"Boss, Thor and Loki have arrived at the tower." Friday informed Tony. The man smiled. "They are bringing the Midtown Science tour group to the training room." The AI added on.
The genius's smile faltered slightly, that part hadn't exactly been part of the plan. Tony was supposed to meet Asgardian down there, and then they would go find Peter. He supposed he would just have to change the plan. Easy peasy.
"Hold up the elevator, Fri." Tony instructed. He headed towards the door to his lab at a quick pace. Pepper caught him before he could leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" She challenged him.
"The living room. I've got to talk to Nat and Wanda." He told her. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.
"As long as you're not going downstairs to talk to Peter." Pepper said. "Or trick someone into doing it for you."
"Wasn't even considering it." Tony promised. He quickly left the room.
"I'm not kidding, Tony!" He heard his fiancée yell from his lab.
He hadn't been lying. He wasn't going to talk to Peter and he wasn't going to trick anyone into doing it for him. However, he knew some people who would do it without convincing.
Tony went to the living room where he assumed the two Avengers would be. He was right. Natasha was playing Mario Kart with Sam and Clint. She was creaming them. Tony saw about a dozen banana peels and koopa shells bouncing around the track. Every few seconds, Sam or Clint would crash into one. Nat was on her third lap while the other two were somewhere on their first. Wanda was sitting on the sofa, laughing at the two men struggle and fail.
"That's what you get for criticizing the gaming skills of women." Nat told them as Yoshi finished in first. Wanda started another round of laughing fits. The bird themed heroes hung their heads in shame, muttering about it not being fair. Yoshi was jumping in his vehicle, pumping his fist in the air. Donkey Kong shook his head in disbelief, and Baby Peach cried and had a mini tantrum.
"Phase three, Plan C." Tony said aloud. The four heads in the room whipped around to look at him. Nat and Wanda glared at him for interrupting, but obliged and headed towards the elevator.
"Thor's already in there with Pete's whole class, you're going to have to use the stairs." He told them. They both looked fairly annoyed.
"That's seventeen flights, Tony." Wanda complained. She looked more like a teenager when she did that.
"That's not really my problem." The billionaire replied. Wanda moaned, and then followed Natasha down the staircase. "And you better hurry up! I stopped the elevator to buy you some time, but there's a ton of people in there." Tony yelled after them. Technically, Wanda could make her and Nat fly down using her magic, but he would let them figure it out themselves.
After being defeated in Mario Kart, Clint and Sam switched to Wii Sports Resort. They were in the middle of a dogfight, and Sam was down by a few balloons. Tony left as Sam's Mii chased Clint's Mii into the volcano.
— — —
"You couldn't have taken just one day off from being an idiot, now could you?" Loki scolded his brother. "Stark told you there was an emergency, and now we're stuck in this elevator with thirty little children with no way to get out! 'Get help' won't help us like it did last time, brother."
"Oh, so it's my fault now? Wasn't it your grand idea to have a blue glowing cube control everyone's mind?" Thor accused his brother.
"And it was your idea to attack the frost giants and start a war." Loki reminded Thor in return.
The Asgardian brothers continued to argue, their voices rising as they went on. Peter wished they would be quieter. He was squished between the two men, and with his enhanced senses, it sounded like they were shouting. Peter didn't want to go into sensory overload. Especially not in front of his class.
A few minutes earlier, the elevator had stopped moving on their way to the training room. That meant that about thirty students, an intern, a teacher, and two Asgardians were huddled in an unmoving elevator. It was not the most preferable situation to be in, although Ned was freaking out about being squished against the other side of Thor. If it weren't for their argument, you'd probably be able to hear him squealing.
Nearly all of the students were watching the siblings fight. Their insults were hilarious and hard hitting, even if they didn't understand most of them. The tension that was present around Loki at first was almost all gone now that people were seeing the other side of him.
Peter had watched MJ pull out the "crisis notebook" again. Based on the way she frequently looked from Loki back to the paper, she was probably sketching the black haired god.
"My outfit looks outrageous? You're the one dressed like a witch! You're like Parry Hotter!" Thor boomed.
"What in the nine realms is Parry Hotter? I don't think you know anything you're talking about!" Loki argued back.
"Of course I know what I'm talking about! I'm not an idiot!" Defended the Asgardian.
"Brother, if I agreed with you, then we'd both be wrong. You're the one who got us stuck here in the first place!" Quipped Loki.
As Thor opened his mouth to yell back, the elevator started moving again with a jolt. Peter was thankful that nobody was yelling in his ears anymore. The rest of the class grew excited again, now that they weren't stuck.
Thor smiled a beaming smile. "Well, it doesn't look like that's a problem anymore, now does it, brother?" Thor asked Loki, thinking he won the argument. Loki just rolled his eyes.
The anti-gravitational feeling simmered away as the elevator slowed to a stop. The doors slid open and the class exited, with the Asgardians in the lead.
There was a hallway with one solid wall, and one glass wall. On the other side of the glass was the training room, judging by the equipment. The glass wall was in place for safety reasons so that someone in the hallway wouldn't get hurt. The lights weren't as bright, and it created a softer atmosphere. This room didn't scream billionaire like the first floor did.
Katelyn's reaction would have made Peter laugh if it weren't for the situation he was in. The intern didn't have access to this part of the tower, just like the rest of the group, so her expressions were similar to the class she was supposed to be guiding.
Ned looked ready to break the glass wall separating the hallway from the training room in his excitement. At this point, Peter wasn't at all surprised. MJ was taking in the place around her, but her face didn't reveal her thoughts to Peter. The rest of the class had expressions of awe.
In the center of the training room was a large mat. All the other equipment was pushed to the side against the three walls that weren't glass. Black Widow and Scarlet Witch were fighting in the center.
Peter would have called it sparring, considering that's what Nat usually did for her training, but it wasn't. Wanda was using her magic to fight Natasha, so they really had no contact at all. The assassin dodged things that were being thrown at her, and sometimes threw them back.
They were moving at high speeds, so it was really hard to follow what was going on. This just made it more admirable. The two just seemed to move in rhythm, falling in the right places at the right times. Even Peter, who already trained with these two women, wished he could do that.
The whole group was watching against the glass wall from the hallway. MJ looked impressed, which was a strange look on her.
Thor, still with his beaming smile, entered the arena without thought. Loki followed him, looking slightly hesitant on whether he should enter or not. Despite the hesitation, he still held his aura of confidence.
The ruler of the nine realms approached the two women. He got hit in the face with the tail of one of the arrows Wanda was launching at Nat. It clearly startled him. Thor was not close enough to the mat to get hit, so it was likely done on purpose.
"Oops." Wanda said with a boring tone and a mundane expression. "My bad."
Thor quickly recovered from the surprise. "Do not worry, I was not harmed." He assured Wanda.
"No one is going to worry about you, brother." Loki told him.
Wanda finally stopped aiming objects as Natasha. She looked at the tour group, and then at Thor.
"Why did you bring children in here? You do know we sometimes throw knives, right?" Wanda questioned the Asgardian with a disapproving look.
"I thought they might want to see my hammer! And how did you know it was my idea and not my brother's?" Thor answered her.
"Because Loki at least knows a good idea from a bad one." Nat explained to him. Loki smirked.
"She's right you know." He added on. Thor appeared to disagree with the popular opinion.
"Anyways, now I will show you all my hammer!" Thor boomed, facing back to Peter's class as he spoke. The god flipped his umbrella in the air, and when it landed back in his hand, it was his famous hammer.
The class stared in amazement. Nobody there had ever seen anything like it. Even Peter, who had briefly met Thor a few months earlier.
"Nobody wants to see your boring hammer." Loki harshly told him. Thor looked like a kicked puppy. He looked like his brother had shattered his dreams.
There were many mumbled protests to Loki's statement. No one in the class was brave enough to openly disagree with the trickster.
Thor was ready to protest when Natasha spoke up. "We could show them Wanda's powers. There are a lot of people who don't fully understand what she can do." The woman suggested.
Many of Peter's classmates who were upset with not getting to see the hammer stood up a bit straighter. Not understanding Scarlet Witch's powers was one of the reasons the Sokovia Accords were written. People didn't know what she could do, so they feared her.
"But my hammer..." Thor drifted off. He was still upset about not getting to show it off. The other three heroes chose to ignore him.
"In order for this to work, I will need a volunteer." Wanda said to the class. There was only one person who didn't raise their hand. Even Mr. Larson and Katelyn raised their hands, and they weren't even supposed to participate. It was a chance to get close to an actual Avenger! Who wouldn't want to do that? Well, Peter wouldn't. He completely understood his friend's abilities, and he'd rather if she didn't notice him at all.
Wanda looked through the crowd on the other side of the glass wall, skimming through all the different faces. Her eyes hovered on Peter's, and he could see a glimmer of mischievousness in them. That was never good news.
"Pick me, witch lady!" One of them begged. MJ rolled her eyes as Flash waved his hand around in the air to get her attention.
"Sure, just call me 'witch lady' one more time." She threatened the obnoxious kid. He didn't seem to understand that she wasn't being literal.
"No problem, witch lady!" He used the offensive nickname again. Wanda visibly pursed her lips into a thin line.
"Alright, come over here." The young woman said, gesturing for him to enter the room through the door. Flash did so, an excited smile on his face. He looked over at Peter as if to rub it in his face that he'd gotten picked and Peter hadn't. It was hilarious that he was oblivious.
Wanda told Flash to stand in a certain place in the room. The boy was happy to do so. A miniscule amount of magic swarmed around Flash's head. Only Peter could see it, because he had impeccable eyesight due to the spider bite. Wanda slowly walked towards Flash, her heels clicking with every step she took.
"I'm glad you think I'm hot." She told him. Flash's face visibly paled several shades. It was clear now that Wanda was reading Flash's mind. The boy tried to take a step towards the door to the hallway, but the red magic flowed to the front of his body and held him back. Flash looked just short of terrified.
"What do you say to someone you're mean to?" Wanda asked him, a fake sweetness in her voice. Flash mumbled something so quietly that even Peter couldn't hear it.
"Say it louder please." She instructed Flash.
"I'm sorry." The boy apologized to her more loudly. The magic faded from view as it swirled away from Flash. He took no time in rushing to the door, and back into the hallway with the rest of his class.
"I don't take kindly to disrespectful people." Wanda warned the rest of the group. "Are there any other volunteers?"
There were less hands raised this time, but only by a few. Everyone else still seemed eager to be with an Avenger. Wanda's eyes caught Peter's once more. The woman pretended to consider everyone else in the crowd, but then looked back over at Peter.
"Young man in the back, step on up!" She said, pointing to Peter. He had totally seen this coming. He mentally groaned, preparing himself for the worst as he stepped onto the mat.
"Привет, маленький паук." Peter heard Nat whisper only loud enough for him to hear. He wasn't sure he was going to enjoy this. Natasha only ever called him that when she was going to do something he didn't like. She'd said "hello little spider" in Russian.
"So, what you all just saw Wanda do was telepathy and energy manipulation, which are both psionic powers. Wanda got her powers from the exposure of cosmic energy from the mind stone. Because of this, all her powers are psionic." The assassin educated them. Peter was still awkwardly standing in the middle of the mat.
"Wanda also has telekinesis..." Nat said, starting the list. Peter felt himself lift off the ground and flip in the air. It felt like someone was holding him by the ankle, but nobody was. Wanda was using her magic to hold Peter upside down by the ankle in midair. There was a glowing red surrounding his ankle.
"...flight..." The woman carried on. Wanda put Peter back on the mat. He sat up, and watched as Wanda floated into the air. Her magic was swirling all around her form.
"...psionic force field generation..." Scarlet Witch landed back down on the mat next to Peter. She turned to Thor.
"Do you want to show them your hammer now?" Wanda asked the Asgardian. He perked up a little bit.
"Yes, I'd love to!" Thor exclaimed.
"Great. Throw it at me." She instructed him. His face fell. "Do it, Thor." Wanda said more firmly as she noticed the man's hesitation.
He threw the hammer, and when it hit Wanda, it made a loud pinging sound. The area where Wanda was hit flickered red, but otherwise she was perfectly fine. The hammer fell to the ground on the mat. After Thor recovered from his shocked reaction, he summoned it back to him and placed it beside him on the floor.
"...and mental manipulation." Nat finally finished. Wanda looked back down at Peter, who was still sitting on the mat. He took a deep breath, and hoped for the best. The class watched as Peter went from looking up at the Scarlet Witch, to laying completely sprawled out on the mat, snoring loudly.
The whole class laughed, especially Flash. It was very funny to see the normally composed Peter Parker sleep in such a crazy position. Ned almost felt bad for his friend, but he knew after a while Peter wouldn't care about what happened today anyways. MJ didn't feel any guilt at laughing at her boyfriend. In fact, she already had a sketch of him in crisis from when he first went into the room.
"Alright, now that we're finished here, my idiot brother will lead you all back downstairs." Loki strictly spoke, queuing for Thor to lead them towards the elevator. The Asgardian didn't notice it until Loki nudged him, or elbowed him, hard in the ribs.
"Oh! Yes! This way children of Midgard!" Thor lead them all back the way they came. The group seemed upset to leave the private training room, for obvious reasons. As grand as the first floor was, it was nothing compared to the Avengers' training room.
"I don't want to go, Mr. Stark!" Shouted a voice. It was Peter, who was still sleeping on the mat. His class was giving him weird looks, especially MJ.
"I don't want to go to school!" Peter unconsciously elaborated. In between words was incoherent mumbling.
"I don't want to go!" Mumbling. "Chemistry class..." More mumbling. "...my teacher..." More mumbling. "...so boring..." Peter finished after some more mumbling.
Mr. Larson looked downright offended. The students looked ready to burst with laughter. They could all agree on that aspect at least.
Ned was looking back at Peter on the other side of the glass wall. Should he wait for his friend? Should he stick with MJ and the rest of his class?
Wanda seemed to sense his uncertainty. "We'll bring Peter back in a little while." She assured the class. Only Flash, Ned, and MJ noticed that nobody ever told Wanda Peter's name.
"That wasn't as bad as you were making that out to be, Loki." Thor told his brother as the elevator doors closed. Loki didn't reply back.
It was another slow trip down to the first floor. At least they didn't stop at all this time. You could see Loki's frustration with his brother showing on his face, but other than that the sibling rivalry didn't come up.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing lots of men with lots of cameras, and tons of commotion and loud noise.
— — —
"Petey Petey, wakey wakey." Wanda calmly spoke as she gently shook Peter. He wasn't waking up. She eventually gave up with being nice and began harshly shaking his shoulder.
"Wake up! I did not put you under a very strong sleep spell." Wanda said to no one in particular.
"He doesn't get as much sleep as he tells Tony." Natasha said from behind her. Wanda could see the softness in her eyes.
What was it with this kid that brought out everyone's gentle side? Why did he make the most irresponsible people act paternal? Peter had nearly all the Avengers wrapped around his fingers.
Even Nat. She had Peter sitting up, and was rubbing circles on his back. Her other hand was combing through his curls, which weren't normally there. Whenever Wanda saw Nat like this, she always thought the woman would have made a wonderful mother, despite Nat's own opinions. Her expression was just so loving in these moments.
The two watched as the young boy slowly stirred. He was definitely tired, and he looked like a child as he used his fists to rub his eyes. Peter yawned and moaned, then leaned back against Natasha.
Wanda knew that if Peter was awake enough, he would never be doing this. Maybe that's the realization that brought the soft smile to Nat's face. She continued rubbing circles onto his back and Wanda watched the two for several minutes.
Then of course Friday had to interrupt their scene.
"I was told to inform you that King T'Challa and Princess Shuri have arrived." The AI told them.
Peter was now wide awake. His eyes were wide and he scrambled to his feet.
"What?"
notes: Hello again! I hope you guys liked this chapter! Let me know what you think. Happy reading!