My Best Friend's the God of Mischief // Peter x Loki

it all fell down

Smoke wouldn't settle. Peter coughed, trying without so much success to clear his lungs. For a moment he lost all abilities to think, to do anything but lie on the ground where he had fallen and cough. The ringing in his ears made him hear nothing except the buzzing noise surrounding his every atom. Smoke. There was smoke everywhere. Then someone was pulling him up, grabbing his shoulders, shaking him.

He looked and the dust in his eyes made them watery, made his vision blurry. Moment later he adjusted to it and he could finally focus on May's face shouting something in his face. He tried to listen, tried to read her lips but that buzzing noise wouldn't go away. Not until moment later that her voice started to be audible.

"Peter - PETER!" Her hands now rested on his cheeks. He blinked, having just heard her, "Peter, are you hurt? What happe -"

Another shot, coming with a loud boom, landing just next to where there stood. The impact made both of them lose their balance, May stumbled forward but Peter caught her before she could hit the ground.

This time he got himself back together, all his senses returning. The boy quickly moved his aunt to under the table, to where he thought was safe (nowhere was safe, but it was the best they got at the moment) "Stay down," Peter said, and May wanted to protest - he just didn't give her time for any argument as he darted away to fight whatever it was.

Whatever it was, they messed with May in her house, their house, and he was going to make them pay.

Smoke eventually did settle as Peter walked through it. There was an enormous hole on the wall where the bomb took away most part of the concrete. Peter could see clear night sky outside, stars scattering around but stars weren't the only thing in the line of Peter's vision. There were... drones? Dozens of them lining in organized pattern. Peter's eyes found some sort of guns each of them carried, all pointing at him.

There was no time to put on the mask. The drones shot at the same time, tons of bullets flying through the air and this time, thankfully, his Spider Sense worked. Peter jumped away, ducking each bullet flying at him with ease. He used the wall, the part of the wall that wasn't destroyed, jumped at it then sprung himself up in the air and managed to take down some of the drones.

They never stopped firing, but they were lifeless machines after all. Peter knew how to escape the shoot, his Spider Sense took over his every movement - he was faster than them, he was smarter than them. 30 seconds later he landed gracefully on the floor of his apartment with all the drones behind him destroyed and fell the long way down.

So that was it. He won. He won but why'd he still sense something was wrong. It was too easy.

"Peter," said May's voice and even in her voice, he could tell something was off.

Peter whipped his head to the direction and suddenly forgot how to breathe when he saw a man whose head was in something that looked like a fish bowl. Though the man's head being in a fish bowl wasn't the first thing Peter saw, really, all he saw was that the man was holding May at gunpoint; standing behind her with the gun aimed at the back of her head.

Peter froze. Every single cell in his body froze. He fought an alien who committed universe genocide in the outer space, he fought all types of bad guys his younger self could imagine. He fought Captain America by Mister Stark's side, but this - this was different. Peter never fought when May's life was in the line and he - he didn't know what to do.

"Let her go," he said, his arms in the air in surrender, his voice small and cracked. It was the only thing he could do. He was scared. Fuck. He was genuinely scared. If anything happened to her -

"Peter Benjamin Parker," the man chuckled lowly, darkly. He still hadn't let May go. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment,"

Peter could feel his heart hammering in his throat. The man not only knew his name, he knew his whereabouts, knew his weakness, knew how to distract him with those drones so he could get to her. And Peter did not know a single thing about him, who he was and what he wanted from him. All he knew was that May was in danger. May was in danger because of him.

It took him longer than he should, but he realized he was breathing too fast but at the same time he couldn't get any oxygen into his lungs. He was hyperventilating, having a panic attack. And he - what was he supposed to do.

"Please," Peter pleaded desperately, "let her go, I'll - I'll do whatever you want. Anything. Just let her go,"

"What do I want," said the man, his voice darker, "what do I want. You took that away from me. You and your - false Avengers. Your false, pathetic excuse of a hero Tony Stark," the man scrunched up his face at the name Tony Stark as though it tasted bitter on his tongue. "I lost everything because of that prick and now, I'm going to make sure the boy he cares so much loses everything like I did!"

"That's not gonna happen," the words coming out of May's mouth in someone else's voice. Green light swallowed her body whole, second later, when her face re-emerged, it turned into someone Peter knew too well, Mister Loki.

Everything happened so quickly, the man - the attacker - didn't have time to react. He, just like Peter, was clearly caught off guard. Mister Loki took the opportunity, everyone was stunned, to spin himself around and snatch the gun out of the man's hand in the blink of an eye. The weapon landed on the ground with a thud, and that seemed to spur the attacker into action, as well.

Though Mister Loki was fast, before the fish bowl guy could act, Loki kicked him right in the crotch hard enough it knocked him down to the ground. Peter could only watch with his mouth hung open, not knowing what to do.

"Peter," May emerged from the corner and quickly rushed to him. "Loki told me to hide there. I'm fine," she added because she knew it was what Peter was going to ask.

Back to Loki and the fish bowl - he didn't get a chance to get back up when Loki straddled his waist, hands around his neck, somehow Loki managed to fine skin that wasn't covered in - well, in the fish bowl. "You ever get choked before? I did and it wasn't fun" Loki said, behind his taunting smile there was something else; rage. "Shouldn't have messed with my people," he applied pressure.

They both struggled on the floor. Quentin clawed at his face, but Loki didn't let go. Wouldn't. He crossed the boundaries and he had this coming. Quentin could mess with Loki all he want, but Loki wouldn't let him mess with people he cared about.

After Tony told him the thing was an advance tracking device and that whoever it was, putting it in his wrist, knew his every moment, where he slept - even heard the things he said, it all came crashing in in an overwhelming waves of terrifying realization. This was Quentin's plan. Had always been Quentin's plan from the beginning. Loki didn't escape while Quentin was asleep, Quentin planned for him to go back to his Spider friend so he'd know who the kid was. It was all his dirty plan.

Loki rushed here as fast as he could without answering Thor's questions. He rushed here with his horrified heart, fear that he would be too late. If anything it was him who led Quentin to Peter and May. It was him who revealed Spider-Man's identity.

He hated Quentin for all the things he had done to him. But that didn't come close to the hatred burning in his chest for the things Quentin could've done to Peter. To May.

His vision tunneled. He could only see Quentin's face underneath his body. He didn't see it in time when Quentin did something with his hand and, second later, green smoke filled everything.

Reflectively, Loki let go and coughed. He got on his feet and when he looked down, Quentin was gone. He turned around to where Peter and May were supposed to be only to be met with nothingness.

Loki spun himself around, no one was here. He was alone. But how -

"Loki,"

Loki froze. He was sure his heart had stopped beating for a moment. He knew that voice.

He missed that voice more than anything in the whole Nine Realms. Loki turned around and a drop of tear rolled down his face. Frigga was walking towards him.