Mischief on Midgard

One for the books

The ongoing battle in New York was finally starting to dwindle down as they cut down foe after plentiful foe. Eventually, the number of enemies throwing themselves at the Avengers stopped altogether. Loki knew better than to think this meant that they had won. They had not beaten Thanos' army. Far from it! While the number of enemy dead could likely be counted in the thousands, he knew that they had barely made a dent in the army as a whole.

No. Their enemies had fallen back and were preparing to regroup for one reason and one reason only; the Infinity Stones were no longer in or near New York. Doctor Strange and Vision had both withdrawn to the same area to draw Thanos' attention away from the larger cities. They had specifically selected a large plot of land not too far from Wakanda itself, though far enough away that the city would not be caught in the crossfire.

Or, at least, that was the idea. Loki could only hope that their plans actually survived contact with the enemy. Unlikely, but he could still, for once, hope. Loki jumped from his spear to land beside Clint and Natasha. Both were looking a bit haggard after the long fight but were holding onto their composure.

"How are you holding up?" he asked with a faint smile.

"Oh, you know..." Clint started, leaning back and letting out a long, weary sigh. "It's no Budapest, so..."

Natasha let out a strained bark of laughter at her battle partner's words. Loki was about to ask, they did keep bringing that up, and no one had ever explained it, but Tony and Spider-man dropped down to the ground nearby.

"Everyone holding up alright?" Tony asked, his mask popping back to show his concerned visage.

"I'm good, sir," Peter said with a strained noise, rubbing at his side.

"You did well out there, kid," Tony said, pride in his voice as he gave the young man's arm a gentle pat. "I'm proud of you."

"You..." Peter fell quiet, shifting nervously and glancing at the ground. He looked back up and, even though he was wearing a mask, Loki could see that he was hesitant. Hopeful even. "You are, sir?"

"Yeah, kid, yeah," Tony said, patting his arm again. "You can stop and go get some rest now, okay?"

"But... but sir!" Peter said voice raised in a shout as he straightened up to his full height and pulled his hand from his side. "You said I was doing well! I can keep going!"

"Pete, listen to me," Tony said in a low voice, his helmet pulling away entirely as he tugged Peter close. His voice was stern, urgent. "This was just a warm-up kid. We'll be heading to Wakanda next and things there are going to make this whole fight look like a cake-walk. You're staying here and getting some rest."

"But... if it's going to be worse then I need to go with you!" Peter said, grabbing onto Tony's wrists. "I can help!"

"NO!" Tony snapped back, pushing Peter back so that he was forced to sit on a pile of rubble. Tony leaned back and rubbed a hand over his face briefly before kneeling in front of Peter, hands moving back to the kid's shoulders. "Listen to me, Peter. I brought you into all this. You are my responsibility. Not a... a pawn to... to go out and... and... I can't allow you to... I refuse to watch you..."

Tony looked down at the ground and even though Loki couldn't see the other man's face, he knew that Tony's face was likely twisted with fear and worry. Loki shared a look with Clint and Natasha, who were both watching the scene with pride and worry alike. Loki let out a silent huff of laughter as he looked back at the kid. Peter really had become the little brother of the group at some point.

"I... sir...?" Peter tugged his mask off and frowned down at the older man's bowed head in confusion. Clint took pity on the kid and stepped forward, giving his back a small pat.