A/N: Okay, so this isn't an all new chapter, just has a bit of new content because I found a version I liked better that I wrote before and promptly lost. The next chapter is coming soon, I promise!
Apparently Terrans did have AIs. Or at least, Tony Stark did. Who was awesome. In fact, Peter wouldn't mind hanging with him more. Maybe he could come back sometime, now that he knew there might be stuff worth stealing on Earth. Or he might be stuck here, always a cheerful possibility.
"So, Spaceman, what's up with the Darth Vader look?" Stark was perched on a worktable, popping pretzels into his mouth. Peter looked up from the screen he was looking through. He could vaguely remember Star Wars, and assumed it meant his helmet. Something he never minded talking about.
"It's pretty awesome, right? Navigation, can breathe in space, and you know. Fun stuff." He answered, not about to reveal anything else. Sure, he liked Tony. But he also didn't want his tech taken apart and picked at by the genius. It took a lot of time and effort to fix it whenever someone screwed it up, which happened disturbingly often.
"So, it's basically my suit, but less cool." Tony returned, and Peter scowled at him.
"No, my helmet is definitely more awesome." He protested hotly. Tony grinned at him, mischief obvious.
"You wanna test it out?" His voice was gleeful, and Peter grinned as well.
"Let's do it!
A crash had Jack looking out the window with a frown.
"You think that was important?" He asked, nudging Bucky with a bare foot. The Winter Soldier was sprawled on the opposite end of the leather couch, sprawled in much the same manner as Jack. They were watching an animated movie, something about sisters and ice. The white-haired one was awesome though.
"You just want me to look because you don't want to get up." Buck accused, not looking away from the TV until Jack poked him again. The other man gave a loud sigh before he got up and looked out the window.
"Stark flew into a building." He finally said after a long pause.
"Is he hurt?" Jack called, debating whether he should help.
"Don't think so." Bucky answered, flopping back down, and Jack nudged him again.
"You just wanna watch the movie." He accused with a smile. He got a rare grin for that one, although the man admitted nothing.
Not that Jack expected him to.
The knock which sounded on Loki's door in the morning was unexpected. Most in the tower knew by now that he was not a fan of mornings. Thor was always absurdly cheerful and awake as soon as he woke up, but Loki had always hated them. He preferred to sleep until noon if he could, and the others living in the tower had learned that quickly, staying away from his room if at all possible. So it was interesting that someone had decided to come in.
"Come in." He said, setting aside his copy of Sherlock Holmes as he spoke. He still had no idea how long he would be staying here, especially as his magic was almost completely replenished after a week's time. But oddly enough, it wasn't bothering him as much as he was sure it usually would. He just didn't feel like leaving yet.
The man who entered his room wasn't one he'd seen wandering around the Tower, and he honestly thought he was one of Stark's lost interns, albeit a bit scruffier than the usual. And perhaps older, although Loki had a hard time estimating the age of Midgardians.
"What do you want?" He asked flatly. Hopefully it would be small and he could get rid of him.
Or turn him into an equally scruffy squirrel.
"Uh, Thor said you could help me get my ship?" The man sounded unsure, and shifted as Loki gave him a blank look. He had no idea who the man was, and if these Avengers thought he was running a charity, they were wrong. He wasn't just going to help some random person to get to his ship. Whatever that meant in any case.
"Why would I do that?" He questioned, crossing one leg over the other as he sat back in his armchair. The squirrel option was certainly looking better. Although Thor knew him, so that may not work. The man shrugged.
"I don't know. But I'm stuck here until I get to my ship, so I could probably annoy you a lot until you do it." That was actually not a terrible bargaining point, something marginally impressive. The fewer people in the tower, the less Loki would be annoyed. Not to mention how both Jack and Thor would nag until he helped the scruffy idiot.
"Very well. Where is your ship?" He asked with a sigh. Scruffy seemed to brighten a bit at that, a smile spreading across his face.
"Jotunheim. Or at least I'm assuming that's where I was, it was cold as all hell." Loki rolled his eyes, surmising that they must have picked up the hitchhiker during that chaos. Which meant he was not to be blamed for not knowing the man wasn't an intern, he had been unconscious for most of that. He sighed again and stood, hand going to rest on the man's shoulder with some reluctance. Who knew what he could catch from this minimal contact.
In a few seconds and blink of bright colors, they were in Jotunheim, and Loki glanced around warily. The memories of the frost giants were still there, and starting a war was not something he was particularly interested in. In fact, he would rather be able to drop the man off here and be able to leave right away.
"There is your ship, good bye." He told the man, nodding at the orange monstrosity resting on the icy ground. The man brightened even more at the sight of the ship and gave only cursory thanks before jogging over to it. Loki didn't waste any time before blinking back to the tower, appearing in the small living room.
"I am not an intergalactic taxi service." He told the surprised superheroes with a frosty glare. "And you will remember that."
With that, he was gone again, back to his own apartment. And no one was especially surprised when every taxi in New York seemed to gain a life and brain of its own, both of which wanted nothing more than to pummel the Avengers.
Meanwhile, Jack was watching a boy. He knew it sounded creepy, but it really wasn't like that. He was just…watching him. He'd noticed the kid by chance, as he was going through New York. A red and blue blur flying past was a bit noticeable, after all, especially with him whooping like an idiot. So of course Jack had followed him. Curiosity killed the cat, but Jack wasn't dead yet.
It was two days later now, and he knew who the red and blue blur was. When he was in costume, everyone called him Spiderman. Out of it, he was a bit like what Jack imagined Jamie would be in a few years, going by the name of Peter Parker. He was smart, or at least Jack thought so. He didn't understand half of what the kid did in his bedroom, so he figured the boy had to be.
He also didn't believe.
Not that Jack was all that surprised. Peter was a scientist, not someone who was just going to believe in Jack Frost without a lot of proof. And he wasn't exactly a kid.
But he definitely knew how to have fun. The kid was always swinging around, laughing and hollering as he did. Jack liked to fly next to him, taking the turns sharp enough that Peter couldn't fly through him as they went, sometimes flying ahead, sometimes behind. It was fun, almost like racing, and he imagined they could be decent friends if the other male could actually hear his comments.
But for right now, the guy couldn't even see him. It was something Jack was used to, but it was also a bit of a relief to pop into Loki's apartment and see the trickster acknowledge his presence. It wasn't exactly an enthusiastic greeting, but Jack would take it.
"What do you want?" The Asgardian was standing in front of the window that took up most of his living room, a spot that Jack had learned to associate with him planning his next prank.
"I was thinking Sibera." Jack responded with a grin, sprawling on the leather couch. Loki tossed him an annoyed look.
"I'm not giving you Siberia, idiot." He said, exasperation clear in his voice, and Jack laughed.
"Spoilsport." He protested without any real heat. Loki just rolled his eyes and turned back to looking out the window. Jack stayed on the couch, wondering if he should ask what the trickster was thinking of. Probably not. It would only end up being something he either wanted to get involved in, or couldn't. He should look into getting some minions though, since everyone else had them. He deserved minions to go do everything that he didn't want to do.
"Jack." The tone of Loki's voice had him standing to go next to him. Almost immediately, he felt the shift in the air. It wasn't natural, and it wasn't magic. Or at least, it wasn't Loki's magic or anyone else he recognized. But the temperature was dropping rapidly, and it had nothing to do with him.
"What the hell." He muttered, hand pressed against the glass as he looked across the city. People seemed more annoyed than anything else as ice spread across the sidewalks, but he knew it wasn't right. Not at all, and when his eyes swept the horizon, they immediately widened. A wall of snow, just past the skyline. His phone rang in the next moment, and he brought it to his ear, not surprised when Stark's voice came through.
"You seeing this too?" Stark sounded tinny, like he was coming through a tunnel, and Jack would guess the storm had already affected the cell reception.
"What do you think?" He asked, rolling his eyes. Of course he saw it, it would be impossible to miss. Not to mention the thrum of energy that ran through him as the storm got closer. Someone was definitely generating this.
"Fine, here's another riddle. Ever hear of Spiderman?" Jack frowned, wondering what the kid had to do with this.
"Maybe." He hedged, not wanting to give Stark more than he had to. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man so much as he just didn't think the man knew anything about privacy.
"Well, whoever he is, the guy making this storm wants him."