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I'm back... After a far too long break... But here is a new chapter. I won't try to make any excuses, just
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Chapter 17

"So… What exactly was wrong with Peter?" Bruce asked the trickster when entering the living room. Loki lifted his head and looked at Bruce for a few seconds as if he needed to process the meaning of the words after being pulled out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, Reindeer Games, what was going on?" Only now Bruce noticed that his words had prompted the other Avengers to gather around him and Loki. The latter seemed to be rather uncomfortable with the sudden attention for a short moment, but after glancing around he turned back to Bruce, his face calm and collected.

"I am sure that all of you remember the attack two days ago," he began, raising one eyebrow in a mocking manner. "Well, surely you also remember that they used magic to attack and our young friend was hit in the leg and I took care of the wound - that was when I discovered his true identity for what it's worth." He smiled slightly before resuming a professional expression. "The wound itself was not life threatening as Doctor Banner will surely confirm. But what essentially happened here was that the young man was… well you could say poisoned by the magic of the beam. It is a technique that I used a few times as well."

He let that information sink.

"I did have a foreboding feeling that something like that might have happened, but it is rather difficult to tell before the symptoms start to show, more so without magic. I kept an eye on him and he seemed to recover just fine, until today. I know now that it was a very special type of magic… poisoning that shows late and hits very violent. But I managed to remove the foreign substance from his body. All he needs now is some rest."

Loki ended his little speech and looked around. For a short while no one said a word. Then Clint raised his voice.

"You needed magic to heal Peter, right? How did you do that? Did you somehow channel the hammer's magic?" When he noticed that everyone was looking at him strangely he shrugged his shoulders. "What? Am I not allowed to be curious?"

"Yes, you could say that I channelled Mjölnir's power. In a simplifying way of course, in truth I did more than just channelling it. I used it, formed it and dosed it correctly." Loki answered.

"And that is, brother, why you are still exhausted from the process," Thor said, frowning. He really was rather perceptive today.

"What happened to you Point Break?" Tony asked, having the same thought as Bruce but not the same manners. "Usually you're not the empathetic kind of guy."

"That is true to my dismay," Thor answered, smiling despite his words. "But I have seen my brother magically poisoned or exhausted after using magic quite often in the last centuries. I am not completely incapable of learning."

"Although it can take some time…" Loki added smirking. Thor threw him a look that Bruce would have described as almost apologetic. Then his face changed back to a mask of concern.

"Please, brother, you need to take a rest," he said insistently. The trickster's eyes narrowed.

"I am no brother of yours, Son of Odin", he hissed, maybe a little sharper than intended, because he added in a softer tone: "But for once, I will take your advice. Good afternoon." He nodded once and then turned to the elevator to get to his room.

The rest of them stood in silence for a few seconds after Loki had left. Then Clint turned to Natasha.

"Care to train a little? I feel as if I haven't really moved all day. "

Natasha simply nodded and the two of them left. Thor excused himself too and headed to his room saying something about having a conversation with his father, though Bruce had no idea how that was supposed to work.

The remaining three Avengers looked at each other for a short while, no one saying a word.

"I… guess I'll go read a little." Steve then said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He stared at the wall for a second as if in thought, then turned and headed to the elevator as well.

That left Tony and him. Bruce sighed and looked over to his best friend.

"Laboratory again?" he asked tilting his head to one side and smiling a little. Tony looked up as if he had been deep in thought and stared at Bruce for a second, processing the question.

"Yeah," he then quickly said. "Yeah sure, I have to finish some things anyway."

Bruce quirked one eyebrow and followed Tony to the elevator.

"That is truly grave news, my son."

Thor bowed his head in front of the miniature rainbow he had created with a magic crystal and in which was now floating the face of his father. He said nothing; he knew that his father did not like to be interrupted when in thoughts.

"And there is no doubt about Thanos being the one who took Loki?" the All-Father asked after a few seconds.

"That is what Loki said himself. I am certain that he was not lying, he has not been like his usual self lately."

"Then you should guard him well. It is unheard of that anyone has ever survived being held captive by the Mad Titan. He enjoys offering his prisoners to his beloved Lady Death. He will not like the fact that Loki escaped. That is if he escaped and was not released…" Odin's brow furrowed and Thor understood from many years of knowing his father that he would be deep in thought for at least a few hours. He bowed his head, although his father probably did not notice that, and ended the connection.

He sighed and looked at the white ceiling. Guard his brother well. He had tried that before to no avail. Otherwise Loki would not have turned on him, father and all of Asgard and he certainly would not have been taken from his prison cell after being condemned to a few centuries of imprisonment. No, Thor really hadn't been the best big brother there was. But now he had friends who could help him to protect his brother. So maybe everything would turn out just fine.

"Maybe you should take a break."

Tony looked up from the piece of metal he had just been working with and found his Science-Bro eyeing over the rim of his glasses, a hint of concern in his brown eyes. He looked back down at his hands and noticed that he had been trying to put two pieces of metal together that were definitely not meant for each other.

He closed his eyes, took a step back and ran his hands through his hair. There was simply too much going on in his head. Like for example the fact that his teenage friend was freaking spider-man. And that he had apparently preferred to confide in Loki instead of him. Which kinda hurt.

"Seems a little like the world is made of freaks, right?" Bruce smiled at him, head tilted to one side.

"Yeah, well at least he's not rage controlled." Tony answered only to feel guilty over his harsh tone. But Bruce didn't mind. Sometimes Tony wondered where the rage that changed his friend into a green giant came from. He always seemed so good natured and calm.

I'm always angry. That's what Bruce said during their fight against the Chitauri, but Tony wasn't quite sure if that was true.

They were silent for a few moments. Then Tony spoke up again, asking a question that was burning behind his brow ever since Peter's identity was revealed.

"Do you think we should tell Captain One Eye?"

"Fury?" Bruce rubbed his chin with one hand. "Huh… If he finds out that we didn't tell him – and he will find out – he will be really mad."

"On the other hand, if we tell him, he'd probably take Pete away to train him or something," Tony said, brow furrowed. "It's one thing to be an adult hero, but being a teen…"

Bruce nodded, but replied nothing.

"Fury is probably one of those people who always rant about the youth." Tony chuckled at the picture that formed in his head: an old Fury with white eyebrows, still all in black and with his eye patch but with a walking frame, chasing behind a few youngsters, one fist raised.

The billionaire shook his head in order to concentrate on the matter at hand. He looked up at Bruce who was still deep in thought. Then suddenly a smile formed on the scientist lips.

"What if we tell Fury," he said, his voice the same tone that it always had when he was talking about an interesting scientific problem, "that Peter is Spider-man under the condition, that he joins our team? That we teach him and stuff."

Tony felt his eyes widen in awe.

"You, my jolly green friend, are a genius!" he stated excitedly. "And that is not something I grant everyone. To tell the truth, up to this point I considered myself the only genius in this tower, though you were the closest."

Bruce smiled and arched an eye brow. "I'm not sure if I should be offended or flattered by that…" he said. Then his face turned serious again. "But we have to ask the others, make sure it's cool with everyone."

Tony nodded. "Let's start with our favourite Agents then. They are the most likely to report to Fury before we can talk to anyone."

That's it for now :D I hope you liked it. If you did, please leave a review. If you didn't leave one anyway ;-)

~ BlueLil