separate showers and a clean set of clothing before they ate anything. It felt glorious to be clean again, and although Reed's pants were a little tight, they were not a horrible fit—they were close in height, which made things easier. Max opted for a baggy sweater and fresh track pants, preferring the comfort of Johnny Storm's—Sue's brother, who Loki had yet to meet—clothes to Sue's smaller attire.

Their first proper meal in days was in silence. Max's eyes had bags beneath them, and several times Loki worried she might fall asleep in her food. However, she continued to impress him by getting through three pieces of pizza before professing to be stuffed.

Along with Sue's brother, Loki had not been acquainted with the two children of the tower yet either, but he assumed that was for precautionary measures. They were hidden away on their floor with their uncle, and Loki figured they would meet once their parents decided Loki and Max were not a threat. Perhaps tomorrow.

There was much that Loki wished to discuss with Reed, who seemed like a perfectly reasonable and thoughtful human, but that would also need to wait. The tower residents were eager to depart to their dark bedrooms for the night, away from windows that might give them up to outsiders, and Max was at the very end of her rope. So, Reed offered to show them to a floor that was built initially for visiting family members, but was now Loki and Max's residence until they saw fit to leave. He thanked the man privately for his generosity, though he kept his appreciation brief.

It took an age to get up there with Max walking, and Loki simply wanted to carry her. However, she seemed keen to go on her own now that she had her raw feet wrapped in countless layers of gauze and bandages. When they finally reached the door on the second highest floor of the tower, Loki and Max seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief.

"The kitchen is on the floor below," Reed insisted as they entered the dark hallway. "It isn't really stocked with much, but you can move some food up to the fridge if you'd like."

"We will discuss that tomorrow," Loki insisted.

"It's just two bedrooms and a sitting room on this floor," the man continued. "Let me know if you need anything."

"You've done more than enough."

Max hobbled toward one of the open doorways, using the light from the stairwell for guidance. Loki, meanwhile, exchanged a nod with Reed and wished him a pleasant sleep—the courtesy felt necessary. When the man finally disappeared, the entire floor was shrouded in darkness, and Loki used the light from the giant window at the end of the hall to find his way around.

Like Reed said, there were two bedrooms on the right side of the corridor, and Max already seemed to have made herself at home in one. When Loki checked in on her, he saw her seated on a small bed in the corner, her hands in her lap and her eyes closed. Nodding, he carried on to the next room, which appeared similar in size, but had three large windows that took up an entire wall. With the light from nearby buildings illuminating the space, he spied another small bed, a dresser, and a desk with no chair. There also appeared to be a bathroom that connected the two rooms, but Max's door was closed.

As he stalked back into the hall, he heard her gently shut her bedroom door, blocking him out completely. He stared at the dark barrier for a moment before taking the hint and returning to his room.

Sometime later, he heard her sobbing—horrible, gut-wrenching weeping that permeated through the walls and doors between them. He tore himself away from the window and was in the bathroom before he stopped. Loki lingered on the other side of the door, listening to her cry, until he finally turned away again and situated himself back in front of the window, lost in thought.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Ugh I'm sorry this took ten years to update. … I mean, not really. Less than two weeks. I'm aiming for one update a week, but like I said in my last AN, I just started a new job. Which I hate. I still work at my other job, so when my contract expires at the end of the month, I will not be renewing. Anyway, two jobs basically means working full-time, which I've never done before. Also, I've started doing some freelance writing work—last week I was actually paid to write smutty fiction for a publishing company, so yeay! However, that ate into my fanfic time and made my wrists sort of sore, so here we are, later than I wanted.

Still. We're here. Just know that I'm always either working on this story or planning to start a new chapter. It won't be abandoned, and if I take longer than usual, check my tumblr (link on my profile) for updates about what's happening.

Soo this was a long chapter, but it sort of felt like a necessary evil to me. I wanted to get everyone caught up and introduced to some of the new characters, and I'm trying to do more showing than telling with the plot development.

Like I said in the epilogue of TSiF, if you don't know Spiderman or the Fantastic Four, it's totally cool. My knowledge of them is vague (for the FF, anyway), and I'm sort of loosely basing them on a combination of movie and comic lore.

I hope Loki's point of view didn't disappoint! I sort of like the fact that they are on the same page, but not aware they are on the same page, and… yes to delicious drama. I'm really excited for Loki and Max's developments in the next chapter, which I plan to start writing ASAP (though I have another ghostwriting gig due this week, so I'll probably start it toward the end of the week).

For those of you who guessed it, last chapter's title was a line from the old Spiderman cartoon theme song! Ten points and drinks all around!

Much love to all of you, dearies! Hopefully, I'll see you all again soon!