Of Replacements and Blood Brothers

10

Avengers Tower, after Loki's arrival

Plenty of things had happened during two years. Harley had been sent back home when Tony had found the missing video clips of the action between Peter and him. Natasha had tracked them down and showed them to the team. Tony finally realized his mistake and sent out search parties for Peter to find nothing. The team didn't know Peter very well except for a few people but they did know Harley very well since they hung out together so much. Then Boom! The city officially had no Spider-Man to protect them. Not even the new golden one. It was pretty much chaos and the crime rates grew like weeds in a garden. It had gone up 30% and was still continuously increasing. Not to mention the HYDRA assassin that had suddenly appeared and saved Tony's life when he was supposed to be killing him. There was an explosion and the man just jumped right in front of him, shielding Tony with his own body. No one knew what that meant but the Avengers were always on the lookout for HYDRA.

And then Loki came back.

He appeared in the living room and yelled at all the Avengers for neglecting Peter and Stark for kicking him out. Then Loki had turned and left, no doubt trying to find Peter.

Tony was really sad since Peter never showed up on the radar since his disappearance. He kept hoping that he would return to the Tower someday, but why would he? Tony had kicked him out himself. Knowing Peter, he probably would never go back to that place. Pepper was just disappointed in her husband. After all, Tony had only believed Harley's lies since he couldn't imagine him being a liar. But he had been, and had probably ruined everything between Tony and Peter.

<•>

Loki

Stupid mortals. Stark, that down creature. He actually kicked Peter out two years ago. Loki huffed and walked quickly through the streets of New York, looking for Peter at their favorite restaurants and cafés and at Delmar's. He wasn't there. Loki looked all around, even at his school where he saw his best friends. They were looking for Peter as well and they met up to search for him.

MJ, the girl, took the threesome around the city to the last place that she had seen Peter. He had been running as fast as he could across the street from her and she had called out to the 'loser' but he just kept going, even though MJ was sure that he had heard her, super hearing and all.

But that was two years ago.

<•>

New York, Manhattan.

Peter walked through the streets of busy Manhattan. He was about to turn 18 and he was quite happy about it. Peter was strolling, looking at the sights when he saw Ned, MJ and-, and Loki! He was happy to see that they were still alive but he didn't want them to see him yet. He was not ready. He had a big scar on his face, a slash wound running from his forehead down to his left cheek. It was not the best sight to look at and Peter had no emotional preparation for meeting his friends and blood brother. Peter had turned and walked away. He went to a clothing department store and bought some black clothes. He also got some fabric from a tailor shop. Unanimously, Peter's brain had somehow set his favorite and only color choice to be black. He got some supplies and went to another diner where they were hiring and got a job. He stayed for about two weeks.

The day of his birthday, nobody celebrated it with Peter. He had no cake or presents but he wasn't sad about it. At least he wasn't in HYDRA anymore. Peter decided to visit his family's graves since they will accompany him during this harsh time. He set off towards his family.