Of Numbers and Strange Friendships

Chapter 52

Everyone in the tower thought that Loki and Stark working together was the scariest thing they had ever seen. Those two hated each other on most days. With Peter there as a buffer, they could stand each other's company in the lab, but they were never friendly. There were too many resentful feelings from the battle of New York, their personalities were both too strong to easily get over those feelings.

Usually, they had Peter as a buffer.

To find Peter, they didn't.

And yet, they were working together better than ever. They both had a goal to work toward. They both needed to find and save Peter and both knew that they had to rely on each other to get that done as quickly as possible.

None of the team wanted to think about what Hydra would do to Peter. They didn't want Peter in their clutches any longer than he had to be.

Stark called Doctor Strange to help. He portalled into the tower. Usually everyone hated his portals, especially Loki who had fallen through one for thirty minutes one time, but they forgave it now. It would be faster to get to Peter with a portal than by any other means.

They just had to find Peter first.

Loki continued casting his tracking spell and giving landmarks to Stark as he saw them in the magic. Hydra wasn't taking chances yet with Peter, wasn't stopping long enough for the god to find him, or for Shield to stop them.

Not yet anyway.

They would make a mistake. It was just a matter of time. Loki just hope that it wasn't too late by the time they got to Peter.

The team watched anxiously, ready to jump in when Peter and Stark inevitably blew up at each. They were there to leash to volatile tempers, though the pair working together was the scariest thing they had seen.

At least, it was the scariest thing.

"Sir, there's-" Jarvis started, trying to give Stark some kind of warning.

"Not now, J, keep tracking," Tony replied quickly as Loki gave more landmarks for Jarvis to decipher.

"But, Sir," Jarvis protested.

But it was too late.

Before Tony could snap at the AI, a terrifying storm burst into the common room. The entire team stared as Aunt May stormed in. She glared between Loki and Tony, not sure which one to start with, so she yelled at them both. "Where is he?" She demanded. "I had to hear from the news. The news that Peter has been kidnapped. He was supposed to be safe at your internship. You swore that your involvement in the Avengers wouldn't come back to hurt my son!" Aunt May yelled at Stark. Apparently, he was to be blamed first. She had also called Peter her son. He was her nephew, but she had raised him since he was a small child. Of course she saw him more as a son than a nephew. She whirled on Loki and turned her anger on him. "And you promised to protect him. You said-"

Loki held up a hand to stop her. His temper was already short from the spells he was working to find Peter. "Lady," his tone was icy and a warning on his temper. He fell back into Asgardian formality and habits when he was stressed, which he clearly was now. Thor stood and took a step closer to the pair in case he had to intervene. He wouldn't let Loki do something stupid. "I am doing everything in my power to find and save Peter. I will make sure those responsible pay for what they have done. But the more you interrupt me, the longer it will take me to find him," his voice was deceptively calm and he didn't look up from the glowing green sphere of the tracking spell as he spoke to her.

She wanted to protest, the entire team saw it in her eyes. She wanted to yell and rage and do something to get Peter back. She couldn't stand the thought of sitting around waiting and fretting for Loki and Stark to find something. "Why him?" She demanded while Thor wrapped an arm around her to keep her from interrupting Loki and Stark in their work. "It's because of you two," she decided. "They came after him because of you, to get at you,"

"We don't know why he was taken, but we will get him back," Stark told her, trying to sound calm. He was panicking, though. They needed to find Peter soon, before he got himself exposed or killed. Before they thought he wasn't needed to get the ransom, or whatever they wanted from Stark.

Loki would kill them all if they killed Peter. But that would make Peter any more dead.

Before May could speak again, Loki looked up from his spell. "Got him. Let's go," he told them, his temper at the killing edge.

"Where?" Strange asked as he got to his feet. Thor stood and summoned Mjolnir and his armor. Stark's armor flew into place at the same time as Loki's shimmered into place.

Jarvis gave the coordinates and Strange opened the portal to what looked like a warehouse. The four of them headed through, leaving May in the care of the rest of the team. Loki's tracking spell was still active, and would lead him directly to Peter, now that they were closer. He led the way into the Hydra base, blasting agents out of his way as he made his way to Peter's location. Loki's power flared, flexed and filled the entire building with his dark power. Loki was a god and the realm needed reminded of that, reminded of what happened when his temper slipped the leash, when something threw him over the edge.

Thor was in the same state, his lightning crackling around him, just as Loki's magic was crackling dangerously. The gods were beyond enraged and the team got a good look at them in their full power before the portal closed behind them.

Stark disabled all communications in the building thanks to Jarvis and the four of them made their way into the base. They weren't going for subtle. They were going for speed. They had to get to Peter quickly now that they were here. There was no telling what the agents would do to him. They wouldn't risk Peter's death.

Loki's give-a-shit-ometer was beyond shattered and he didn't care what happened to any of the agents who got in his way. He splattered them all over the walls. And none of the other three would ever speak of it again. They didn't approve of so violent of deaths, but they knew that Loki would do anything to get Peter back.

Absolutely anything.

Including splatter those who had taken him all over the walls and floor. The deaths were quicker than Loki would have liked, but they weren't easy. His magic made sure of that as they were torn apart, the quick deaths feeling like they took years for their bodies to tear apart. It was a cruel, terrible spell. And one he would never, ever tell his mother that he knew.

The four Avengers wreaked a path of destruction through the base as they worked their way closer and closer to Peter.

Hydra never stood a chance and they never, ever, should have pissed Loki off.

Loki's tracking spell finally flickered out when they reached a locked door in the middle of the Hydra base. That only meant one thing.

They had found Peter.