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Chapter Text

Loki walked up to his brother on the bridge of The Statesman as they neared earth. He had been nervous about the upcoming discussion, but he felt like he needed to do it now. Thor was talking with Banner at the time, which would actually help his case he was sure.

“Brother,” Loki began, “I need to talk with you about something.”

Thor turned to him cautiously, “Yes?”

“I know that our people and the rest of the refugees will be welcome on Midgard, but I am not so sure about my own reception. The last time I was on Earth I tried to subjugate it. I fear my presence among the passengers here will only make your negotiations harder when asking for help,” he said.

Both Banner and Thor exchanged glances at that.

“Well, you aren’t wrong,” Banner said, “Even after fighting alongside you I find it hard to trust you with what I know of your history.”

“Brother, what do you plan to do?” Thor asked hesitantly.

“I have three options that I see potential with. I can shapeshift into another form and remain exclusively in that guise on earth, but that would mean tricking everyone on earth. I am ok with this but I don’t know how either of you two will feel about it. The second option is that I wait until we land and then skywalk to Alfheim. I still have friends among the light elves that would welcome me there. The last option I see would be to offer myself up as a trade bargain when we land, allowing the Midgardians to imprison me for my crimes against them. I’m sure whatever sentence they will give me would be scaled to their own kind, and as such would be merciful compared to what I have suffered elsewhere, and to be honest I am tired of running,” Loki finished.

“I do not wish to part from you, brother. When put in those terms I would have you shift your form and stay at my side,” Thor answered.

“And you Banner? What is your opinion?” Loki asked.

“As long as you do not plan to try and subjugate the earth again, I won’t mention your disguise to anyone on earth except for Tony Stark. I feel like he would figure it out somehow, and I don’t want to risk his anger at me for having kept something like this from him. He is one of my only friends on earth that doesn’t care about my other form. I will not risk his friendship for a trick,” Banner said.

Loki nodded, “I will accept that. If I shift forms and the humans find out later then maybe the fact that I haven’t tried subjugating them will alleviate some of their fear of me at that time.”

“What form do you plan to take?” Thor asked.

“My female one, I think,” he answered.

“What name will you go by?” Banner questioned.

“Sigyn,” he answered simply.

Thor nodded as Banner laughed. Both brothers looked to him.

“Did you pretend to be married to yourself the last time you used that name on earth?” The human asked.

Loki smirked, “Yes I did. It was partially because I needed an excuse for why my female form was coming and going from my lodgings, and it also kept other women off my back since they thought I was already married.”

Thor and Banner laughed at that. Loki took the opportunity to shift into his female form then. Long golden hair fell to near her waist. She was only slightly shorter than her male counterpart. Her eyes remained the emerald green of her counterpart.

“I shall call you sister while in this form, and as the myth claims you married yourself, you would have been my sister in law regardless, so that kenning should not cause too much confusion on Earth,” Thor smiled.

Loki nodded, “It has been too many years since I took this form. I recently discovered that the Jotun are largely hermaphroditic, which explains the fact that I don’t truly feel like I am either male or female all the time. Odin always insisted that I remain male more than not, and I wanted to please him. Now I just want peace, and if this form can bring it then that is what form I shall keep going forward. Perhaps in a few hundred years I might change back and claim to be my own son.”

The group nodded thoughtfully at that. Loki, now Sigyn, smiled a bit. The worry they had felt at going back to earth was lessened now that they no longer wore the face of the one that would be recognized as an enemy of Midgard as soon as they landed. To have their brother on their side was also a weight of their mind. A bit of uneasiness at the thought of Stark knowing the truth was still present, but from what they remembered the human male had been the most open and nonjudgmental of the planet’s heroes. They felt that everything would be fine going forward. At least they had hope that it would, which was a somewhat newer feeling for them recently.

——

The Queens skyline had taken on a dusky lavender shade against the silhouetted buildings as Spider-Man sat on the roof of an apartment complex eating his second churro of his patrol. He had stopped two muggings, rescued a stray dog from getting hit by a car, and gave a couple of tourists directions to Delmar’s. It was a good patrol thus far, and he was thankful that his spidey sense seemed to be calm so he didn’t think anything bad was on the horizon.

The field trip to MOMA that day had been surprisingly uneventful, and he was grateful. Peter had never had really good luck on field trips so the fact that this one went well almost had him feeling like something else wrong was occurring that he wasn’t aware of yet. He hoped he was wrong, and he leaned into the calm of his quiet spidey sense as a reassurance that things were ok. Maybe his unease was just a result of an echo of what might have gone wrong, and not based in his reality.

Mr. Stark had even left a message with Karen inviting him to the avengers compound in a couple of weeks to do some science stuff, which was a bit of a dream come true for him. He had immediately sent back a response affirming that he would be there, and then retroactively asked permission from aunt May in a fit of worry. She of course had given her consent because she is amazing like that, but reminding himself that he wasn’t actually in charge of his own life yet despite the fact that he fought criminals on a regular basis was a balancing act.

Thinking of May made him think about heading back to his apartment, now that the sun was truly down. He couldn’t quite place the feeling in his gut, but something was telling him to take every opportunity going forward to cherish time with her, and he was going to trust that feeling. He only hoped that they would be having takeout to eat that night. He loved his aunt , but she was a terrible cook. He hadn’t had anyone available to teach him how to cook either, so between the two of them they were out of luck. He was lucky he now had an iron stomach as a result of his enhancements. He wondered how his aunt handled it herself. Maybe she was a mutant with a very specific mutation that was only good at keeping her from getting sick while eating what she cooked.

He sighed to himself as he stood up and prepared to swing back toward his home, Karen proactively mapping out his tickets route through the neighborhood to avoid cameras and high density areas. When he entered his open window the sky had offered him a full cover of darkness, or at least as dark as it gets in the city at night. At the back of his mind he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had somehow dodged a bullet that day, and he was filled with a strange sense of gratitude that he would be able to have a relatively average night with his Aunt.

“Aunt May, I’m back,” he called out.

“Hey Peter, how was patrol?” She called.

“Pretty good,” he answered, “Saved a dog from getting hit by a car.”

“That’s good, we’re having tofu stir fry for dinner tonight,” she called.

He cringed and tried to modulate his voice before responding, “Sounds good.”

“I found this great recipe online that I really wanted to try, and I stopped by the Asian market on 99th, so all the ingredients should be authentic.”

“I can’t wait to try it,” he mustered up as much enthusiasm as he could manage, “I’m gonna shower real fast and get changed before we eat if that is alright with you.”

“Yeah, fine, dinner will be ready in fifteen or twenty minutes so we’ve got time. Then we can watch one of your science shows or sci-fi or whatever before bed if you got your homework finished.”

“No homework, had that field trip today to MOMA,” he called as he walked into the bathroom.

When he was clean and dressed in his lounge wear he walked into their kitchen space. The unique smell of spices filled the air, and he smiled at his aunt as she played up a bowl of noodles with a brown colored sauce coating what looked to be bell peppers and tofu. Overall it smelled pretty good, and made him hopeful for how it might actually taste. His first bite proved that the noodles were overcooked a bit, and his aunt had been a little heavy handed with the turmeric and white pepper, but it was edible enough that he smiled as he ate his whole plate. Nodding at May when she asked what he thought of it, so that she wouldn’t think he was ungrateful for the meal.

They both crashed together afterwards on their sofa and watched a behind the scenes for weta workshop video. Peter had always loved the robotic stuff they came up with, and it had inspired much of his own love for robotics. He considered bringing up the idea of creating a small spider bot with Mr. Stark’s help when he saw him later. He knew it was something his mentor could help him with, and it would be fun too. When he and his aunt turned in for the night Peter was pleasantly tired, so he knew he would have a hard time falling asleep. He only hoped that the following day would come with an explanation for the weird feeling that he had been trying to ignore. He just felt like somehow someway someone had done something somewhere and they were now all reaping the benefits of it without even knowing to whom they were indebted. He also had the oddest notion in his mind that he wouldn’t be getting the answers he was hoping for at all. He just settled for sending out grateful thoughts to the universe as he succumbed to sleep.

Chapter Text

The morning had not been going the way that Tony had been expecting it to, but he had yet to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He had slept a grand total of four hours before being woken by a phone call that Friday was insisting was a priority, and for for his AI to insist anything was a priority over sleep for him was a big deal.

“Put it through,” he had groggily spoke as he sat up in his bedroom, thankful that Pepper had business in town that day, so she wasn’t disturbed by this call.

“Stark!” Fury’s high pitched clipped tone came through the speaker.

“Pirate!” He answered, then waited, not awake enough to push his normal buttons past that point.

“We have an alien aircraft in our solar system, moving at a speed that will have it making orbit in a few days,” the director got to the point.

“Do we know anything about the ship?” Tony asked, suddenly completely awake and alert in only the way that adrenaline can make someone.

“They have yet to hail us, but I don’t think it will be long yet if they are friendly. It is not of a make that would appear similar to our known enemies at least, but I know NASA has picked up on it, so too will any government with eyes in the sky, so you will probably be called by the UN soon.”

“How did you know about it first?” Tony asked.

“I got a call from a friend,” he answered vaguely.

“Do you think this is a friendly or not?” Tony asked.

“I think if it wasn’t then we wouldn’t have gotten the early warning of their approach. My guess is it is friendly, but I’m not ruling anything out yet.”

“Thanks for the heads up, is there anything else you want to share with the class before I start doing my own resource gathering and planning?”

“Now might be a good time to think about reaching out to our connections,” Fury said.

Tony sighed, “Yeah, I’ll reach out to a mutual acquaintance to make sure everyone is on the same page.”

The call ended abruptly after that.

“Fri, please use every available satellite you have access to and get me eyes on our approaching aliens. Text Rhodey and Pepper to let them know what is going on. I’m going to wash and get dressed. please start my coffee in the workshop so it is ready when I arrive.”

“You got it Boss. Also just a reminder that you have a meeting scheduled with Helen Cho for Two this afternoon. Do you want to reschedule?”

“Not yet. I may need her in the coming days, so it will be better if she is informed. Also the main reason for that meeting was to get her Spidey’s information so she can help develop some pain relievers that actually work for his enhancements, so I can handle that pretty quickly as I already have it all on file ready for her.”

“Understood,” the AI answered and went silent while he quickly went through the motions of his morning routine.

Ten minutes later he entered the lift that would take him to his workshop.

“Friday have you picked up anything useful yet?” Tony asked.

“I’ve got some blurry images from a few satellites indicating the ship is passing Saturn at the moment. No major news sites are aware of it yet, but there is chatter on quite a few scientific websites at the moment. I give it until tomorrow for the mainstream media to run whatever story they have at that point unless the governments shut it down fast. I think backtracking the trajectory as far as I can leads to a rather unique perspective. It appears that the ship suddenly appeared right outside our solar system late yesterday evening. It has been making excellent time, but I think if they wanted to surprise us they would have jumped closer to Earth. My guess is they wanted to give us a heads up that they were coming, whoever they are.”

The door opened to the workshop and Tony entered.

“That’s at least a little reassuring,” he said, “Put the images you have found up on the holo table please Fri.”

A selection of blurry images appeared in front of him, showing the ship from various angles.

“Do we have an approximate size for the ship based on the relative size of objects it is passing?” Tony asked.

“It is slightly bigger than the Empire State Building,” she answered.

“That is actually really reassuring,” Tony stated remembering the Armada that he saw through the wormhole portal at the battle of New York. Those ships were much bigger in his memory. One smaller ship was most likely not a military force, depending on the caliber of its inhabitants.

Tony spent the rest of the morning reaching out to every contact he had to get a feel for what to expect. His mole in Secretary Ross’ office stated that the man was occupied with other matters at the moment, so hadn’t been privy to anything coming in from NASA yet, which Tony took as a win. The accords council called him right before lunch to let him know they were aware of the ship, but not much more. They were not currently mobilizing collectively, but everyone was making their government officials and military brass aware of the situation, which meant it wouldn’t be long before Ross was breathing down his neck for answers or weapons, or more.

Friday reminded him to eat something, and so he made his way up to the kitchen at the compound just in time to see Rhodey entering the facility from the driveway.

“Thanks for the heads up this morning,” his friend called out as he entered through the glass doors, “I always love to be the first person among my superiors to know when something is happening. You made me look real good to have something, but who told you?”

Tony grimaced, “Fury, but I don’t know who told him. Sometimes I’m not sure that man is even human.”

“Well whatever he is, I’m thankful for once that he seems to want to keep you informed of something.”

Tony shrugged, “He knows I’m decidedly on the Earth’s side no matter our differences in the past.”

“What is your plan right now?” Rhodey asked.

“Lunch. I haven’t really planned past that. I don’t even know what I’m gonna eat actually. Have you eat yet?” Tony asked.

Rhodey shook his head to the negative, “You planning to cook?”

“I might throw together some pasta if we have the ingredients,” Tony answered.

“Sounds good,” Rhodey answered, “Add a portion for me if you can.”

Tony nodded and the two made their way over to the kitchen. Twenty minutes later they were both seated at one of the dining tables eating a quickly thrown together spaghetti pesto. Tony was drinking coffee with his pasta which made his friend wince every time he gulped another swig from his mug between bites.

“I don’t know how you can stand to do that man,” Rhodey said.

Tony grinned, “What do you mean?”

“How can you drink hot black coffee while eating pasta? Pesto pasta even!”

“Very easily, I assure you. Foods come and go, but coffee is a constant for me,” Tony answered.

Rhodey shook his head, “Did you get any sleep last night before Fury called.”

“Yes, not as much as you or Pep would like, but more than my average I assure you,” Tony said.

“That is not reassuring,” Rhodey sighed.

Tony shrugged and continued drinking his coffee as he finished his plate. Suddenly Friday spoke over the speakers.

“Boss another priority one from Fury.”

“Put it though,” Tony instructed, “Hello Nick, you got something for me?”

“I’ve got news that will make you very happy I think, but might bring us all headaches in the near future.”

“Oh?”

“The ship hailed us earlier than I was expecting.”

“Who is us specifically?” Tony asked.

“I have friends cloaked in orbit, they transmitted the hail to me,” Fury evaded as he explained.

“And your friends are?” Tony asked.

“Not your concern at the moment, what is your concern is the ship making its way toward our asteroid belt,” Fury said.

Tony shook his head and waited for Fury to elaborate. He sighed when the pirate didn’t seem to want to do so without prompting.

“And what did you learn from this hail?” Tony asked.

“The ship is carrying Asgardian refugees, along with a few other lesser known species to us. Apparently Asgard has been destroyed and they are seeking asylum on Earth. They also claim to be transporting Banner.”

“As far as news goes that definitely lands on the positive side for earth, at least the Asgardians are considered our allies,” Tony spoke, “I will make contact with the UN and let them know I have received word that the ship is requesting asylum. I bet Norway will jump at the chance to have the refugees call them home.”

“You’re probably right. You can have your AI call me if anything comes up, otherwise your satellites should be able to pick up the transmission from the Asgardian vessel in no more than a day’s time. Fury out.”

The call dropped after that.

“Huh,” Tony said, and after a minute passed continued, “So Thor and Banner are finally going to show up.”

“Sounds like Bruce wasn’t just trying to lay low, he was completely out of range.”

“Bet there is a crazy story attached to that,” Tony added. Rhodey nodded quietly. He knew his friend had felt abandoned after Ultron, which was only exacerbated by the civil war. With everything that had happened it seemed like the world had been against Tony for a while there even when he chose the side that seemed to be the most on the world’s side. Rhodey wondered how Bruce was going to take knowing how much Tony had to work with Ross. It wasn’t like his friend actually even liked that man, there was just no getting away from him when the United States government was concerned.

“I think that we should recommend Bruce claim Asgardian citizenship. It will give him a bit of protection from Ross going forward.“

“I agree,“ Rhodey responded.

The rest of the day was a flurry of activity for Tony. He reached out to all of his government contacts and both the UN and domestically. He even made a special phone call to King T’challah where he shared all the things that he had had been told the source was. He indicated that the king should spread the word to his contacts heavily implying the rogue avengers. He felt a little bit smug at being able to share that he knew the black cat had been involved in hiding and aiding the rogues. This came with the bonus of not having to call Steve using the flip phone that the captain sent out to him.

That night, Rhodey joined Tony and Pepper for dinner. He spent the night at the compound because he wanted to be there when Tony was able to contact the ship using the communications array on his satellites. They all turned in early because they knew that the ship should be in range around four in the morning Eastern standard time. Tony was an odd mix of post, adrenaline exhaustion and caffeine when he finally fell into his pillow that night. His mind didn’t want to shut up, and his body was used to getting much less sleep than what he was going on so he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to sleep at all. He opted to take a few melatonin pills and play the numbers from his latest board meeting to fall asleep. Luckily it worked and he was out within an hour.

The next morning alarm woke Tony and Pepper at the same time. They dressed and met Rhodey in the kitchen for an early breakfast. Friday was already sweeping for the signal of the ship when they all woke that morning and so she was happy to share with them that she had already made first contact for their group. Bruce would be available to talk at length in an hours time, but if they wanted to talk with Thor or someone named Sigyn then they could be connected immediately.

“Isn’t Sigyn the name of Loki’s wife in Norse mythology?” Pepper asked.

“Yes she is Boss Lady,” Friday answered.

The three friends shared a hesitate look of apprehension.

“What do we know of her from those myths?” Tony asked.

“Not much. She is mostly just referred to as loyal, and is supposedly the Goddess of victory.” Friday answered, “As Loki was not much like his mythological counterpart I don’t know if we even need to worry about Sigyn. She might not even be married to Loki at all.”

They nodded, “Connect us to Thor if you can,” Tony instructed.

“Hello,” came the booming voice of the Blond alien moments later, “Can you hear me?”

“We can hear you point break,” Tony answered.

“Ah, friend Tony, who all can hear me?”

“Rhodey, Pepper, and myself. I’m afraid a lot has happened since the last time you were here, and the rest of the Avengers are either MIA, fugitives, or on house arrest at the moment,” Tony said cutting to the chase.

“Truly!?” Thor asked bewildered.

“Yes, I’m afraid, but I am eager to welcome you to earth. I have heard of your issues via Fury, and have made efforts to begin smoothing the way to earth for your people. I believe that by the time that your ship is able to enter the atmosphere we will have a tentative agreement with Norway to provide asylum for those aboard your ship. How many refugees are there altogether?” Tony asked.

“There are around four thousand of us aboard this ship. We are all that is left of Asgard, and most are women and children. The warriors fell long before Ragnarok.”

“Who did they fall to?” Tony asked.

“My sister Hela,” Thor answered and the group could hear the wince in his voice.

“Your sister, not your niece?” Pepper asked.

“I have no nieces or nephews, for though my brother was technically married for hundreds of years he has never fathered children to my knowledge. His marriage was arranged and was more a convenience than a love match. You will understand more when you meet my sister in law.”

“Oh,” Tony asked hesitantly.

“Yes, though Loki was actually alive and ruling Asgard in the guise of my father before the whole mess with Hela happened, Sigyn has not been seen in the palace for over two hundred years. Typically she was not seen outside of Loki’s home on Vanaheim at all, and Loki has decided that Sigyn should be the one to go to earth while he hides away for a while. I doubt earth is too eager to have my brother back in any capacity anyway, but they won’t know my sister from anyone else.”

“That is fair,” Tony answered diplomatically.

“I guaranty that my sister will cause your people no problems or I will personally send her to meet the rest of my family,” Thor said with feeling, and Tony felt like he could almost believe him, but there was something he felt like the man wasn’t saying. Something in his gut told him there was more to this story, but he let it go for the moment.

Chapter Text

When Happy showed up at Midtown School of Science and Technology on a random Friday that had not been earmarked for “internship” time Peter was immediately on edge. When the misnomer monikered man grunted for the boy to get in without further clarification he only hesitated momentarily to check his spidey sense for trouble. When he was reassured that he was in no immediate danger he crawled in the back seat and waited for Happy to walk around the vehicle and enter on the driver’s side.

“What’s up?” Peter asked.

“Boss wants you at the compound this weekend. It’s already been cleared with your aunt, and I’ve picked up a bag of your stuff for you. It’s in the trunk,” he answered.

“I don’t have any messages from him,” Peter said as he checked his phone again.

“Yeah, it’s apparently a big complicated thing, but he wants you there for clarification. He didn’t want to message you while you were in school, plus he has been incredibly busy. So busy that he actually needs you to handle some of the load.”

“Avengers business or SI?” Peter asked.

“He is handling the Avengers business right now, but he needs you for some of the SI things apparently,” Happy answered and rolled his eyes.

Peter felt his eyes big out, “What?!”

“Yeah, that’s all I’ve been told about what you are being brought in for,” Happy answered.

“But, like… Doesn’t SI have scientists for… you know… I mean I’m just like a high school intern. I haven’t really done any work with SI proper yet. How can I help him while he is doing other things. I mean I will totally help in any way I can, and I’m like totally honored to be called in for this, but are you sure…?” Peter trailed off the question.

“I’m sure that I was told to bring you in to the Avengers Compound so that Boss could bring you up to speed on many things, and that you would not need to be in your Spider-Man suit for the duration of the weekend. I was told that I was to get you full access to the facility’s labs and that you would be introduced to staff this afternoon by either myself or the Boss,” Happy explained.

“Introduced as Peter Parker,” Peter clarified.

“Yes, Peter Parker, Tony Stark’s personal intern.” Happy nodded.

Peter found himself at a loss for words. He knew that the internship had at first been just a cover for his Spider-Man stuff, but after Aunt May had discovered the truth and everything with the Vulture had gone down he had actually been under the impression that all his internship had just barely leveled up to having a paper trail that could actually be verified, but little more than that. He had only spent a scant amount of time working at the labs at the compound, and everything else he had done for his “internship” had come in the form of scientific and mathematical paperwork he received via Karen who received it from Friday. He worked a few hours a week on that and spent the rest of his “internship” hours on patrol. Any data he gathered about his suit or his abilities was considered part of his “internship” and the different web fluid formulas he created counted toward it too, but that was all he understood about this situation. He got to goof off with Tony Stark in his Lab once or twice a month, but everything else was basically him on his own. He was no one’s personal intern as far as he could tell.

“Since when?” He asked when he finally found his voice again.

“What?” Happy asked back.

“Since when am I Tony Stark’s personal intern?” Peter clarified his question.

Happy cocked his head to the side, “On paper and in the system, about a month after the whole Vulture fiasco.”

“What!? How?!” Peter’s voice cracked and he felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment at that.

“You mean he didn’t tell you?” Happy asked.

“No he didn’t tell me, he just said we had to make the thing more legit and get stuff on paper,” Peter said.

“Well it is.”

“But I don’t do anything with the company. I only see him in person a few times a month consistently if that. How am I his personal intern?” Peter’s voice was shaking as he asked the last question.

“Kid, you know the papers you do,” Happy led.

“Like the math and equations and stuff?” Peter asked.

“Yep, that is you checking over the Boss’s work or generating solutions for problems he is facing, or handling stuff the department heads send him, or other interns. Basically you are handling his paperwork, fielding things for him, fixing things for him, checking behind him all that jazz. Anything that Friday doesn’t handle for him, you do,” Happy said.

Peter felt himself sag back in his seat in disbelief, “But, that’s not… It’s only been like four hours of work a week.”

Happy raised his eyebrow at Peter in the rear view mirror, “I know for a fact that Legal knows your name, because they have filed multiple patents with your name attached.”

Peter made a sound that was somewhere between a choking gurgle and a wheeze, “Patents! What!?”

“Ms. Potts has been trying to set up a meeting with you too, but hasn’t had her schedule work out this far. I know she plans to have dinner with you tonight.”

“Dinner with Virginia “Pepper” Potts,” Peter whispered reverently.

“We have about an hour and fifteen minutes left of our drive out to the compound. Do you have any work you need to be doing?” Happy asked.

“No, I finished it all while in my other classes. I have PE last, and Coach Wilson had us practicing Yoga, which is one of the only things in PE that I have always been good at, so no one asks why I’m super flexible. He let me sit in a middle split and do my homework after I showed him I could do all the poses he was teaching everyone else today. I think he was tempted to have me teach the class actually, because it was definitely not in his wheelhouse,” Peter explained.

“That sounds about right,” Happy muttered under his breath, “Why don’t you read something kid. I need to focus on driving.”

“Okay Happy,” Peter said before pulling out his phone and texting Ned that he wouldn’t be around this weekend.

He then pulled up a scientific journal he had been meaning to look over that had been published recently over the potential of lizard DNA for application in healing for those who have suffered limb losses. Dr. Curt Connors was a relatively new name in the scientific community, but his papers were beginning to make waves already, and Peter knew that there was as much potential as there was danger with the scientist’s line of thinking. So far everything was only theoretical, but Peter knew it was only a matter of time before the research progressed, and so he was keeping his eye out for anything new published about it.

———

Sigyn sat on a bench in one of the corridors near the medical wing of the ship. She had decided to offer her assistance as a healer as soon as she had decided to remain on board. Many of the rest of Asgard’s healers had been lost in the siege of Hela, including Eir. In their female form Sigyn was a well recognized healer, as the vocation was respected among the Aesir for female mages. It was the training she had received in her female form that had allowed Loki to survive for as long as he had under the mad titans tortures and the Other’s mind manipulations. Keeping a part of his psyche separate from both had been incredibly hard, especially when the mind stone was involved, but the fact that Sigyn was not typically present in the fore front of his mind unless he switched forms had made it possible. When one is trying to survive possible is sometime all the hope one needs.

So now Sigyn rested on a bench after a long shift treating the injured of her people. They had welcomed her more readily than they would have Loki in the same capacity, and she understood their reasoning bitterly. Another thing she blamed her father for. Odin had wanted a second son, not another daughter, which given how his first one had turned out was more easily understood. The result had been that she hadn’t felt like she could really relax in her own skin, which the revelation that her mother species were hermaphroditic really made so much more sense. Her female form was as much a part of her identity as her male form, and she felt like she was centuries behind on balancing between the two.

Thor had always been supportive of her in both forms, and it might just have been the fact that Sigyn was fashioned to look as much like Frigga as she could so she also looked like Thor, but many people had claimed that the two looked like a matched set. Loki had only ever seemed to be Thor’s opposite. Sigyn was his sister. It even felt less wrong to hear Thor refer to her as such than it had been to hear him call Loki Brother. Perhaps a little of the resentment that came from the whole ordeal was that if Sigyn had been the one to be raised alongside Thor she never would have thought to seek to be King over Thor. It was an odd thought to wrap her head around. Where Loki felt like he had to fight tooth and nail to be considered Thor’s equal, Sigyn always felt like she was. She was different enough, but the areas that both she and Loki excelled in were always thought to be areas that powerful female Aesir should seek to excel in. They were not only accepted, they were celebrated, but while Odin lived Loki could not disappear.

“You look deep in thought,” a voice interrupted Sigyn’s thoughts.

She looked up to see Bruce standing a few feet to her left, “I was.”

“Anything you want to share?” He asked.

Sigyn tilted her head, “Why do you care?”

He shrugged, “The thoughts looked like they were weighing on you. I thought sharing that weight might help.”

“But why offer that to me? You know who and what I am to you,” she asked intrigued.

“I have known you personally a grand total of three weeks, most of that aboard this ship, and while the other guy doesn’t much care for you, I have come to believe that the version of you we saw on Earth is not the whole story. Anyone that Thor can love so wholeheartedly as he clearly loves you cannot be all that bad.”

Sigyn felt oddly warm at the thought that she was being judged only on what this person had observed personally and the fact that her brother loved her. It was something that she was not used to. Thor’s regard had only been enough for many to merely tolerate their presence in the past.

“I was thinking how much of what went wrong in my life was a direct result of my father forcing his opinion of who I should be on me,” Sigyn said.

“Believe it or not I can understand having a crappy father. I will not bring my own trauma to the table, but if you want to vent I’m here,” Bruce offered.

“He didn’t want me to use this form even though it is the one I am more accepted by every Aesir I have ever met. Instead he wanted a weaker son than his eldest boy that he could manipulate into the cookie cutter future he had planned for me,” Sigyn explained.

“He made you feel inferior then was shocked that you tried to overcompensate,” Bruce added.

“Exactly, I could never be as good as Thor in the areas where he excels, and that was by design. I’m not even Aesir,” Sigyn said.

Bruce nodded, “Can I ask you something?”

She tilted her head, “Within reason.”

“What military training have you had?” Bruce asked.

“I have been trained alongside Thor in military tactics, as well as extensive weapons training. My mother also taught me much in the art of illusion, misdirection, and espionage. I have centuries of knowledge in all aspects of a military campaign, compiled by a warrior culture. I also have training in the political side of a military conflict,” Sigyn answered.

“So you wanted to lose in New York,” Bruce stated.

Sigyn was shocked by Bruce’s assessment for a fraction of a second before she allowed herself to smile, “Yes. I wanted to lose. I wasn’t expecting my father to lock me up after it. I expected death. My mother intervened.”

“Perhaps he knew that was what you were angling for,” Bruce added.

“Oh, he did. He rubbed it in my face that he was denying me my birthright. To everyone else he sounded benevolent and merciful. I knew different at that point. Mother couldn’t even see how far gone he was. We were all pawns on his chessboard, and we all played into his hand. Even now, we seek refuge on the planet that he told us to remember before he died. We are all still following the path he paved for us, and he is long gone on to Valhalla.”

“You do not need my forgiveness for what happened in New York, but I give it to you anyway. We are now firmly on the positive side of a relationship, and the voice of the other guy in my head is saying that the pretty Thor sister is a friend,” Bruce blushed, “I know Tony will forgive you too, in case you were worried about me talking with him. He always said he thought there was more at play than what we could see in New York. The Portal should have been able to open wider, and he saw what was on the other side. No one would listen to him about that though. He will accept your explanation if you offer it. If you don’t though, I know he will still leave you alone as long as you don’t prove yourself to be a threat to his people.”

Sigyn found herself smiling at the thought. This small, mild mannered, scholar that housed a berserker was offering to intercede on her behalf with his friend. It was something that she had never considered she would end up receiving from someone outside her family, but it made her feel warm in a way she hadn’t in a long time.

“Thank you, I would appreciate that,” she said.

Chapter Text

Happy pulled the car into one of the front parking spots for the compound with an ease that showed how many times he had done just that. He headed to the back of the car to get Peter’s bag as Peter opened his own door and awkwardly waited for Happy to lead him into the building. The teen hero was still in an odd state of disbelief as to what he was actually going to be doing that weekend.

“You hungry kid?” Happy asked.

“Always,” Peter answered.

Happy nodded, “I ordered some snacks foods for you that should be in the kitchen. I’ll take you there first, then after you eat we will check in with the boss.”

“Thanks Happy.”

The older man shrugged with his on brand serious attitude. Peter picked up a few granola bars and a juice box that he immediately started snacking on while Happy dropped his bag in his room. There were not many people in that part of the building right then so Peter didn’t feel particularly odd eating by himself, and it gave him a minute to settle in to the feel of the compound, which was becoming one of his favorite places to be even if he only had visited a few handfuls of times thus far.

He wished the place was a little closer to home, but after Stark/Avengers tower got sold SI had moved most of their R&D operations to the upstate Avengers location. It made sense in a lot of ways, especially because the new location was out of the way enough that if it did draw a villain attack there would be less civilian casualty, but it was close enough to the city by Quinjet that they could get to anything heading south pretty fast when the Avengers all still lived there. Now it was more Stark Compound than Avengers because so many of the original team had gone rogue and were now wanted fugitives.

It was a top of the line facility either way though, and Peter felt honored to have a standing invitation to the place. The fact that he was actually more invested in the Stark Industries side of things than he had first realized only made him have an even greater appreciation for the facility. He couldn’t wait to get down to the Labs, and once Happy returned that is exactly where the two headed. He hoped that Tony would be in the lab when he arrived, and he was not disappointed. Peter could see through the observational glass of the lab that the scientist was preoccupied with something in his holotable, but as soon as Happy opened the door Tony looked up. He had a tired smile on his face as he greeted them. It was both warm and weary, and Peter could tell there were many things weighing on his me toe’s mind. Peter was thankful for the smile though.

“Hey Hap, Pete,” Tony said, “Welcome to the kind of chaos that only Aliens can bring.”

“Aliens?!” Peter’s shocked voice was not loud, but he could hear the waver of fear that the word implied, and he hoped that the others missed it.

“Yeah, luckily these are mostly friendly Aliens, at least I hope. The Asgardians are heading to earth, and I am trying to make a clear way for them politically, but it is taking most of my time, so Pete I am gonna be heavily leaning on you to cover my back as far as SI is concerned. Friday will of course assist you as well, but with a few of our projects coming close to their deadlines we can not afford to fall behind just because I have two very different segments of my life deciding to converge on one week.”

“I will do my best Mr. Stark,” Peter said, trying to sound optimistic.

“That will be more than enough Pete, and how many times do I have to tell you, call me Tony,” he said, though the fond smile he had showed that he didn’t mind the address.

Peter shrugged, “You have your nicknames, and I have formality. It’s what we do.”

Tony huffed out a laugh, “Do you want Happy to take you around for introductions now, or would you rather wait and let me do it later?”

“Either way,” he shrugged. Secretly he would rather have Tony do the introductions, but he didn’t want to voice that with Happy right there, and if Tony was really busy he would rather not make himself an inconvenience.

“Happy, how clear are you right now?” Tony asked.

“I’ve got a few things I need to check on since I’ve been gone for three hours, so if it’s alright I’d rather you take your intern around for the rounds. I can do it in an hour or two though if necessary,” Happy answered.

“I’ll handle it then, go do your forehead of security duties Hap,” Tony shooed him away with his hand.

Happy rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything as he left. Peter made his way over to his usual work station. He picked up the tablet that was sitting on the table he normally utilized for his chemistry work. He logged in and saw that the to do folder was filled with work for him, knowing now what he did about the work he had been doing for the company thus far he evaluated everything in that folder with new eyes. It all looked like much of the same sort of thing that he had come to be used to, but it seemed to carry more weight in his mind than it had before. It didn’t make the math any harder though, and soon he fell into his normal rhythm.

After an hour of working in his groove he heard someone clearing their throat. He looked up at that and saw Tony smiling at him.

“You at a point where stopping works for you?” Tony asked, “If I have to read another email from a skeevy politician I think I may toss my computer.”

“Yeah, I can stop right now,” Peter answered, “Have you eaten anything recently? Happy made sure I ate as soon as we got here, but I know you have a tendency to forget to eat when you are busy?”

“Really… And how do you know that?” Tony asked cautiously.

“Friday talks to Karen and they both like to comment about tendencies within each of us they do not approve of,” Peter answered.

Tony laughed, “Friday, are you gossiping about me?”

“Is it really gossiping if I am fulfilling one of my core responsibilities and aiding my sister with one of hers. I think commiserating is a more apt term Boss,” Friday answered with a sarcastic lilt to her Irish accent.

Peter nodded his head as if he agreed with her, and his eyes showed a glint of humor.

“I’ve come to understand that when it comes to those that they love our AI’s act very much the same way my aunt does, and she would agree with Miss. Friday’s assessment,” Peter said.

“Betrayal,” Tony said.

“Since you have deflected instead of answering me, I’m guessing the answer about your eating is a negative,” Peter continued.

Tony gasped and clutched to his heart dramatically, “Deflection! I don’t deflect.”

“You deflected again,” Peter sung the accusation.

Tony huffed and poured, “I just want to show you off to the rest of the scientists here.”

“Sure that is your reason,” Peter smiled, “Friday when did he eat last?”

“He had a bagel around eight this morning Peter, and he has had seven cups of coffee since then,” the AI answered dutifully.

“Using caffeine to suppress hunger isn’t a new trick, but have you drank any water at all today?” Peter asked.

“What is happening here?” Tony asked in a hushed voice full of incredulity.

“”Friday?” Peter added.

“He has not had any water today,” she answered.

“We are stopping by the kitchen to grab you a water bottle and a snack bar to tide you over until dinner, which you will be eating with Miss. Potts and myself because I will be too nervous to do that by myself and I only merit a meal with her because of my connection to you,” Peter instructed.

“Who is the boss here?”Tony asked, “Because last time I checked that was me.”

“You are also the adult here, but that doesn’t automatically make you the best at taking care of yourself. You are the kind of person that takes care of others and forgets about yourself. You take care of me, regularly. Let me return the favor, and the bossiness is just a result of hanging out with you and Friday, you have no one to blame but yourself,” Peter answered with gentle mirth.

“Yeah, okay kid,” Tony said, “I guess I could grab a banana or something.”

Peter nodded, and they made their way toward the kitchen to do just that. Tony ate his banana in three bites and threw the peal in the compost bin before grabbing a water from the fridge and stuffed the bottle in his cargo pants pocket.

He then clapped his hands, “Now can we make with the introductions.”

Peter nodded hesitantly. He was still a bit nervous about this part, but he was glad to have Tony at his side for it. If he had been stuck with Happy he knows he would have had to do most of the talking with the scientist, but with Tony he was relatively certain that his mentor would handle the brunt of the conversation. He was always good at steering discussions where he wanted them to go with people who didn’t know him personally. Peter was realizing that he was one of the few people that fell into an elite group that could see past Tony’s facades.

The next hour was filled with various conversations with many different scientists that Peter tried to commit to memory, but he was honestly a little overwhelmed. He had been taken into an area of the compound that he hadn’t visited yet, with many different labs and rooms of differing uses. He met a few other interns, but they seemed angry at his existence, which was honestly not something he was expecting. He should have though. He was sixteen and the personal intern to Tony Stark while they were entry level interns hoping for table scraps while working through college. He could understand their anger, but Tony didn’t, and he subtly made notes on how everyone reacted to Peter.

Tony would be making a few changes to policies going forward, and anyone who didn’t treat Peter well would be out. Peter didn’t know this yet, but there were a lot of things in the works for the future, and Peter was at the forefront of everything. He trusted the kid. Peter was not just a genius, he was kind to a fault and humble. He was loyal and responsible, and he didn’t even understand just how amazing he actually was, and Tony wanted to be the one to open his eyes.

He was setting Peter up to be the next head of R & D at SI with Pepper’s full support. His record already spoke for itself. There were not many people who could correct his math, but Peter could. Tony was more gifted with robotics only through experience, and he had no doubt that given time Peter would surpass him. They had almost the same IQ, from the tests he had snuck into the first few days of the kids internship. With Peter’s proclivity towards chemistry and physics he balanced out nicely with Tony’s own strengths without becoming redundant.

After they finally made their way back to Tony’s personal lab they were more than ready to lose themselves in their work. Neither of the two were very social people, one because of over-saturation and the other because his own tendency toward self doubt. The labs were a beacon of refuge and they poured themselves back into their jobs until Friday interrupted them to let them know it was time to break for dinner.

“What are we having baby girl!” Tony asked.

“Chinese takeout. Boss Lady is waiting for both of you on your private floor Boss,” Friday answered.

“Alright, ready for this Pete?” Tony asked.

“Not even a little bit,” he cracked out, his voice thin.

“What, you scared of Pepper,” Tony said.

“Yes,” Peter answered quickly and honestly.

“Good, that is a healthy and smart fear to have, but she will love you,” Tony assured him.

“How do you know?” Peter’s voice wavered.

“Pepper puts up with me on a regular basis and you are much easier to love than I am,” Tony answered honestly.

“You’re pretty awesome, Mr. Stark,” Peter said.

“Thanks Pete, but so are you,” Tony reassured him.

They finished cleaning up their stations and made their way together to the lounge in Tony’s private level. Pepper welcomed them both warmly, and Peter blushed as she pulled him in for a hug. He was not expecting that warm of a welcome. Tony found himself laughing and the kid’s embarrassment, and ruffled his hair just to add to it. Peter squawked and ducked away from Tony’s hand, desperately trying to smooth his curly hair back down but failing to salvage it. Tony smirked at the pout the kid through his way after that.

Dinner was a pleasant affair, with very little heavy talk happening as they each shared something of their day with each other. Peter found that Pepper Potts was a lot like his aunt May in her personality, and that put him at ease as the evening wore on. When they had finished eating he thanked them both before making his way to his room at the compound and crashing into the bed fully exhausted. The day had been an emotional roller coaster, and he was unsure exactly how the next day would fare in comparison, but he was thankful for everything all the same. He felt blessed to have the opportunities he had been given, and he hoped he wouldn’t let anyone down as he chased his dreams.

Chapter Text

The chamber that was used for major events by the United Nations was filled to the brim with politicians, their assistants, and what members of the press had been invited to participate in the day’s events. Tony resisted the urge to remove his tie, as it annoyed his neck and the heat of the room threatened to overwhelm even the most seasoned of professionals. He needed the day to go well. He had prepared as much as he possibly could, had met with Bruce and Thor with representatives for the Accords and more specifically the representatives from Norway. Everything had proceeded quickly once the refugee ship had arrived, but it still felt like time was dragging by.

Tony knew that was because he had not been permitted to really relax yet, or even to properly welcome his friends back to earth besides the professional handshakes that were witnessed when Bruce and Thor first disembarked from their landing zone in a field in Norway. Tony had Rhodey by his side for that meeting, but there were also many representatives from various political segments who domineered that meeting. Apart from a few phone calls he hadn’t been able to really speak with them, and those calls had been mainly focused on problem solving for the Asgardian refugees.

Tony hoped that after everything was completed once this day’s meeting was through then he would have a chance to really talk with his friends before business called him back to the United States. He wished Pepper and Peter had been able to join him for this as well, and not just because he missed them. Pepper always did better than him when politicians were concerned, at least where toes needed to remain un-stepped-on, and Peter had nearly lost his mind when he heard that Dr. Banner was returning.

Thor signs for the Asgardians, Bruce’s citizenship as an Asgardian is formally recognized, Norway accepts the Asgardian’s sovereignty for their own people and grants them asylum. The UN grants special passports to the Asgardians to travel across borders in an effort to show that earth as a whole welcomes them and not just Norway, with the understanding that any criminal activity performed by any Asgardians will be treated as coming from the whole people, and punishment should be dolled out accordingly. IE- loss of welcome could result if the people are not controlled, and so education of any country’s laws should be prioritized before they enter that space.

All in all it was much more of a warm welcome than Tony had been expecting given that Earth’s previous experience with Asgard had been mostly violent. He was thankful for it though because it had made his job much easier. The fact that the majority of the refugees were women and children who would eventually come to call earth home probably was an added boon, and no one really wanted all of Asgard’s available might to be loyal to only one earthly country. It would skew the world powers in the coming years to have a large population of long lived warriors raised loyal only to Norway.

Thor entered the chamber wearing his armor, regal and every bit the king that he was even missing one eye. To his left was Bruce, and on his right side was a tall blonde woman that Tony assumed was Sigyn. She was statuesque and imposing with intelligent bright green eyes that glistened with mirth like she knew a joke no one else was privy to. Occasionally Bruce looked over at her and smirked himself, and that was enough to tell him that this woman was someone he would get along with. If his serious science bro could let loose enough to smirk at anyone then that person was worth knowing, and he looked forward to the chance.

The ceremony went well, and Tony smiled and clapped at the appropriate times throughout. Eventually after far longer than Tony would have liked they were free to leave the building, and Tony was finally free to talk with his friends without expectations or listeners attached. He invited the group to dinner with him at a very respected resaurant he knew nearby that had a private dining room for special guests so they would not be disturbed. They thanked him, but Sigyn and Thor excused themselves to return to their people first and give them word of how things fared.

“I will return Bruce to you then after we eat. I want a chance to catch up with you too Thor when we won’t have so many eavesdroppers about, and I plan to help you and your people set up for yourselves in New Asgard,” Tony said.

Thor nodded, “Thank you for everything you have already done, my people are already in your debt, and I know we will be even more so by the end of all of this.”

“Your people owe me nothing, and you are my friend. I have lost so many of those recently I will not chance loosing you as well now that you have returned to me,” Tony said heavily, “There are no debts among friends.”

Thor’s smile was grave at that and he shook his head, “You are a good man. Too good, I’m afraid, and have been used ill. I will endeavor to return your friendship with the honor you have bestowed it.”

After saying this Thor and Sigyn departed and Tony led Bruce to the restaurant. Once they were seated and left by the waiter Bruce spoke, “There is something that I need to let you know now, but it is something I am asking you not to share unless absolutely necessary.”

“Alright, Brucey, you’re scaring me a bit, but I trust your judgment, I won’t share what you are about to tell me with anyone unless I must. You have my word.”

“I will preface this with saying that Loki was tortured and brainwashed by an evil alien warlord before he made his attempt on earth during the battle of New York,” Bruce said.

“I always felt like there was more going on than what we were told,” Tony said.

Bruce nodded and closed his eyes, “Sigyn is Loki.”

Tony blinked a few times silently as he took that in. He knew his mouth would be gaping like a fish, but he didn’t care. The beautiful blonde warrior woman on Thor’s right hand through the entire meeting with the UN had been Loki.

“Wait is it a disguise?! How does that work? Is he actually married to himself?” Tony asked then mumbled, “And people think I’m in love with myself.”

“According to Loki this form is as much who he is as his male form. His birth people are hermaphroditic, and so he has a tendency to want to shift between one and the other to find their own balance. His adoptive father did not look well on it, and so pretty well forced him to live only as a male at home, but when he is other places he has more freedom, and earth was one of the places he could live as either. That is where the myth about his marriage came from, partly from himself telling people he was married to his alternate self to prevent humans from courting either identity.”

“Is he… she… um are they, yeah they okay with you telling me this?” Tony asked.

Bruce nodded, “I made it a condition of my agreement to keep quiet about it. I would not feel comfortable lying to you about something like this.”

Tony felt his eyes water at that. He was touched, and he felt the hoarseness in his voice scratch as he said, “Thank you.”

After a moment of composing himself he decided to share the events that had led to the current break in the avengers and Tony’s life choices up until the Asgardians had arrived. They were finishing up their discussion as the desert was delivered.

“I can not tell you how grateful I am to know that I have a teammate who wants to keep me in the loop,” Tony said.

“And I am thankful that you have done what you could to protect me from Ross and his machinations even when I wasn’t on earth. Even my Asgardian citizenship is a layer of protection from the man, and I know you pushed for that to be accepted by the UN.”

“He is a vile man who I hate, and if I had less self control he would be dead many times over. He just has too much political power and too much protection for me to make him disappear yet, but given time it might still happen,” Tony said.

Bruce shook his head, “Don’t kill anyone on my behalf.”

“I wouldn’t be. It would be for the good of all mankind,” Tony grinned.

Bruce huffed out a laugh, “There was once a time I considered that man my future father in law.”

“I know,” Tony’s smile fell, “I’m sorry about that.”

“Nothing to be done about it,” Bruce said.

“Even still, man that is rough. Pepper’s folks both passed a few years back, so that wasn’t something I ever had to worry about, which is probably a good thing for me because what father in their right mind would entrust their daughter to me with my history and tendency to make things explode?” Tony asked.

“A good one, because you are a good man who takes care of those that you claim as your own,” Bruce answered.

“Awe shucks Bruceybear your gonna make me cry,” Tony deflected.

His friend huffed knowing what Tony was doing, “So tell me more about this Peter you keep bringing up.”

Tony welcomed the change of subject and they finished the drive back to the Asgardian ship talking about the young scientist slash spider boy that had wormed his way into Tony’s life and heart so fully. Bruce expressed an interest to meet the teenager, and Tony was eager to make it happen as soon as he could.

“You will absolutely love him,” Tony insisted, “He is like a puppy, but he is as smart as I am without even trying. Give him a few years and he will pass me there I’m sure. He is also so inherently good, like down to his core, it just feels awesome to be trusted by him. When he looks at you like you made his day, there isn’t hardly anything better.”

“You sound like a proud dad,” Bruce remarked.

“Yeah, I wish I could take credit for the wonderfulness that is Peter Parker, but he is awesome all on his own,” Tony said honestly, “The kid has been through a lot, but he hasn’t let it change him into something dark, which most would who had gone through what he has.”

Tony parked his car and walked Bruce to the ships’s entry ramp where a few people in armor greeted him. One tall man with dark skin and glowing eyes nodded specifically toward Tony. Bruce and Tony parted ways with plans to meet up again the next morning and finalize their plans for New Asgard with Thor and the rest of the Asgardian leadership before Tony made his way back to his car alone.

As Tony drove back to his hotel that night he was hopeful for the first time in a while that he would soon have a full team again, and he was shocked to think that it might contain an iteration of Loki. He wasn’t sure what shocked him more, the fact that he would be willing to accept Loki as a teammate despite their history, or that a part of him was actually hoping for it to come true. He hadn’t lied about having lost too many friends when he spoke with Thor. He missed having a full team behind him, and having Thor, Bruce, and possibly Loki/Sigyn to build their number out past the three of himself, Rhodey, and Peter, well… that felt like a step in the right direction even if the possibility scared him a bit.

Chapter Text

Even as Peter stood on the green cliff side plain in Norway a part of his mind had to convince himself that this was all real. He was actually surrounded by hundreds of Asgardians as he helped them set up their temporary shelters. He had really spoken to Bruce Banner that morning, and Tony Stark had possessively claimed him in front of the other scientist as his own protege. That this was his life now made Peter feel warm inside. It was crazy, but is an incredibly awesome way.

Tony had called him out of school for the week, and May had given her permission for this trip with enthusiasm. This kind of humanitarian effort was completely in May’s wheelhouse and if she had been able to get off work herself she would have been right beside Peter for the whole thing, but the hospital where she worked was forever understaffed, and she wasn’t able to get leave on such short notice.

Tony had been keeping a pretty close watch over Peter as well. The engineer had almost been hovering over him, as if he was worried about something. Peter's spidey sense had been steadily quiet though, so he wasn't sure what could have set Mr. Stark on edge. Whatever the cause, Peter was just grateful that the man cared that much about him.

The first job that Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner, and Peter were focusing on was getting the essentials like electricity and plumbing into the area. Mr. Stark had flown a quinjet out to the location, which was providing internet access to the group, but the utilities were completely non existent in the area, so they were starting from the bottom. The Asgardian and other alien technology that the refugees had brought with them could be powered by the ship, but Mr. Stark planned to build a reactor for the town himself, which would go a long way toward their independence from the rest of Norway. They also planned to dig wells for water access, and build their own water treatment area, utilizing their own technology. It was going to be a long process, but with the brains and brawn that the group brought to the table it should be handled with a speed that others couldn’t match.

They had also reached out to some local builders to begin permanent housing as soon as the utilities were handled, with Stark industries footing the bill for part of the housing and the rest coming from a grant from Norway for cultural exchange and historical education, as the Asgardians had scholars of their own they were willing to share with the Norwegian government to clarify what had been passed down through their own mythology with the truth of what the Asgardians knew. Many of the myths came into being after some of those scholars had already reached adulthood.

There were already plans in motion for a large great house built in the traditional style, which would be used for formal gatherings and political events. Peter was excited to see it all come together eventually. He knew it would take time though, so he focused on the tasks he had been given by Mr. Stark. They were laying some fiber lines for the networks that would cover the settlement area first, and Peter had agreed to help more the equipment as it was both delicate and heavy.

Peter felt eyes on him and turned in the direction of the sensation. He saw a beautiful woman standing next to Thor. She looked like she could be his sister, but Peter vaguely remembered Mr. Stark mentioning someone named Sigyn. If he remembered his norse mythology correctly that would make the woman in question Thor’s sister-in-law via Loki. Something told Peter that wasn’t the whole story. The woman looked too much like Thor, and they were interacting with a level of closeness that didn’t feel like an estranged in law. The green eyes on him were intense, but seemed to glow with warmth so Peter smiled at the woman warmly before resuming his work moving the cables over toward Mr. Stark.

—————————

Sigyn turned to Thor and spoke, “Never before have I understood how someone could look at a child and say this one is mine as Odin did with me, but now I understand. That boy that the Man of Iron brought with him is my son. Any other parents he has are irrelevant. He is under my protection and blessing from this point on. I am willing to share of course, but that child must be protected at all cost!”

Thor’s eyebrows raised to their full extent, “Understood sister, but don’t you think you should know his name first before you offer adoption.”

“Whatever name he carries is secondary, his soul screams of mischief, intelligence, and wit. He is almost generating his own seider somehow, similar to mother’s, and he is not fully human from what I can see. He has been touched by the multiverse in his core, and he is attached directly to the weave of fate, like he is able to shape it himself. His potential is immeasurable, but there is also great sorrow in his past that he has risen above. His essence cries out to me in a way I have never felt before.”

Thor nodded his understanding. He turned to face the boy fully to observe him as he stood next to Stark. The two behaved very much in a father and son sort of way, but Thor knew that the boy was not Stark’s by blood.

“You will have to play nice with Stark to get close to the boy, and I know the man is still hesitant to befriend you after the last time you met him,” Thor warned.

“Yes, well, he hasn’t offered to shoot me yet, which I would say is a step in the right direction. Offering my oath to protect the boy whenever possible should go a long way toward reassuring the man, don’t you think,” Sigyn asked.

“You may be right. From what I have seen Stark looks at that boy as his own, and any good parent will welcome more support toward protecting their child.”

“I feel like this boy has a tendency to get in over his head and yet grow and surpass himself with each step,” Sigyn added.

“If that is the case he might not welcome your support himself even if Stark does,” Thor said.

Sigyn nodded contemplatively as she looked at the boy with a longing that could only be described as maternal. It was an incredibly new sensation for her to feel, and the strength of it surprised her. She had never truly desired to become a parent before, so this sudden onset of that desire was almost unsettling, but at the same time it settled something inside of her that she hadn’t realized was uneasy before. That child was hers from the moment she saw him, and she would protect him with her life if it came down to it.

Chapter Text

Sigyn turned to her brother, who was currently lifting some lumber to carry it from its drop off site to a building area.

“I need to pay the sorcerer a visit, sooner rather than later preferably,” she said.

“Why?” Thor asked with a grunt. “You’ve been here for a few days on the planet and he hasn’t summoned you or I as he did last time.”

“But he could at any moment. I doubt my form has hindered his ability to trace my magical signature, so he knows I’m here if he is a sorcerer worth his weight. It is only a matter of time before I am summoned, so I would rather go on my own,” she stated.

“The head on approach is not your usual style, are you alright?” Thor asked with concern in his voice.

Sigyn scoffed, “I am fine, but I don’t fancy another thirty minute fall. I also would feel better if I was the one to initiate the next contact with the mystic order of Midgard.”

Thor nodded, “Understandable, when will you go?”

“Tonight if possible. If I leave here after everyone has retired it should be morning there.”

Sigyn hoped that her reception would not be a violent one. She had seen enough of destruction for a good while, and while she enjoyed a bit of chaos, she wasn’t going to go looking for it with an opponent who had already bested her twice without effort. Those portals were something she didn’t understand, but she desperately wanted to. It wasn’t often that she came across a type of magic with which she was unfamiliar. It intrigued and infuriated her, but she was patient enough to know that she would catch more flies with honey than with the temper she had been clinging to for so long. Watching Asgard burn had been a perspective shifting moment for her. To know that she might have been partially responsible for the destruction of two of the nine realms was a daunting thing. What was left of her birth world? Nothing was left of her adoptive one.

Thor’s voice broke through her thoughts, “If I recall the last time correctly that man was a decent sort, definitely scholarly, so if you can convince him to listen to you for a bit then you should be able to achieve your goal.”

Sigyn huffed a half hearted laugh, “I didn’t get a chance to really talk last time, and I was frustrated during my entire encounter. I know I didn’t show my best side, but you know how silver tongued I can be when I put my mind to it.”

Thor smirked, “If the person lets you talk to them then your battle is already half won.”

Sigyn smiled at the praise. It was true that many times in the past Loki or Sigyn had been able to talk their way out of bad situations that would have been impossible to fight their way out of. Words were their greatest weapon for a millennia. Now she hoped that this sorcerer would not try to imprison her on site. The fact that she still had access to the tesseract within her pocket dimension was the only reason she felt confident enough to even attempt this meeting.

“How were you able to find his home? Do you have an address I can utilize?” Sigyn asked.

“It was on a street named Bleaker I believe, in New York. The building was nearly singing with energy for those who know what to look for. I can’t remember the exact number though.”

“That should be easy enough to narrow down. I shall skywalk there and return with word promptly. If something goes wrong and I don’t return within a span of 24 hours I will ask you send Stark looking. They will not want him poking around in their business with his curiosity and acerbic wit.”

“It shall be done.”

————

The second time entering the sanctum in New York was a much better experience as entering through a door is less jarring then being dumped out of a portal. The face that greets her is the same though, equal parts smug confidence and tense vigilance, with a beard that was even more complicated than Stark’s. Sigyn smiled as genuinely as she could, but she could feel the mischief that bubbled beneath the surface was not concealed from his perusal.

“Lady Loki, I presume,” the sorcerer asked warily.

“I go by Sigyn in this form,” she answered.

She was thankful at least to know for a fact that this man could identify her even disguised.

“My condolences for your realm, I felt the fire extinguish her light from our universe. How is your core faring with this loss?” He asked.

“Having lost the connection to both my birth realm and my adopted one, my core has shattered three times over in my life, and yet Midgard has welcomed me back to heal myself. I don’t know if I would have been able to stay here otherwise. I might have been forced to heal on Vanaheim if she hadn’t.” Sigyn answered hesitantly.

It was surprising for her to hear the man ask about her core. Her own mother hadn’t even raised the issue at her trial, and no healers had been brought in. If it weren’t for her own knowledge of healing and connection to Asgard she wouldn’t have been able to heal at all while imprisoned. To hear concern from an outsider who had every right to hate her was something that unnerved her. His voice interrupted her thoughts.

“I know that we did not get off on the best footing last time you were here, but I think I have come to understand your plight a little better after our last encounter.”

“How?” Sigyn asked.

“Earth sorcerers do not utilize an inner core like siedremen use, and when you came to earth last time you barely utilized your magical potential to what my research shows should have been your capacity. It reflected a core injury or worse, and I know that can have an effect on a mage’s ability to think rationally. I would like to listen to your explanation for what happened in the battle of New York before I pass my own judgement over your actions.”

“What has brought about this change of thought? Why give me the time of day?”

“My predecessor remembered you from your previous time on earth. She wrote fondly of you in her records. I trust her judgement on most things and so am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt where this is concerned. She had not listed you as an enemy of our halls when she could have during the chitari invasion. That makes me think there were more players on the board that she considered a priority in that instance.”

Sigyn was grateful, and allowed herself to be led to a sitting room where tea was served as she told her tale. The sorcerer listened to her story with little interruption. When she finished he leaned back into his chair in thought, folding his scarred hands together on his lap.

“Do you think that he will come here again, this Thanos,” he asked.

“A few years ago I would have said yes with no hesitation, but now I am unsure. I kept an ear out to the void, sent emissaries to planets outside of the nine realms trying to gather information on his movements, and all evidence points to the Titan vanishing with the main bulk of his fleet two years ago. The rumors are that he came across someone or something stronger than him and lost. I for one believe his own ambition probably led to his destruction. If he was conquered the victor would be bragging. Thanos had many enemies. A tale like that would gain many friends and allies,” Sigyn said.

Dr. Strange nodded, “I will use my connections to search for any hint that he might come here, but I hope that you are right and he is not something we will need to prepare for.”

“I would also like to ask your permission as the guardian of earth’s magical population to come and study here with you at times. I am interested to see how human magic compares, all these many years later,” Sigyn stated.

“You have my permission to visit and observe our practical classes, and you may study in the library, as long as you obey the rules of the sanctum and librarian. You must not interfere with our classes either, or the permission will be revoked,” Dr. Strange responded.

“Thank you, it has been many years since I have been in a place that actually celebrates magic as something to be pursued regardless of gender. Even amongst the Elves I was something of an anomaly for being willing to study both magic and traditional warrior arts. Add to it that I was generally believed to be a man, and my ability to fit in anywhere was incredibly hindered.”

“I hope that you will find better acceptance going forward. I know what isolation can do to someone, and it is not something anyone should be forced to live with. I have faith that my people will welcome you, especially in this form, and should you choose to pick another face as long as it is not the one they have preconceived notions of to fear, you should be safe here to study to your heart’s content.”

Sigyn smiled at the thought. She wondered at the welcome she was receiving and she contemplated what things he might have read about her that would give him such an understanding. Perhaps it truly was just the kind of man that he was. Arrogant but just, it seemed like an odd combination, but maybe somewhere down the line people might say the same about her. She definitely recognized parts of herself in the young but old man in front of her. His eyes bore the age of a thousand lifetimes easily. He knew pain and bitterness, yet rose above it. There was a story there, and perhaps in time he would share it with her, but not before she proved that she truly meant earth no harm.

Chapter Text

Pepper couldn’t hide the smirk as she listened to her fiancé whine once again about Loki.

“She is acting like she has always just been this sweet healer. Like she never tried to take over anything, and she keeps looking at Peter like he is the most amazing thing she has ever seen,” he said.

“How dare she,” Pepper said sarcastically, “Are you sure you’re not worried that Peter might want to spend time with someone who isn’t you?”

“What!?” He squeaked.

She laughed, “You don’t really have a problem with her. You’re worried about Peter and his puppy dog charms. You know it’s impossible not to like him, and you know that she has already figured that out. You’re just worried that when Peter picks up on the attention he’s getting from her that he might find her interesting and take some of his time away from you.”

“Wow! you don’t have to be honest about it.” He sounded put out.

“Honey, I know you and what’s more I know him. I may not have known him long or at least as long as you have, but it’s clear to anyone with eyes that Peter adores you.”

“Gross, feelings,” he shivered.

She rolled her eyes and changed the subject. Her man baby fiancé was a handful at the best of times but she knew that he had been incredibly stressed out recently. She hoped that he would finally come to terms with the idea that he was allowed to feel anything, instead of sticking with a pre approved emotion list that tended to ignore anything that wasn’t what he considered necessary. Peter had helped him to some extent, but she wasn’t sure he even realized just how repressed he was. She hoped he would be able to open up more without something terrible happening to rip his heart open metaphorically as it had already had done to it physically multiple times.

———

“How was your meeting with the earth Sorcerers sister?” Thor bellowed.

“Quieter brother, I don’t think that the entire community needs to know what I’m doing all hours of the day, and subtlety is not something you have enough practice in, let alone discretion. They are a hidden people for a reason, remember,” Sigyn chastised her brother, “It went better than I could have hoped. I have been given permission to study and visit their library. I could also see myself forming an odd sort of friendship with a few of the practitioners there. It is so peaceful, at least it was when I visited.”

“That is great. Do you think any of our healers will want to join you there at all?”

“They might, but I will need to ask permission from their leader before I spread that knowledge around.”

“Of course,” Thor nodded jovially.

“On another note, I may have something to tell you that has slipped my mind until just last night,” Sigyn started cautiously.

“And what would that be,” Thor asked suddenly wary.

Sigyn grimaced and hesitated, “I know that the warriors three perished against our sister, but I think that there is a good chance Sif survived.”

“What!?” Thor’s voice was thin.

“Before you came to Asgard I had sent her away on a diplomatic errand. The journey should have taken her many months and she would have been out of range of typical communication for much of it. There is actually a good chance she doesn’t even know anything happened to Asgard.”

Thor looked shaken, “Where did you send her?”

“To the Nova core, to speak with the Nova Prime on my or Odin’s behalf. They are protecting something that is very powerful. I need to know that it is safe with them.”

Thor nodded, “Is there any way to get word to her?”

“Heimdall would be the one to ask that. From Midgard he would be able to make contact to places in the void easier. He should be able to see Nova easily enough, so perhaps you should ask him to send her a message. I’m not terribly eager to talk with her again after my last, uh, deception.”

Thor found himself laughing. Sigyn fought it for a moment before giving in and laughing herself. The siblings continued laughing with each other, until both were wiping tears out of their eyes. Neither wanted to think of how much those tears could easily be from sorrow as the y could from humor. It was a rough hollow feeling that they refused to acknowledge.

“Thank you for thinking of her sister,” Thor said.

“Yes, well… “ he hesitated, “She was once my friend as well. They all were.”

The pain in her voice was mirrored on his face.

“I will go talk with Heimdall now.”

Sigyn watched as her brother walked away, ignoring the pain in her chest that felt like grief. She didn’t want to think about what they had lost, because inevitably she would blame herself for it all, and really it was so much her fault. Perhaps the survival of Sif was also her fault, and that was something she thought she could learn to live with. She hoped, at least, that one of their friends had outlived their realm.

Chapter Text

The night air was thick with smog and Peter was very thankful for the new air filtration system in his suit. Patrol was busier than it had been for weeks, and even though he could breathe much better after the spider bite than before that didn’t mean he enjoyed the taste of pollution with his heightened senses. He had just finished chasing down a group of thugs who had been involved in a smash and grab robbery when he realized that he wasn’t the only one following said thugs. He webbed them up together before slinging himself up to the top of one side of the alleyway.

The shadows atop the building across from where he landed barely hid the silhouette of what appeared to be a man. From what he could make out he was pretty sure he saw small horns on the man’s head. Rumors on the streets told of a masked vigilante with horns that called himself the devil of Hell’s Kitchen. Peter realized that he might have ventured into the other vigilante’s territory in his pursuit without realizing it.

Silently he waved his hand toward the other vigilante. He received a nod in response. He pointed toward the roof that the man stood on, asking for permission to jump over, but only received a tilted head in response. Taking a deep breath he prepared to make the jump, planning to take off just as quickly if his spider sense warned him of danger once he landed.

“Hello,” He said sheepishly as he walked from where he landed toward the other vigilante. His spidey sense was quiet, but he had never talked with this man, and wasn’t sure how he would react to Spider-man showing up in his territory.

The man smirked, “Hello Spider-man, I’ve been wondering when we might end up crossing paths.”

“Really? Oh, well, I didn’t really plan to end up all the way in Hell’s Kitchen. I think the thugs I webbed up down there were making for their home base, which is around here somewhere, at least that’s what I picked up from the chatter I caught on one of the bugs I tagged them with. I caught two of the group back in queens, but they split up. Took me a minute to get those guys because they were using some weird sonic weapons. The guys down there,” he gestured toward the alley, “didn’t have the weapons so I prioritized the ones that did. It was a smash and grab, electronics mostly, but some cash as well. I called it in with the cops and let them know where I webbed everyone up at. The webs will hold for two hours, which if the response time follows the average means that cops should get to all of them with an hour and a half to spare.”

“Might take longer here,” the devil’s gruff voice almost startled Peter after his info dump.

“How long would you think?” Peter asked.

“Closer to an hour,” the man responded.

“Still shouldn’t be a problem for the webs.”

“Good,” the devil said, “It’s a little late for the spider to be out isn’t it?”

The man’s voice seemed to be both holding humor and genuine curiosity.

“Yeah, I was just about to call it a night when I heard the alarm going off,” Spidey answered.

“Head back to Queens then. I’ll check back here in an hour to make sure the cops have come for the perps.”

“Thanks,” Peter said.

“You’re welcome, and don’t worry about having crossed over into my territory or anything. I don’t recommend people come here, but that is because it’s dangerous. I’m pretty sure there isn’t much in Hell’s Kitchen you couldn’t handle, and less crime on the streets is a good thing,” the man smiled.

Spidey nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind, and if you ever need help I’d be more than willing to offer it,” he reached into his wrist compartment and pulled out one of the beacons he had designed recently, “here,”he handed the small spider looking device to the other vigilante, “If you ever find that you need help, or evac, or just want to get in touch with me, press the head of the spider back into the body and hold for ten seconds. It will act as a tracker only once activated, and will give me your location. It will continue to transmit until I deactivate it, so even if you move once you’ve activated it I will still be sent your location. It will last up to 24 hours before the battery stops working but the tracker data will still be logged after that if for some reason I am unable to get to you quickly.”

He nodded, “Who all would get this information should I activate the tracker?”

“If I’m on patrol it would only be me and my AI, but if for some reason I am unable to get to you my AI would contact her sister AI and that would mean that Iron Man would be contacted.”

“So it’s true,” the man said.

“What is?” Peter tilted his head.

“You work for Stark,” he said.

“In only the oddest way possible is that statement actually true,” he took a deep breath, “Mr. Stark gave me my suit, kind of unofficially backed me, and has been providing me with support on both sides of my life. He isn’t Spider-Man’s boss, more like a benefactor that is very invested in my continued survival.”

“So he’s your mentor,” the man said more subdued.

“Yes,” Peter agreed.

“And you trust him?” He asked.

“With everything. He isn’t what the tabloids would have you believe. I mean, I know he is nowhere near perfect, but he cares so much about everyone and everything. He just covers it up by acting like a huge jerk. Anyone who can convince Pepper Potts to marry them has to be an amazing human, don’t you think?”

That made the man laugh, “Alright. Thanks then for the tracker. I’ll see you around Spider-Man.”

“See you around Devil,” Peter responded.

He then swung back towards his apartment.

“Hey Karen,” he said.

“Yes Peter.”

“Did you scan the man I was just talking to?” He asked.

“Yes I did.”

“Was there something odd about his mask?” Peter asked.

“I would postulate that he has some extrasensory needs similar to you as his mask was more designed to hinder his vision than to enhance it from what I could see.”

“That was the impression I got too. Are you going to talk to Friday about this encounter?”

“Yes,” Karen responded.

“Alright, but please ask her to respect his privacy. I know she has a tendency to get very protective of her people, but I don’t think he is one of the bad guys. Until I hear otherwise I want to give him his space. It wouldn’t do for Tony to show up in his apartment just because he talked to me.”

“There is a chance he already knows Peter,” she said.

“I know,” he had thought of that possibility, but really didn’t want to cause the man to feel threatened by the connection to Stark. “I want to build trust, and having my pseudo father figure show up to talk with the guy after I gave him a tracker would not build that trust.”

“Understood, I will make sure that Friday is to dissuade Mr. Stark from visiting him should he find out about that conversation. If he visits him on his own though, there is not much I can do. I have been checking in with Friday regularly ever since that horrible Vulture scenario happened. I was designed to aide you and I was unable to during that. I will not be separated from you again Peter.”

“Awe thanks Karen. I was fine, but I would have definitely been better if you had been with me.”

“I know Peter.” Karen said smugly.

Chapter Text

Tony couldn’t help but worry. From the moment that Peter arrived for his lab time that day it was as if a cloud was hanging over the boy. His normal bubbly excitement and enthusiasm was absent. He had been perfectly polite as is his default, but he hadn’t been talkative past his greeting and the occasional pardon me. Fifteen minutes in and Tony was seriously wondering if they were in some sort of body snatchers scenario.

“Hey kid,” Tony started.

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” he said while still focused on the equations on his tablet.

“Anything interesting happen recently at school?”

“Not really,” he answered.

Tony inwardly cringed. Peter was the definition of non engaging which meant he was going to need to push more to get the answers he wanted. He gambled on his next subject started, hoping he would get more out of the kid.

“How are your friends, Ted and Michelle right?” He asked.

“They are fine I guess, although Michelle has been ranting about some of the schools more recent decisions ad nauseam.”

More information felt like a win so he pursued it further.

“Hmm, and what decisions are those?”

“The school has decided to have a ‘dad league’, which is a weird name for a group of parents that are meeting at the school to try and encourage the athletics for the school. I get that it is mostly made up of students’ dads, but they are sort of filling the role of coach assistants and sometimes additional players or opponent teams. We are a science school so there isn’t a lot of focus on athletics anyway, and they are only trying to get more awareness for those extracurriculars. Michelle hates the name more than the purpose.”

That felt like that was a whole minefield of a subject. He chose to continue carefully.

“Why didn’t they call it something like the guardian league? That would cover things and feels like a superhero team?”

“I know! Not everyone has a dad, or even a good relationship with their dad, but I think they were worried that if they didn’t call it the dad league that they wouldn’t have a lot of men show up. Most of the support that comes from parents at the school comes from moms from what I’ve seen. Michelle was just angry that it feels like the school is saying women in sports are less important, which many of the males at school have not been helping with whenever they bring up the statistics for money spent on male vs female led sports. I’m just trying to keep the peace as I can’t even join the teams anyway so adding my two cents on either side feels useless. Ned doesn’t really care about sports, but I think that Michelle might be more interested in them than I previously thought.”

Tony nodded. “Has anybody been giving you grief about not joining a sport team?”

“Not really. I kind of have a reputation as a weak asthmatic left over from before the bite. Everyone just assumes I can’t handle it.”

“And no one is rubbing that in your face, right? No one is making fun of you for being ‘weak’” Tony asked, feeling he was getting closer to the truth of why his kid was acting down.

Peter winced, “No one that matters.”

“So that means someone is,” Tony added with an air of frustration, “I know when we first met you said that you would love to go out for sports but that you couldn’t before so you shouldn’t now.”

“You remember that?” Peter looked up bewildered.

“Of course I do, it was a very important conversation. I was getting to know your motivations, and what I learned was that you were mature beyond your years with a caring heart of gold,” Tony answered.

Peter smiled gently back at Tony, some of the tension in his shoulders receding and some of the gloom of the day dissipating as those words sunk in.

Peter spoke, “I have to hold myself back all the time. If I’m not careful when I go out a door I could rip it off its hinges. I have trained my control so much that even I don’t know how hard I can truly hit. I operate at about two percent of my potential most of the time, and I know that if I joined a sports team the temptation would always be there to push it to more, whatever it takes to beat the opponent, and that wouldn’t be fair. It’s not just about my secret identity. I could easily break every state record for dead lifting one handed. I could out wrestle any non enhanced high schooler in the country. I’m not a speedster, but I know I could outdo any non enhanced for any sport our school has, including track. It wouldn’t be fair for me to join any athletic team because I am in a league of my own, but when I hear people make fun of how weak I am I get tempted to prove them wrong, then I hate myself for even considering it.”

“Hey, you are allowed to feel that desire to prove them wrong. They are wrong. That is a justice thing, but even if they were right, and you were still as weak as you use to be, it would still be wrong of them to make fun of you for that. They are being bullies, and it is only natural that you would want to put bullies in their place. It doesn’t mean that you are going to go against what convictions to do that,” Tony said.

“But what should I do? They have made fun of me in clear view of some teachers and only been told to stop. They never stop, and there is no follow through. I’m pretty sure my PE teacher hates me too, and would be joining in if it wouldn’t loose him his job.”

“Doesn’t your school have a zero tolerance bully policy? If the teachers aren’t enforcing that then they are negligent.”

“On paper there is a zero tolerance policy, but in my experience that just means that if the bullying comes from a scholarship student then they will not tolerate them. If the parents have money, it’s a different story, and all my bullies come from influential families. I mean one guy has exclusively referred to me as Penis Parker for as long as I’ve know him and has only been told to stop with no punishment or follow through. His parents regularly donate to the school, so he gets away with it.”

Tony felt his blood boiling, “And what is the name of that guy?”

“You aren’t going to threaten a high schooler,” Peter said.

“No but I am going to blacklist him from all Stark Industries properties,” Tony said in a controlled venom filled tone.

Peter considered for a moment, “His name is Eugene Thompson, but he goes by Flash.”

“Yeah, I think if my name was Eugene I would go by something else too. Friday, you hear that. Full blacklist on one Eugene ‘Flash’ Thompson. No admittance, no exceptions. Check to see if we do any business with his family’s companies as well. If so, pass on the knowledge of the blacklist status to them as he will not be allowed to visit with any representatives. Peter do you know what his family does?”

“Nope,” Peter popped the p in the word.

“Eugene Thompson, Son of Harrison and Elizabeth Thompson. Harrison Thompson is the owner of Thompson Logistics which is a shipping company that operates on the East Coast. Elizabeth Thompson is a corporate lawyer,” Friday interjected.

“Do we utilize Thompson Logistics?” Tony asked.

“Not directly, some of our secondary suppliers use them, but that is the extent of connection we have,” She answered.

“Cool beans,” Tony said.

“Thanks for that, Mr. Stark, but how will he know about this.” Peter asked.

“Friday will send him a notice letting him know that he has been blacklisted from all Stark owned properties for harassing an employee of SI. It is standard.”

“Will he know that employee is me? His parents might try and raise a fuss at the school if they think I have hurt his chances to get a job here.”

“Do you have Karen in your phone?” Tony asked.

Peter made a face, “She can interact with my phone, but I don’t think she is fully integrated in it yet.”

“Well, let’s fix that today. If she is in your phone she can record anything happening to you in school, and prove the harassment. Maybe add a watch too. Actually, I’m definitely adding a watch. Let’s make a watch for you today, like what I have with my repulsers but with spider-man stuff. I know you have got in the habit of wearing your web shooters, let’s work on integrating those into a watch on one side and a bracelet or something on the other.”

They immediately stopped what they had been working on previously to focus on that. It took most of the rest of the afternoon, but by the time Peter left the lab for the day he had a completed smart watch connected to his webshooter and linked to his phone which was finally completely integrated with Karen. The bracelet for his other hand wasn’t complete, only because it was not decorative enough to blend in. He decided he wanted to create a leather looking cuff style bracelet that would go over the whole mechanism.

The trick was going to be machining the metal to look like leather and fitting it to his wrist. He has a few designs for the finished product saved to his tablet and Tony was going to experiment with a few different finishes to get the specific effect they were going for. Hopefully it would be ready to go by the next lab day.

Chapter Text

Tony was elbows deep into the electrical components of his and Peter’s latest build with AC/DC blaring when Friday’s voice interrupted his flow.

“Boss, you just received a cryptic message from Thor and another anonymous number stating that basically something is about to go down in New York City, near Greenwich.”

Tony’s head swerved to look toward the corner camera that served as his AI’s main set of eyes for the room.

“Any idea what it’s gonna be from that message?”

“Something of the nefarious magical variety, according to Thor who received word via his sister. The other sender indicates that they are familiar with Thor and his people, but not their own identity, although the most recent owner of the phone number that sent it was a Dr. Stephen Strange.”

“The neurosurgeon?” Tony asked.

“The very same,” she responded.

Tony nodded, “Alright, what’s the timeframe?”

He began walking out of the building, listening to Friday explain as he went.

“Sigyn thinks it will be imminent, but is unsure of the severity. She was apparently visiting someone in New York, and so felt the arrival of whoever or whatever this is, before sending word to her brother. It is possibly the acquaintance she was meeting is Strange.”

———

“Sigyn, I have just got word that Stark is on his way here. ETA is twenty minutes, but the sanctum was not designed to ward off this kind of attack.”

Outside the sanctum hundreds of men were gathering en masse, beating on the doors and windows. Their blank gazes disturbing as they crawled over each other trying to breach the building.

“I know, sorry,” Sigyn said, “I didn’t even know Amora was among the refugees otherwise I would have warned you. She must have decided to disguise her appearance. Her original magic source was Asgard, so I think Midgard must have rejected her and she is now getting desperate for another power source. She must have lost the ability to continue shapeshifting, and she is not without enemies among our people. We can’t let her breach this building. She will drain every sorcerer here and every artifact she can. I am once again immensely thankful that Midgard accepted me. Her core might be close to shattering. Most of the Asgardian healers were able to bond with Midgard. I don’t know what would have stopped her apart from that.”

The sorcerers had gathered in the foyer of the New York sanctum, pouring their energy into the defenses of the sanctum together. There were only a few that were not currently engaged in that task, and even Strange was partially devoting his energy into that task as he walked through the sanctum gathering supplies and weapons to fortify their defenses with Sigyn walking beside him.

He spoke, “Yes, she seemed close to unhinged when she first arrived before she disappeared. If we can somehow knock her out, can your healers help her with her core or should we send her to Vanaheim?”

Sigyn tilted her head as she thought through that, “I think that we should consider Vanaheim the best option. She has spent enough time there in the past that I know her core would be accepted on that realm. Their healer would also be better suited to dealing with an Asgardian’s shattered core.”

“Alright, how do you suggest we knock her out?” They were in one of the upper weapons area, looking at an array of magical artifacts. Strange ran through his mental archive to see if anything he knew was stored here would give them an advantage over the Asgardian enchantress.

“Can’t you just catch her in one of your portals like you did me when I first arrived the last time?”

Strange let out a huff of frustration, “I don’t have a lock on her magical signature. Something is blocking me from being able to track it. It is clouded too, by the spread of her magical influence over her amorous army out there. Your very connection and acceptance by Midgard is probably why I was so easily able to lock onto you before. Not many people of your power level exist, Sigyn, and even fewer can draw directly from Yigdrasil like you can. Your power literally is a beacon for the right kind of tracking spell. This enchantress is powerful, but she is not anywhere near your level.”

She smiled a bit at the compliment before speaking, “Can you call Stark and fill him in on what is going on while he finishes his journey here,” Sigyn began gathering magic in her hands, “I’m going to the roof, and I’m going to try and contain as many of the horde out there without harming them as I can. We have to find Amora as soon as possible to stop her from making any more thrall warriors, and Thor is normally the one she goes after, without him here I’m unsure how to trace her. Stark will probably be our best bet there. Make sure he keeps his distance though. I’m not interested in trying to dodge Iron Man too.”

“I don’t think that is something anyone would want. Yes, I will call him back, do you think getting Thor here would be beneficial, too?”

Sigyn paused, “Yes, portal him here and Bruce Banner too. I’m fact, Heimdall!” She yelled, “Prepare Thor and Bruce along with the Valkyrie for a portal, which will be appearing near the city hall. We could use your sight as well.”

Strange nodded to Sigyn as he began opening said portal. The group arrived in a matter of minutes, and Sigyn’s shoulders sagged with relief, which cause Strange to smirk. He recognized a bit of his own tendency to take everything on himself without reaching out for help in Sigyn, but he knew she was more of a team player than she would ever admit. She wanted people she could rely on, she just didn’t think anyone would truly have her back when the chips were down.

He hoped that eventually she would come to know that he would be someone she could count on, and Thor was learning how to have her back too. Just because she was powerful enough to watch everyone else backs didn’t so few people thought to cover hers, and thousands of years of experience had taught her that even those who claimed to love her wouldn’t think twice to leave her on her own. Her independence and competence had worked against her in that regard. Strange understood that predicament.

Thor’s booming voice echoed on the walls of the sanctum, “Sister! We have come.”

She smirked, “Yes, I can see that brother. Follow me. I will fill you in with the details as we walk.”

The group proceeded toward the roof, leaving Strange with a nod.

“I will call Stark and tell him to meet you up there,” Strange called after them.

Sigyn raised her hand in acknowledgment as they made their way toward the stairwell that led to the sanctum roof. The discussion they had was quick as she gave what knowledge she had to the group. Surveying the road from the edge of the roof, the gathered barrage of men below teamed like water flowing through the street.

“There have to be a few thousand men down there. How is she controlling them all if she is weakened?” Bruce asked.

“Amora is particularly skilled in a specific set of enchantments that suck the life force out of her victims to power the spells. It requires very little strength on her end. We need to free them from her hold, but in order for me to do that in need to stop them from hurting each other while I do that. The first step will be containment,” Sigyn said.

“Why are we here?” Valkyrie asked, “I am a fighter, not a mage.”

“You, Thor, and Bruce are here to hopefully knock out Amora when we find her, Heimdall is here to help find her. We need to stop her from continuing to add more men to her army.” Sigyn spoke as she pushed green magic out of her hands toward the men below, slight strain in her voice was noticeable as she continued talking, “When Stark arrives he will help search for her as well. He should be here any minute now. Heimdall, please guide them, I need to focus on the masses gathers down there.”

“Of course princess,” the golden eyed guardian spoke.

The sound of thrusters filled the air above them as Iron Man descended on the roof.

“You called?” Stark’s voice came from the speakers on his suite.

“Yes, what do you know of who we face?” Thor asked.

“Magic woman, thrall army, freaky power set, don’t let her kiss you,” he rattled off.

“Yes, we need to find her now. We have no idea how far she will range gathering men for her army,” Heimdall spoke up, “Her movement is… erratic…” he closed his eyes, “She is walking near a bookstore at the moment, three streets over to the north.” He pointed in the direction.

“Anyone need a ride?” Iron Man asked.

He was met with three raised eyebrows and one green tinged Bruce grimace. In a moment the group left the roof headed in the direction of Amora leaving Sigyn alone as she worked hard to contain the ever growing mass of bodies below. Five minutes later she could feel the control slip from the minds of the men below as she knew Amora had been dealt with. Sigyn let her power sooth the minds of group below before she released them. A moment later Thor landed on the roof of the sanctum holding an unconscious Amora.

Sigyn pulled out restraining cuffs from her pocket dimension and secured the woman as she slept. The rest of the group arrived as she did this, and Strange also joined them on the roof with a group of sorcerers who opened a portal to Vanaheim and carried the enchantress through it before disappearing.

“Yay teamwork,” Iron Man said sarcastically.

The hulk grunted, “Tin man smash good!”

“Thanks big green!” Tony cheerily said.

“What is the nature of your weaponry exactly?” The Valkyrie asked, “Your armor seemed to morph like magic.”

“It’s nanobots, tiny robots that I can control with my mind,” he answered.

“Like telekinetically?” She asked.

“No, I have a neural interface.” He answered.

She seemed confused but accepted the answer.

“I definitely feel like I’ve missed a lot, scientifically speaking,” Bruce said

“Oh, you have Brucey Bear! You totally have,” Tony said eagerly, “Since you’re here, why don’t you all join me for dinner. Pep, Rhodey, and Peter will be at the compound tonight. It’s a lab day, so the kid will be spending his entire afternoon with me in the lab, which you could join us for Brucey. The rest of you could make use of the training facilities if you like.”

Strange spoke, “I will be staying here. The building was able to withstand the barrage, but this sanctum needs my attention at the moment until it can settle again. It is a sentient building and was aware of the possible attack. I am needed to reassure it of its safety as its guardian.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I understand. I will be inviting you to dinner again so I can pick your brain, Mr. Magical Neurosurgeon,” Stark said.

Strange smirked and nodded as he left the group, “Thank you all for the assistance.”

“Any other takers?” Stark asked.

“I thank you Stark, but I must ask Princess Sigyn to send me back to New Asgard. I can not leave my post for much longer without feeling uneasy,” Heimdall answered.

Tony nodded, and Sigyn offered Heimdall her hand before the two disappeared. She was hiding her use of the space stone through illusion, so no one would see her accessing the blue light the tesseract gave off. Moments later Sigyn reappeared on the roof alone.

“I think the rest of us will take you up on your offer,” Thor said as the others nodded.

“Excellent!” Tony clapped, “Any chance you could transport us all to my compound.” He turned toward Sigyn as he asked this.

“I can, but it can be disconcerting to travel that way, I recommend closing your eyes. Make sure you have a hand on me and I will let you know when we arrive,” Sigyn offered.

The group nodded and offered a hand to either her arm or shoulder. A minute later they were walking into the Compound together, as a victorious team.

Chapter Text

When Happy told him that Tony had a surprise for him he wondered if it had anything to do with the crazy magical male army that had stormed Greenwich earlier that day. He had been taking his AP calculus exam at the time, and was unable to leave even before the lockdown procedure went into effect for the school. He was thankful that he hadn’t been needed, because he really didn’t want to fail that test and miss out on the college credit it would provide. As it was, he was pretty confident he had aced it.

As cool as a team up with Thor, Hulk, and Iron man would have been, he was sure he would never hear the end of it if he ditched that test to join them for something they had handled. A part of him was secretly hoping that the surprise had something to do with Thor and the Hulk. He wondered when Tony would spill the beans on his alter ego to those two. Peter knew it was only a matter of time, because they would eventually meet on both sides of the mask. Some of the looks that he got from each of them made him wonder if they already knew, although the looks could just be a result of the fact that he was so close to Tony.

Riding in the car on the way to the compound after a day of testing was not fun, but Peter knew it would be worth the sedentariness of it all once he arrived. His muscles aches with a need to exert himself, and he idly wondered if he might talk Thor into a sparing round just to see how he would do against an Asgardian. He had never really been able to let go when fighting common criminals, because his super strength meant that a normal punch from him would kill them, and he didn’t want to murder anyone.

The compound was bustling with energy when he arrived, and the murmur of conversations he could pick up definitely indicated that Thor and Bruce Banner were in the building, along with two other Asgardians. Peter assumed they were Sigyn and Valkyrie as they were who had fought alongside Thor and the Hulk on the news. Peter made his way toward the labs that he typically worked in with a bit more pep in his step thinking about who likely awaited him there.

“Roo!” Tony yelled as Peter walked through the door.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter answered. Sure enough standing next to Tony was Bruce Banner, “And hello Dr. Banner.”

“Just Bruce is fine Peter,” Dr. Banner said.

Tony chimed in, “Good luck with that, the kid still calls me Mr. Stark after how long I’ve known him. You’ll get lucky if he drops the Dr. title in his address. He once threatened to call me Dr. Stark instead of Mr. Stark.”

Peter was tempted to call him Bruce just to spite Tony, but he could hear his Aunt May’s voice drilling into him about respectful addressing of adults.

“You have three doctorates, Mr. Stark. Dr. Banner has six. I think if he minded being called Dr. he wouldn’t have pursued that many doctorates. Plus there is a photo of him in my chemistry classroom and a painting of your dad in the hallway. Add to that I was raised by an Italian woman who believes that manners are crucial to a happy life, and said woman is intimidating enough to scare you Mr. Stark, I think you know why it is hard for me to shake the habit,” Peter explained.

“Yeah, yeah, your scary hot aunt is definitely not to be messed with. I think she could probably teach Hulk manners,” Tony agreed.

Bruce huffed at that.

“So what are we working on today?” Peter asked.

“Brucey and I were thinking about a collaboration that pairs some of the Asgardian tech he has come across and our own. What do you think Pete?”

“That sounds awesome, but do you think there is even the smallest chance that Thor would be willing to spar with me anytime this afternoon? I had AP exams earlier today and then the road trip out here, if we aren’t working on large mechanical structures I think I’m gonna go mad with a lack of physical exertion.”

Tony looked like he was considering it, and that let Peter know that Bruce was in the know on his powers. It simplified things.

“I think he probably would be willing, and he is in the gym right now alongside Sigyn and Valkyrie. Bruce, you ok to hold off on science while we walk the kid to the gym and watch him spar. It would be good to get some data on his fighting ability with someone stronger than him. It is a hard data point to come by.”

“Yeah, I’m fine with it,” Bruce nodded.

They then left the lab and made the trek to the gym together.

“Kid, do you want to change before the spar?” Tony asked.

“Not really,” Peter answered.

“Fair enough,” Tony said before he pushed open the door to the gym, holding it open for the other two to walk through.

“Hey Pointbreak!” Tony called out.

The sound in the room quieted as the equipment that was in use paused.

“Yes, Man of Iron,” Thor responded.

“I know I introduced you to Peter when he helped with the set up of New Asgard, but I didn’t share his whole story with you then. He is enhanced, and a lot stronger than most people on Earth. Because of that it can be very hard to find people who he can spar with that can really allow him to use his full strength. Would you be willing to help me out and give him a bit of instruction through a friendly spar?” Tony asked, aware that he had the attention of all three Asgardians in the room.

“Of course I would be willing to help the young warrior. What are his known strength limits, power set and fighting style?” Thor said.

Peter piped up, “I’m more an acrobatic fighter and keep my distance in most encounters simply because my strength is enough that a loss of control could be fatal to those I’m fighting, so I have not don’t a lot of intensive hand to hand combat. I am able to cling to any surface, I have enhance senses, and my reflexes border on precognition. I haven’t measured the exact limit of my strength, but I know I can easily lift around ten tons without too much strain, and have at least once lifted something closer to twenty five tons at my best guess.”

The eyes of everyone in the room widened at that admission.

“What have you lifted that was twenty five tons?” Tony asked with incredulity.

“Remember when Steve Rodger’s dropped that airport bridge on me?” Peter prompted.

“Yeah,” Tony answered with a strained voice, “I hadn’t even thought of the weight of that thing at the time.”

“It wasn’t even the heaviest thing I’ve ever had dropped on me, it’s just the heaviest one that I can easily quantify.”

“What is the heaviest?” Bruce asked.

“A warehouse,” Peter answered honestly.

Tony made a sound that was between choking and whining.

“Anyway, so that is basically an overview of my skillset. You can see why most average criminals are not a challenge. I typically web them up and leave them for the cops to handle. I’ve only really had any issue with them if alien weaponry was involved.”

“Yes, I can see that. Well, why don’t you join me on the mat and we will see how we match up. I will not be going all out as this is a friendly spar, but you need not show such restraint young one. I have trained as a warrior since I was not much older than you, and have had over a thousand years to perfect my technique. If you want to stop at any time just let me know.”

“Of course,” Peter answered. He couldn’t wait to get started.

————

Sigyn, Thor, and Valkyrie had been making good use of some of the heavier weighted equipment in the gym before Tony had arrived with Bruce and Peter, and once again Sigyn was overwhelmed at the sight of the small midgardian youth. A jolt of fear thrummed through her at the idea of the boy sparing her brother, but it was quickly tempered with the knowledge that Thor would be careful sparring the child. He was a brute, but he knew his own strength. He would never treat a child with anything less than the utmost care, and a very direct look from her when she caught his eyes reassured her of this.

She was mildly surprised at the list of powers that the young one purported. He was in need of training, and Sigyn hoped that she and Thor would be allowed to help with this more in the coming years. If the boy was truly more of an acrobatic fighter, then Thor would not be his best opponent. In fact the Valkyrie would probably be a better option than Thor for long term training if Sigyn was not allowed to help.

She moved across the floor to stand next to Bruce, with Valkyrie following close behind. Tony didn’t seem to be too worried, which either spoke volumes to the kids skills or to his trust of Thor, or possibly a bit of both.

“As far as Asgardians are concerned, where does Thor rank in strength?” Bruce asked, “I’ve only fought a few of you and don’t really have a good reference as I did that as the Hulk.”

“Thor would be considered one of the strongest warriors we have ever produced, but obviously Hela was stronger, although I am certain her strength was less brute strength and more active channeling of seidr to equate brute force. She was strong in a different way than Thor,” Sigyn answered, “As for comparison I would say that Thor was easily twice as strong as the typical Soldier in our army, but of the elite warriors he would be considered only edging them out by a few degrees. Take the Heimdall, for example, I am not sure who would truly win in a fight between the two of them because the difference in strength levels would almost be negligible when considering the technical skill and all sight that Heimdall also possess.”

They focused on the fight in front of them after that. The boy did well, all things considered, and he could tell from the smile on his brother’s face that he was genuinely enjoying the challenge that the boy provided. He had yet to land a hit, and Sigyn believed that was because of the boys precognitive reaction speed. He was fast too, and had actually managed to land a few hits on Thor, though those hits were actually pretty underpowered from what he knew the boy was capable of. He seemed to be holding himself back almost as much as Thor was, even knowing that Thor had told him he didn’t need to. That isn’t to say that he was holding back to his normal extent because he was striking with enough force that a normal human would have died if that force was directed at them.

The spar continued for fifteen minutes uninterrupted before Peter began to slow his flurry of movement. Sigyn believed that was less a result of fatigue and more a result of Peter thinking through his actions more. A calculating look entered his eyes and Sigyn wondered what he was planning. On the next punch that Thor threw, instead of dodging it Peter decided to intercept it with his hand. Instead of letting go, Peter used the momentum of the strike to propel himself over Thor’s back, but without relaxing his grip of Thor’s fist. The sudden weight unbalanced Thor momentarily and the redirection caused Thor to stumble backwards. Peter took advantage of this, letting go of the hand but using a kick to Thor’s head to springboard himself in the opposite direction of Thor’s fall.

Thor landed with a thud and an exuberant laugh. Peter landed nearly silently on the balls of his feet. The expression on his face was equal parts thrilled and sheepish. It was endearing.

“Young Peter, you are a worthy warrior and do your planet honor by fighting for her,” Thor said as he moved to stand up.

“Thank you. Mr. Thor. That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” Peter said enthusiastically.

Sigyn decided to speak, “You are very skilled for someone with as little training as you have had young one. With a few years of training I think that there would be very few alive on this planet or any other that would be able to face you.”

“Thank you Ms. Sigyn,” the boy smiled at her. She couldn’t help but smile back. It made her feel warm inside.

“So Pete!” Tony interjected, “Has that scratched the itch to move enough that we can get some lab time in before dinner?”

“Yes Mr. Stark,” Peter answered, “Thanks again Mr. Thor.”

“You are welcome! We must do this again soon. There are few left among my people who consider themselves warriors. I can always use sparring partners,” Thor said.

“Definitely!” Peter answered and waved to them as he walked out of the gym with his Mentor and Dr. Banner.

The Asgardians returned to the respective gym apparatus they had been using before the unexpected interruption of the science brothers and their young charge. Sigyn lost herself in the flow of the leg presses she was doing. She maxed out the machine, and so was just pushing to see how long it would take before she felt fatigue rather than count each individual rep. The machine’s weight went up to five ton, which really was not much for her. It took half an hour before she decided she had a sufficient work out on that machine.

She then moved on to one side of the room that was lined in target dummies. She decided to practice her aim with her conjured daggers, and spent the remainder of the hour on that task. The trio decided to call an end to their work out time at this point and get cleaned up for dinner. Sigyn didn’t know how she felt about joining the group for dinner. She knew that Tony knew who she truly was. She wasn’t sure how many of the group outside of him knew, but she hoped that they wouldn’t cause her any problems. Not that she wouldn’t understand if they tried.

She ended up being pleasantly surprised at how well the night turned out. The company was welcoming. The conversation flowed well. Tony was irreverent as usual, but it was almost endearing, and he treated her with the same consideration he offered Thor and Valkyrie. Colonel Rhodes had an acerbic wit at times, and was also able to keep up with most any conversation topic they went through. Miss. Potts was regal in a way that reminded Sigyn of Frigga, which was the biggest compliment that he could ever think to offer anyone.

Peter was only more captivating the longer Sigyn spent in his presence. His intelligence placed him among the smartest minds at the table, and his enthusiasm endeared him to all. They ate the meal together in such high spirits that Tony insisted that they plan another meal together before the group left for the night.

It made Sigyn feel hopeful. She hadn’t expected to receive forgiveness from that man after what had happened when they had first met, but here he was inviting her back into his personal property to spend time with him and his family. After they had returned to New Asgard for the night Sigyn retired to her room in the building she shared with her brother and contemplated the day.

Everything they had accomplished only made her feel like she had made the right choice to stay by her brothers side on whatever capacity she was able to. Her small circle felt like it was expanding, and she was hopeful that it would last. She was almost not surprised when she was struck by the reality that she would fight for any of the people she had eaten dinner with that night without hesitation, even when she had only just met two of them. Maybe she was getting soft, but it wasn’t something she was really worried about in the long run. Life was full of changes, and anyone you asked about the person she had been for the past hundred years would probably say that some softening was probably overdue.

Chapter Text

Peter whispered to Ned angrily, “Why?”

“Why do you think Peter?” Ned answers less quietly.

Peter shrugged and looked around, trying to gauge how many people were watching him. The caught a few glances from the other students at Midtown, but for the most part they were ignored.

“Fine,” Peter shrugged, “I will ask Mr. Stark if you can come to the compound the next time they are there, but you have to be chill about it.”

“I can be chill,” Ned says.

“But can you be chill around Thor?
Or Bruce Banner?” Peter asked.

Ned looked away, ignoring the questions. Peter took that as a win. He really did feel bad that his friend felt left out, but it wasn’t on purpose. It wasn’t even something he had known would happen before it did. Tony had surprised him.

“What if I see if I can access the video? I know Mr. Stark to document everything,” Peter offered.

“Yes! Please and thank you Peter,” Ned answered.

In the next moment M.J. joined the two as they walked toward the cafeteria together. The Acadec team was practicing that afternoon because they had a meet coming up, and they needed to prepare as much as possible. Peter loved spending time with most of the team, with only one exception. Flash always gave him grief, whenever possible, and Mr. Harrington rarely admonished him. Peter didn’t think it was personal on Mr. Harrington’s part, but the man was terrified of speaking harshly to his students. Peter believed it was a result of some past trauma that the man didn’t want to bring up, but the end result was he had lost most of his backbone where his students were concerned.

The end result though, was that Flash got away with calling him names and complaining about his general existence, and the only ones who ever spoke up for him were Ned, or more recently M.J. He was thankful to have two friends that he felt he could really count on, and the fact that they were both on the Acadec team just meant he would try his best to have their back there as well.

As they entered the room Peter heard the discussion of those already inside. He tried not to actively eavesdrop on people in school, but confined spaces like the cafeteria when only a few people were inside it made ignoring conversations harder.

“So has anyone heard what they are calling the people who fought with Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man agains that weird green witch and her army of brainwashed men?” Abe asked.

“The news outlets are claiming that they were Asgardians that came with Thor, so they probably go by their actual names. Did you see the pictures someone took of the roof of the building the people were trying to get into. There was another one of them on the roof. It looked a lot like the woman who was photographed with Thor at the UN meetings. I think some news sources claimed he referred to her as his sister,” Betty said.

Peter refrained from confirming this. He held back from talking at all as he, Ned, and M.J. sat in the chairs on stage that they typically did for practice. Peter caught M.J.’s eye as she raised one eyebrow questioningly. He knew she expected him to share what he knew for the conversation in progress, but he just knew as soon as he weighed in Flash would cut him down, even though the boy wasn’t in the cafeteria yet.

He huffed, “Yeah, the blond lady is Sigyn, Thor’s sister in law who is apparently estranged from her husband Loki, the other Woman goes by Valkyrie, but her name is Brunhilde, and the dark skinned man with the golden eyes is Heimdall.”

Everyone looked at Peter like he had grown a second head with that information. He didn’t add that he had dinner with two of those people after they fought that battle. What even was his life.

“How do you know that?” Abe asked.

“Stark internship, I’ve had to help with a lot of the paperwork for the Asgardian Settlement in Norway. The other week that I was out of school, I was in New Asgard helping with the set up of some of the utilities and such with the SI team,” Peter shrugged.

He really tried to downplay his involvement, and hoped that the subject would move away from him. M.J. turned out to be his savior on that front as she took pity on him and started practice even though both Flash and Mr. Harrington had still not yet arrived.

Ten minutes into practice both Flash and Mr. Harrington arrived together. The former had a subdued look that seemed foreign on his face and the latter just looked his average of one insult away from crying. He cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention even though everyone was already looking in his direction since he had entered the space.

“Everyone, we will resume practice momentarily, and good job M.J. with getting them started, but I have a few announcements that I need to share with you all before we can. The first announcement is that our next meet has been unexpectedly canceled. The auditorium that was to be used for said meet has had unexpected damage don’t to it and is no longer available. This was the last competition before the regional competition, but we have enough wins on our record to not need this one to qualify for regionals. This means that our next competition will be regionals in three weeks time. If we win there then we will be heading to state, just like last year. I know that a lot of you feel like there are heavy expectations on you to maintain our winning streak, but I want you all to know we have already exceeded expectations for our competitive season thus far with a few of our people leaving after the last season. You are all winners in my book. That said, we need to decide on a fundraiser for if we win at regionals and state. Last year’s bake sale was a huge success, and I am fine if you all want to stick with a winning strategy, but I am also open to new suggestions.”

The monologue was given as enthusiastically as one would expect a perpetually nervous man to give one. Peter nodded along at all of the appropriate points, although he cringed when he thought about what had happened the last year to him during the national competition. He would make sure that if the team made it there this year he would not get locked in a warehouse for the duration of the competition.

Everyone seemed to be agreeable to the idea of having a bake sale again. Last year Peter had helped Ned bake custard empanadas and pineapple lumpias. They were a big hit, and he had really enjoyed cooking some of his friends’s family recipes. He knew better than to ask May for help with a bake sale. He could stomach her cooking, but not many people could, and no one would willingly pay for her baked goods.

After the consensus was reached on the fundraiser, Mr. Harrington spoke again, “Alright, I will get the appropriate permissions from the front office, and when I have a date for the fund raiser available there will be a sign up sheet outside my office where you can put down what desert you will be bringing. Remember that last year we had quite a few students with dietary issues like allergies, so please make sure you have an ingredient list for anything you make.”

The team settled down again once that was out of the way, and they fell back into practice as if there had not been any interruption at all. The one thing that kept bugging Peter though was just how quiet Flash was through the whole practice. Peter tried to think back on Flash’s behavior that day, and he was surprised to find that the boy had been quiet in all of his classes that he shared with Peter. Against his better judgement he found himself worrying about the boy, because a subdued Flash Thompson just felt alien. Then it hit him. The blacklist that Tony had told him Flash would be informed of via letter. If Flash had just been informed of the blacklist it could very well be what was effecting the boy’s mood, and somehow that made Peter feel even worse.

Peter rubbed his fingers around the edge of his new watch, the one he had worked on the day he told Tony about the bullying, the one Karen was currently attached to. He knew that bullying was a serious offense, and if it was happening to anyone else he would be the first to speak up and defend them. He just didn’t know how he felt about someone else defending him.

He felt like he should be able to handle the name calling. He got called much worse things by criminals on a nearly daily basis, but that was the thing. He could fight back against the criminals, and they were only name calling because he was stopping their nefarious activities. The name calling that he experienced at school was much more personal, and he was not allowed to retaliate or fight without pushback from the very people who should have been stopping it in the first place. It was a form of learned helplessness, and Peter didn’t like it one bit. It even made him feel guilty for finding an alternate route to justice by having Tony defend him this way.

The amount of introspection he was having about this conundrum caused him to fall a bit silent during practice, and he was nudged twice by Ned to remind him to listen in when a question he should have been answering had been asked. He shook himself and refocused on the task in front of him. Flash’s problems would still be there after practice was over.

“What is the name of the element created by Tony Stark in 2010?” M.J. Asked.

Peter hit his buzzer, “Starkium.”

“Correct. What elements are liquid at room temperature?”

Peter again buzzed in, “Mercury and Bromine.”

“Correct. What element was created by accident by scientist Dr. Myron MacLain during World War II?”

Peter again, “Adamantium.”

“Correct. What are the most common elements in the human body?” M.J. asked.

Peter buzzed again, “Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen.”

With another correct answer Peter found himself in a groove, letting all other thoughts get pushed aside in favor of the trivia he was participating in. When chemistry moved into physics, Peter stayed on top of the questions, not giving anyone else an opportunity to answer the questions that were his forte. Then came the math section, and Peter was dominating that as well, although Ned gave him a run for his money with a few of the questions. By the end of the practice Peter and Ned had answered the majority of the questions where math, science, or even the economics subjects were concerned. M. J. was typically their art and literature powerhouse, where Abe and Betty filled in the Social Sciences. The only subject where they were all pretty even was the music questions.

Through it all though Flash remained quiet. It had almost been unnerving, and if Peter hadn’t had a possible reason for it he would have been truly concerned. As it was he was only feeling mildly guilty for the state of his bully.

When the group was dismissed from practice, Peter hung back with Ned as the two offered to help clean up the chairs and such for Mr. Harrington who was thankful to the two boys for the help. M.J. left with her usual, “Later losers,” about halfway through the cleanup. Everyone else had exited as soon as they had been able to. It only took a few minutes to have the cafeteria put to rights by the three people left in the room. And Peter was happy to walk out of the school with Ned once that was done. Mr. Harrington waved to them as he made his way to his office.

“Hey Ned,” Peter began, “Did you notice how quiet Flash was being?”

“Huh, not really, but now that you mention it he really was quiet wasn’t he?” Ned answered.

Peter wondered if his hyper awareness as regarded Flash was simply a result of the fact that the boy picked on him so often. It would make sense that the absence of aggression where one typically expects it would stand out the most to the subject of said aggression. Peter weighed what he would say next as they left the school grounds and made their way toward the subway.

“It may have something to do with something Mr. Stark said he would do for me,” Peter said.

“What?!” Ned asked.

“I might have mentioned that one of my peers exclusively refers to me as Penis Parker, and Tony decided to blacklist him from all Stark properties, which he would have been informed of via mail,” Peter explained.

“Seriously? Wow man, that is great and all, but what even is your life?” Ned asked.

“I don’t even know most of the time man,” Peter answered, “I really don’t even know.”

Chapter Text

Wong huffed under his breath as he sat at his preferred table in the library of Kamar-taj and watched the train wreck happening in front of him. Stephen and Lady Sigyn were walking back and forth between the shelves, retracing each other’s steps as they each searched for a particular tome that they had been discussing when they entered the space. Neither of them could find it, and they both refused to ask him for help, which was simply stupid if you asked Wong. He was the librarian after all. He knew where every book they owned was at this very moment, despite Strange’s attempts to hide his personal removal of books through portals. No book left the wards of the library without its own personal tracking spell activating. The only exception to this rule was the removal of pages from a book, like what had happened with the Kaecilius fiasco a few years back.

It was pride alone that had the two looking without asking for help, and Wong was more than willing to watch them flounder. He started placing bets in his head for which of the two would be the first to break and ask. He personally wished that Stephen would be the one to ask, because it would show personal growth. He had started off more willing to ask for help and guidance when he first joined, but ever since he got back from the battle against Dormammu the young sorcerer had withdrawn into himself and refused to rely on anyone else.

Wong wasn’t sure if it was because the man now felt like he knew everything so therefore didn’t need guidance any longer, or if it was a result of trauma linked to loosing the ancient one. Wong knew he was the closest thing Stephen had to a friend among the sorcerers of Kamar-taj, and that was just sad. The man needed more people in his life, and there were plenty other sorcerers who would be fine additions to his social circle, but Stephen held himself back. Wong knew that Mordo leaving had weighed heavily on Strange as well. Odd as it had been at first, the camaraderie that the young sorcerer supreme had with Sigyn was actually reassuring to Wong, if only they would get over themselves and reach out for aide when it was right in front of them.

He knew Sigyn’s story too, and there are very few individuals that Wong could say with certainty he had been equally as honored and intimidated to meet than the goddess. Her help in defending the New York sanctum against the enchantress known as Amora had only solidified his belief that Sigyn would be a good addition to their defense of earth. Stephen had also assured him that the Time stone showed him that they could count on the Jotun sorceress in the coming years. The sadness in the man’s voice as he said that Sigyn was more honorable than some of their own people in that respect made Wong feel nervous.

Wong had never been tempted to utilize the eye of agamotto in all of his years as a sorcerer. The power of that particular artifact was outweighed in his opinion by the fact that one has to live with whatever they saw. Wong was happy to live his one life without knowing all the might have beens. Strange was cut from a different cloth, though, and the man couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t utilize every advantage of a situation. Which ended up meaning that his mind was filled with so much that only ever happened to him, and of what he did see he shared very little.

Stephen had shared once that just telling someone what could be typically meant that it never would be, which had made very little sense to Wong at the time. After reflection Wong believed that it came down to control. Stephen could not control anyone directly through instructions, but he could influence situations to skew outcomes toward what he desired by knowing how people reacted naturally. Natural reactions were a much more concrete variable than predicting how well someone followed instructions. Add to that fact the more people involved meant there were more variables, and limiting outcome possibilities was imperative.

A grunt sounded across the room and Wong smiled as he looked up. He raised his eyebrow at Stephen in silent question. Stephen rolled his eyes in response but walked over anyway.

“Where is the Codex Tempora Lingua by Master Dravus?” Stephen asked.

“It is sitting on your desk in your office in the New York sanctum under the Master Sagein’s Composition of Basic Wards and Master Quienin’s Last Rights for Interdimensional Beings, Wong answered.

“Really!” Sigyn huffed, “It’s back there?”

The two stormed out of the library together almost immediately bickering amongst themselves. Wong took a deep breath, shook his head and returned to his own reading. Happy to leave the two fools to their own devices.

Chapter Text

Patrol the night before had been a mess, and Peter wasn’t sure exactly how Mr. Stark was going to react when he saw his suit. Karen may have already informed Friday of how the patrol went, but he wasn’t sure how much the other AI had shared with Tony. Peter wasn’t sure what was worse, the anxiety about showing Tony his suit, or the slowly healing stab would he had stitched on his side the night before. Peter had been stabbed before, but this wound was by far the worst.

He still wasn’t sure how the fight had gotten away from him. He was used to fighting multiple assailants at once, and rarely had issues because of his ability to sense danger, but the danger was all around him in that fight. He evaded one knife just to land on another, and all too soon he was overwhelmed with pain. His control lessened and with it his punches were harder. The men were all unconscious seconds after the stab wound occurred, and they remained so until long after the cops picked them up. Karen scanned the police reports that stated all six assailants were severely concussed, with five sustaining cranial fractures. Peter felt mixed feelings over this. He didn’t want to be someone who brutalized criminals, but the group he fought that night were more than willing to kill him.

They were part a gang network that had been perpetuating more and more violent crimes in recent weeks after a string of robberies he had tied back to them as well. They weren’t good people, and yet Peter felt guilt at how hurt he had left them. He knew he could have handled the whole fight better in hindsight. He rarely chose to fight up close because of his strength imbalance with regular criminals. He chose to the night before because the group were in the process of laying out explosives near a rival gang’s headquarters. The time was short before the fuses would have been ready so he acted as quickly as he could, to his own detriment.

Luckily the cops had agreed with the evidence of the explosives and the video surveillance he had Karen send in. The case for the group was cut and dry, and they were all alive, so the cops hadn’t put up too much of a fuss with getting the criminals to the medical care they would need before being incarcerated. Peter had webbed up his suit where the wounds were and swung home to stitch his own side all while listening to Karen insist that he seek professional medical care. He told her he would then removed the suit in his room. She then had snarked from his phone that his gps hadn’t moved and he must not have actually sought medical care. At which point he had told her that his healing had kicked in and the wound was sealed.

He wasn’t sure she had bought the lie, but it was all he would allow. He knew his limits and while his side was sore, it was healing much faster than a hospital would have been able to accept without knowledge of his enhancements. He couldn’t risk it. Not telling May about it might have been a mistake, but he didn’t want to worry her. He had enough helicoptering from both May and Tony without the two of them knowing he had been stabbed. But now Tony would know. He would know because there was no way his suit could be repaired without that coming up. Thus his anxiety as Happy drove him to the compound for his lab day.

As he walked into the building Friday greeted him, and he just knew that he was in trouble. The normally happy AI voice was dripping with exasperation when she said his name. He hung his head.

“How much does he know?” Peter asked.

He could feel Happy’s eyes on him as he waited for the AI to respond.

“About what Peter?” Friday asked, and the sarcastic tone she used felt like what he thought an annoying older sister would sound like after she had covered for her idiot little brother.

“I’m fine,” he offered weakly.

“Yes, your stitch work is impeccable on that six inch long stab wound Peter, how you managed to sew that on yourself is a wonder. I can tell you are perfectly fine since the wound isn’t actively seeping,” as she continued speaking Peter could sense the worry and annoyance that blended together in her voice.

“Six inches! Does Tony know?” Happy’s frantic voice interjected looking at Peter.

“Not from me yet, but I don’t know what Friday has told him,” Peter said, “I was going to bring it up today, as my suit is damaged beyond what I can repair.”

“Tony has just been informed, and he is on his way here now,” Friday answered a bit smuggly.

Peter’s stomach filled with dread as he waited the five minutes it took his mentor to get from the lab to where they were at the private entrance. He was not prepared for the look of horrified worry on Tony’s face.

“Medbay, now, no buts. I want you checked out by Cho, immediately,” Tony’s voice was clipped and he put a firm hand on Peter’s right shoulder to guide him in that direction.

“I really am fine,” Peter offered.

“Then there is nothing to worry about getting it looked over,” Tony offered sarcastically.

Peter knew there was no fighting it after that. When they arrived Tony demanded Peter hand over his suit as the doctor looked over Peter. At least Peter trusted Cho. He knew she was the most familiar with his enhancements, and wouldn’t betray him to anyone.

“What is your current pain level?” Cho asked.

“About a two,” he answered.

“How much have you eaten today?”

“I had a granola bar with chocolate milk for breakfast, pizza and strawberry cake at school for lunch, and I grabbed a bag of chips out of the vending machine as a snack before Happy picked me up,” he listed it off as he wondered why she asked him that specific question.

“You need more to eat. Your metabolism can’t heal this wound quickly without enough protein. I’m going to mix you up a protein shake, that you will drink immediately, and then in an hour you will drink another, and before you leave you will drink a third.”

“Yes ma’am,” he answered.

“Your stitches look good, though. The wound is not showing any sign of infection. I want to scan you to check for any internal damage. The length of the wound and its placement means that your intestines, stomach, and spleen could have been hit. I don’t know how deep the wound went before you closed it, and I’m not sure how much your healing has already worked toward repairing yourself.”

Peter just silently nodded and let the woman push a machine over the bed he was lying on. A few moments later she declared the scans complete.

“You have some internal scarring on your stomach and intestines, but the wounds are already closed. The muscles in your stomach are where the most of the damage still remains, and I believe your healing factor was prioritizing the internal organs for repair first. My diagnosis and treatment has not changed. You need at least three thousand calories high in protein over the next three hours to boost your healing factor.”

Ten minutes later Peter was diligently drinking the first smoothie as Tony berated him.

“Obviously I can not trust you to report your injuries to me or May, so I am going to write a new code into Karen that will immediately forward all injuries received to both my cell and May’s. This is going to be non negotiable. Friday, please inform Aunt Hottie of everything that has occurred immediately!”

“Right away boss,” she chirped.

“I thought I could handle it,” Peter offered between gulps, “And my healing factor was working. I’m only slightly sore.”

“You don’t have to handle it, that’s what I’m trying to get through your stubborn teenage head. You aren’t alone, and yes your healing factor is great, but I need to know if you have been injured. May needs to know. Don’t you see why?” Tony spoke.

Peter shrugged, “I get if it was worse I would need to reach out, but it wasn’t.”

“You handled a six inch stab wound by yourself and you don’t understand why this bothers me?” Tony asked, his voice quiet.

“I didn’t want you to worry,” Peter explained just as quiet.

“Ever since I met you I have always worried to some extent, but it’s only gotten worse since the Vulture. You have no idea how important you are to me. I want to know everything that happens to you, the good and the bad. Nothing is too little a detail. You are the closest thing I have to a son, and I need to help you succeed in whatever you face. Do you get that?” Tony asked.

Peter looked at him with awe in his eyes, “Yeah, I think I do. I didn’t before. I’m sorry. I will keep you informed of any injury I face from now on, but I understand if you still want to have Karen report back to you. It’s smart. Especially if I get in over my head.”

“And I’m also going to give you a new suit,” Tony said holding up the battered remains of the one Peter had handed him earlier.

“How long will it be before it will be ready?” Peter asked.

“Oh, it’s already done. Walk with me,” he guided Peter to an armory with many sealed compartments.

“Friday, Unlock seventeen A,” Tony spoke. And one of the wall components opened, “This is the iron spider suit, nano tech, and much more stab resistant than your former suit. There are also a few bells and whistles I’m sure you’re gonna love figuring out. I planned to give it to you on your birthday, but I guess the fates deemed differently.”

“It’s awesome Mr. Stark,” Peter said with awe in his voice.

“Yes well, you aren’t using it until your stab wound is completely healed, signed off on by Cho, but I thought I’d show it to you anyway.”

“I understand, Thank you Mr. Stark,” Peter said.

“Pete, please call me Tony,” Tony said a bit exasperated.

“I will try Tony,” Peter answered.

“I’ve actually got a different suit to give you as well,” Tony added.

Peter raised an eyebrow in question, “I don’t need more than one surely if this one is nano tech.”

“Yes, well this other suit isn’t for Spider-Man, it’s for Peter Parker, and Pepper insisted. It’s a Tom Ford, and you will be wearing it to the next board of directors meetings alongside myself and Pepper.”

Chapter Text

Peter sighed as he once again read over the brief that Pepper had emailed him covering what the meeting he was to attend with her and Tony that afternoon would entail. He had been excused from school that day specifically because of this meeting and all the prep work it would entail. Why Tony had decided that he was going to be taking such a prominent part of his first board of directors meeting was beyond him. At least Pepper had given him a rough outline of what he would be expected to do. Tony had just said, “You’ve got this kid.” And shrugged.

Happy had dropped Peter off around ten, and had showed up around noon with lunch before disappearing again. Peter was alone in the lab for the rest of the time, which itself was odd, but Peter made use of the time pulling up all his visual aides and going over the script for the presentation as much as he could, getting Friday’s feedback on everything he second guessed. He wondered where Tony was, but figured the man would show up eventually. This whole thing had been his idea anyway. After lunch Peter had changed into the suit that Pepper had insisted on which had been hanging in the adjacent office space to Peter and Tony’s shared lab. Peter was hesitantly certain that this was supposed to be his office as Tony’s office was located attached to his mechanical workshop off of his living quarters. He refused to call that space a lab, and Peter hesitantly agreed as that space was mostly dedicated to mechanics and engineering instead of the mixed pace that they shared which had a full chemistry lab setup.

Peter’s preparation for his presentation involved him reading and rereading the brief until he had the words memorized. He reviewed the topics brought up next, re-familiarizing himself with every detail of each project, patent, contract, and person involved. Friday was a big help with that part. He was thankful for the AI, and he had really leaned into the feeling that Friday was giving off big sister vibes, and he didn’t hate that. He loved that in such a short time his family seemed to be expanding in all sorts of directions. It warmed him to know that he had people in his corner, and he didn’t want to let them down, which was why he was so nervous about the meeting. The time seemed to slip by quickly and when the clock showed half an hour before the meeting time he cleaned up his workspace and the set out toward the conference space.

Even the walk to the meeting with the board was somewhat nerve wracking which for someone who regularly faces criminals with various weaponry was just ironic enough for Peter to acknowledge. The boardroom was laid out like a small auditorium with a holo table and projection area at the back where Peter would be expected to present his work. He had a mock up of the area in his lab that he practiced on, but it had lacked the odd semicircular audience area where the board members would sit. There were two levels and ten seats in that portion of the room, and four seats at the presentation stage area for Peter, Tony, Pepper, and Pepper’s PA to sit. Peter felt odd arriving in the room first, and almost left, but decided that the ten minutes before the meeting was to begin could be spent calming his nerves by acclimating to the room and observing those who entered after him.

“Friday, are Tony and Pepper on their way yet?” He asked.

“Lady Boss and her PA Andrew are approximately three minutes away, Boss has just been reminded of the meeting for the tenth time and is currently making haste to your location. He was expecting you to meet him in the his quarters, I believe so you both could arrive together.”

“Well, he could have told me that. I expected him to be in the lab until the last minute,” Peter huffed.

“That would be an expected course of action for him, but he was distracted by an academic paper Bruce Banner just published on the differing biology of the various beings who have recently arrived on earth,” Friday explained.

“I can see how that would catch his interest, and I will have to read that myself once this meeting is over, but my focus had to be on my presentations.”

“Boss tends to wing any presentation he is a part of anyway. His “off the cuff” delivery is almost expected at this point, but I am sure both he and Lady Boss will be pleased with the effort you have given. I know I am proud of you,” Friday’s voice was gentle and supportive in the end.

Peter felt his throat constrict with emotion, “Thanks Fri.”

At this point Pepper and her PA entered the room and greeted Peter with a smile and the typical pleasantries. Peter had met Andrew a few times in passing, but had not really been able to get to know the man past his job description. From what Pepper said he was efficient and professional, and Peter’s spider sense was quiet around him so he felt confident the man was no threat to Pepper or SI in general. There was also the bonus that the man didn’t look down on Peter for being so young despite the position the boy held, which went a long way toward instilling confidence that the man was intelligent and competent enough to look past circumstantial and superfluous information when it was necessary.

A few board members arrived and took their seats before Tony blustered in with his typical pizzazz. Peter had to hold back a laugh at the obvious facade his mentor was projecting. He wondered how many people fell pray to the look at me and love me Tony Stark instead of the man behind the mask. He was grateful that he was given the opportunity to see the real Tony, even if it had taken over a year and a lot of crazy things to get to where they were.

Peter had a feeling things could have been a lot crazier, and somehow they had managed to bypass the worst of what could have been to land where they are now. Like a sidestep on a web, he thought, then shook himself out of the headspace into the moment again. He needed to think about his presentation, not get lost in his odd sense of elusive fortune he had been feeling lately. Whatever had caused things to work out as well as they were currently Peter didn’t want to jinx anything by questioning them too much.

Tony decided to handle the formal introductions for everyone before the meeting got underway, and like a master showman he set the stage for Peter to wow the gathered board before handing the reigns over to his protege. Peter presented his recent patents which were set to make waves in three different divisions of SI. First was a combination of medical adhesive sutures for first responders along with the application mechanism that was created using inspiration from his webbing and web shooters as a jumping off point. The biomedical division of SI was eager to get those in production immediately, and the board seemed interested too, to Peter’s delight. The second was a nontoxic chemical solvent for industrial use, which was meant to aide in the breaking down of chemicals in paints and other adhesive substances which was a variation of his web dissolver. That was presented under the strictly R&D side of SI. The last patent that Peter presented was a recycling sorting machine with his own algorithm for heightened efficiency. It was presented under SI’s go green initiatives for a better tomorrow.

By the end of his presentation Peter was exhausted, but then he opened the floor for questions, and was pleased to find that the board had relevant and thoughtful things to say about each of his talking points. Tony bragged on Peter as well, inserting praise whenever the opportunity presented itself. By the end of the meeting Peter’s throat was dry from talking so much, and his cheeks hurt from all the smiling he had done.

After the board left the meeting Tony invited Peter back to the penthouse for ice cream, and he jumped at the chance. On the way up he asked about the paper Dr. Banner had published that had Tony so distracted, and his mentor had grinned before diving into the contents of the work, even while he was disparaging the fact that his friend had only discussed the squishy sciences and not any of the more technological differences that the various species were known for. Peter laughed at that and said that Tony would just have to write that paper if he wanted it written. Tony guffawed at that.

Over ice cream the two discussed a few other science topics before Tony abruptly changed the subject.

“So I know I mentioned that I wanted to get you fitted for a suit for mine and Pepper’s wedding coming up, but I don’t think I actually told you what part of the wedding that I wanted you to take,” Tony began hesitantly.

Peter tried to smile encouragingly as he waited for Toby to continue.

“We aren’t having a very big wedding. We don’t want a media circus, so I don’t want you talking about this with anyone, even your guy in the chair, can I count on you for that Pete?”

Peter swallowed the spoonful of ice cream in his mouth before he spoke up, “Of course, Mr. Stark,” he answered earnestly.

Tony let out a deep breath before continuing, “I want you to be the ring bearer. Rhodey will be my best man, and you will be up there right next to him Pete.”

Peter beamed, “You really want me in your wedding.”

“Course I do Roo, you’re as close to being my kid as you could be without me fighting May for custody, which I would never do, but I might petition for shared custody if she would ever let me.”Tony rambled a bit nervously which was out of character for him most of the time, but perfectly in character for whenever he felt vulnerable. Feeling always had that effect on him, so Peter almost expected it.

Peter felt himself blushing and looked down with an almost shy smile, “I would be honored to be your ring bearer, and Tony, thanks for caring.”

“No problem kiddo, it’s almost second nature for me now,” Tony answered.

They finished their ice cream and decided to watch a movie on Netflix before Pepper joined them for dinner. After dinner Happy drove Peter back to Queens, and the whole way there Peter was unusually quiet as he went over everything that happened that day in his mind. Happy asked him an hour into the drive if he was ok, and he responded, “I am beyond ok happy. I think I’m close to content, and that is a scary thought for me, but I don’t want to risk questioning it.”

“Kid, good things can happen too,” Happy offered in a gruff sort of sad exasperation that only Happy could achieve.

“I know,” Peter answered before lapsing into silence once more.

It wasn’t that he questioned that, it was just that despite his quiet spidey sense, and the feeling that they had dodged a bullet no one had even seen, something else was about to happen. Peter didn’t know if what was coming was going to be good or bad, but his gut just told him to be ready for something, and to be fair, for him that usually meant something bad. He clung to the thought that his spidey sense was calm, and everything that he knew about recently, even all the changes, had been good things. Perhaps whatever was coming was something good too.

Peter sighed, and decided to pull up Dr. Banner’s article to read for the rest of the trip back to his apartment. At least the science had the potential to distract him from his unease. He didn’t want to think about how sad it was that he couldn’t just be happy in the moment when things seemed to be going well, as he was just waiting for the next upheaval to arrive. Pessimism had never really been his thing, and he didn’t want to let it start now.

Chapter Text

The wedding of Pepper Potts and Tony Stark was the secretive event of the season. The press had been given two fake dates to throw them off, and Happy Hogan was proud of how he was handling the security of the event. The oddest inclusion to the guest list had been the Asgardians, and Happy was just thankful the one they called Valkyrie was not among those included. Thor and his sister in law were seated three rows behind the family, and Happy wasn’t sure how he felt about the supposed wife of Loki being included in the guest list, but he had long learned to roll with the punches where his friend and employer were concerned. At least seeing the friendship between Sigyn and Dr. Banner was slightly reassuring.

The kid had been a ball of restless energy all morning, which had grated on Happy’s nerves a bit until he saw the effect that the boy’s exuberance had on Tony. The man relaxed in the kids chaotic presence. The boy was like a therapy dog for his boss, and anything that could get Tony out of his own head was a worthwhile thing. To be honest the boy was growing on him exponentially recently, and even when he still found certain things the kid would do to be annoying he was happy for the distraction that Peter Benjamin Parker brought to his life.

His danger sense was also reassuring. Happy even got a kick out of calling it his Peter Tingle because it made the kid so mad, and thought Happy would never admit it a flustered Peter was about as adorable as an angry kitten. Happy was grateful with the knowledge that if anything was going to go wrong he would get a bit of a heads up from the kid, so he always kept him in his sights when he could. A chatty Peter was as reassuring as it was annoying, and Happy could deal with it.

Everything was running smoothly thanks to the coordination with the security team, the army of wedding planners that Pepper had hired, and the various event professionals brought on to make everything run smoothly so that Tony and Pepper’s day went well.

The moment that the ceremony began Happy’s focus was laser precise and he kept up his hyper vigilance until the couple kissed to the applause of their invited guests. Peter jumps and hollers while clapping, and Rhodey is beaming at his friends. Happy surveys the gathering with immense satisfaction. He completed his task well, and now he will get to have his cake too. It was a good day.

——

At the wedding reception Sigyn leans over to ask Bruce questions about the traditions tied to the marriage ceremony.

“So the choice to write one’s own vows, is that common now?” She asked.

“I wouldn’t say that it is common, but is has gained popularity in the last twenty years or so. Most weddings still use some form of traditional repetition of vows that are uniform across whatever religion one participates in, but the addition of personal vows can also be added to such ceremonies to create a unique celebration for the specific couple. It really is up to the couple to decide what kind of vows are used, if any at all,” Bruce answered.

“Are there any ceremonies that don’t require a vow for a wedding?” Sigyn asked.

“Yes, some civil ceremonies that take place in a courthouse only require a signature on the marriage certificate. I’m sure there are other weddings that don’t use vows at all other places too,” he said.

Sigyn nodded, “The ceremony was beautiful, and I understood most of the symbolism. Weddings on Asgard could be as elaborate as a many hour long ceremony to a simply agreement witnessed and proclaimed by an officiant along with at least six observers.”

Bruce nodded, “Who would be authorized to preform a wedding ceremony on Asgard?”

He was curious about the similarities and differences as much as Sigyn seemed to be.

“Any member of the Royal family, any priest or priestess of the Norns, and any commanding officer in the army,” she answered.

Thor spoke up here, “Yes I remember you had me claim to be the officiant for your own wedding, and created six witnesses out of thin air to corroborate your story all those years ago. How on earth did you convince me to go along with that hairbrained scheme I have no idea.”

“You got tired of needing to apologize to the locals that neither I nor Loki were available to every wealthy Lord with an unmarried heir. It solved your problem and mine, and was a beautiful bit of mischief that cause absolutely no harm,” Sigyn responded with a smile.

“Yes, I suppose you are right. After your supposed marriage no one bothered us about that any more, although I remember Father being furious with me for the deception as word of you marriage traveled much further than either of us intended, and any machinations Father might have had for matching you would be unacceptable in that circumstance.”

“I have very little regret on that quarter either. I abhor the thought of anyone your father would have chosen for me. He and mother were the only ones who knew of my true heritage. They probably would have married me off to a race that could hide my own from even me. I shudder to think what kind of wife Father would have chosen for his pet Jotun,” Sigyn said, her voice dripping with disdain.

“Yes,” Thor said softly, “You are probably right there. I’m thankful at least that fate was spared you.”

Bruce sensing that the topic of weddings had morphed into something that could potentially become more problematic decided to change the subject, “How have your studies with Dr. Strange been progressing Sigyn?”

She brightened at the opportunity to discuss what she had been learning, and promptly started a diatribe monologuing the similarities and differences in the techniques of the Midgardian Sorcerers and Asgardian Mages. Bruce smiled as he listened attentively. Of all of the many things he had seen and witnessed in the vast universe thus far in his life, magic was the one subject that still confused him on a regular basis. When Sigyn finished speaking Bruce spoke.

“Do you think that someone like me would be able to learn how to be a sorcerer?”

The question seemed to stun Sigyn for a moment before a broad smile filled her face.

“I think someone with your mind would make an excellent sorcerer Bruce, and the Masters of Kamar Taj might also be able to help you reach a better understanding of the mystical side of what happens when the Hulk emerges. I am convinced that there was some magic involved in the experiment that caused the science to react in a way that was unprecedented and therefore unexpected,” Sigyn explained.

“Will you bring me there after the reception is complete today? I think I would like to request an opportunity to learn at your side while you study there,” Bruce asked with an eager if shy air.

Sigyn smiled, “ I would be happy to Bruce. I’m sure I can convince them to let you join their ranks easily enough. They do not hoard knowledge from those who truly seek it for their own betterment. By tonight I am certain you will be granted a sling ring of your own if you should do choose.”

Bruce felt himself blush, “Thank you.”

“I am just thankful that on earth a man wishing to learn magic is not looked down upon as it was on Asgard. Somehow, though I was born on Jotenheimr and raised on Asgard, Midgard is more suited to my personal beliefs. I feel like I can simply exist without fighting every second to justify who I am. I find that gender stereotypes here are discouraged to such a degree that almost encourages the opposite in society, and I find that regressing. Whatever you wish to pursue here Bruce I will support you,” Sigyn was smiling.

Thor added, “All of New Asgard will support you as well. Both of you, I will guarantee it. Things must change, and we all must adapt. Stagnation can not be allowed to prosper.”

“Thanks Brother,” Sigyn said with a soft smile. Which he returned with one of his own blinding grins.

Later that night Sigyn would be proven right as Dr. Stephen Strange welcomed Dr. Bruce Banner into the ranks of the Masters of the Mystic arts and handed the man his own sling ring while cautioning him to not use it without guidance until he got the hang of it as portal accidents had the potential to be very deadly if one lacked control. Sigyn beamed as Bruce slid the ring onto his hand and nodded.

“If you shift to Hulk the sling ring will grow with you. There is an enchantment that makes it fit the wearer,” Strange added.

Bruce smiled, “Good, Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Heimdall opened his golden eyes and cast his sight across the expanse of land before him. The Asgardians under his care weighed heavily on his mind, simply for the lack of number because of all they had lost. The people were resilient, but the number of widows and orphans were a constant reminder of all they had lost. Sigyn had stepped up on that front in ways Heimdall had not expected. She had organized a daycare and group foster home where the widows took turns working, teaching, and housekeeping for the group. It shared the burden while making the community feel more interconnected. He approved, which was not something he had thought he would say.

Of course he knew who Sigyn truly was. It would be impossible to be himself and not know who the Princess actually was, but Heimdall actually found himself understanding this particular deception. Loki could not show his face comfortably on this planet, and Thor wanted his sibling there. In a way it was almost selfless of Loki to take his female form while on earth, when he could leave at any time to walk the Yggdrasil to a more hospitable realm for himself. Heimdall knew she was staying to be close to Thor this time, and so he would hold his tongue as long as the princess kept herself to minor mischief.

Truly she had been more than helpful recently, even working with the earth bound sorcerers and making beneficial connections for the refugees. The addition of the berserker doctor to their number was another oddly worthwhile occurrence. Banner had a gentle soul that did not match his green form at first glance, but upon further observation even the being named Hulk seemed to have a softer side when children and women were concerned. He was a protector, and Heimdall welcomed his King’s shield brother to their inner circle. The number of warriors they had already lost meant they needed as many willing protectors as they could get.

The aide they had already received from Thor’s shield brother Stark and his ward was not insignificant. The buildings, infrastructure, and smoothed political landscape were a boon that could not be easily repaid, and Heimdall knew enough about Stark to know he expected no recompense for his aide. He didn’t even expect loyalty or gratitude. He expected betrayal. Heimdall had seen enough of Stark’s life to understand where that expectation originated. It was a hard learned lesson, and mostly undeserved for the desperate heart that was beating in the genius warriors breast. He was willing to give all of himself for a facade of acceptance and false platitudes.

Even married with his pseudo-son by his side the man half expected those most devoted to him to eventually leave, and he compensated with compulsive engineering binges. The addition of the boy Parker in his life had gone a long way toward countering his more self destructive tendencies though. The longer the boy was in his life the more settled the man became. It was even due to the boy that he had finally asked his current wife to marry him, albeit a round about reason, but true none the less. The spider child was one of the most unique beings Heimdall had ever watched.

Peter Parker’s aura was one of the most pure he had ever seen, but tinged with heartache, guilt, and strength, showing a Uru forged soul that had the potential to change the universe, though how Heimdall couldn’t say. The blessing of Loki and Sigyn surrounded him now, which not many would consider a boon, but Heimdall believed would prove a benefit in the end. To be blessed both by chaos and victory could be more than most could handle, but the spider child seemed to thrive in his own chaotic existence. Adding the blessing of victory to his life only swayed his outcomes to be favorable, and he knew anyone would want that.

Heimdall wondered if Sigyn knew her title was more than just honorary. She became someone different when she was in her female form, and the godhood title was not just for show. Odin hadn’t liked the fact that his daughter had the potential to be better suited for a throne than his biological son, so discouraged the form to keep the divide between the siblings. It was the late king’s hubris that led to so much of the original power imbalance between the two.

Heimdall knew that with Sigyn on Thor’s side and her loyalty given to his throne their people would be more blessed. He even wonders if they might have been able to save Asgard and their army from Hela had Sigyn taken this form sooner. It is a sad and sobering thought. He will not share this with either of his royals however. Nothing good will come from stirring up old hurts and making up hypothetical scenarios for losses long past. Heimdall shakes his head and simply thanks the Norns that Sigyn is on their side now.

——

Sigyn was smiling. It was something that was becoming a more common occurrence, and the fact that the smile was genuine instead of a smirk or facade was part of the odd change that fate seemed to have thrown her way. She had, for the first time in her long life, something of a genuine friendship with someone who was not her brother. It had surprised her at first how genuinely joyous she felt when the original realization hit, but Stephen Strange had become her friend.

She admitted that she had never thought it possible after their first meeting, but now she looked forward to seeing him and the other sorcerers of earth, mostly him though. He knew her, both sides of her, and he had encouraged her in seeking knowledge alongside himself. When she approached him about Bruce, who was someone else she believed she was developing a friendship with, he had been happy to welcome the scientist into their fold.

So here she sat, watching her friend guide her maybe friend through a Sanskrit Primer, and smiling. The peaceful air of Kamar Taj filled her lungs and settled her soul a little more. She enjoyed watching her people interact. Seeing new connections drawn between people she cared for had been a rare thing before, but now she found that she cared for many people, even if that care was not equally reciprocated.

Even Stark had been welcoming in a way that Sigyn had not expected. The invitation to his wedding had been a consideration that she had been honored and perplexed by. The man of iron was ironically generous and kindhearted from what she had observed, he just covered it up with a boisterous facade for the media and a tendency for crass irreverence. Sigyn found herself liking the man against her preconceived notions, and was genuinely happy for him at his celebration for his nuptials.

Stark’s son Peter, for even if the man wasn’t biologically the boy’s father he filled the role completely, was another person that had recently become one of Sigyn’s people. At the wedding reception he had been one of the few to approach her to talk. The conversation had been for the most part meaningless, but the consideration that the boy had for her was appreciated. He had wanted to ask after her people and their accommodations, as he had helped to set them up. The fact that he had asked her instead of her brother Sigyn chose to believe was because the boy felt less intimidated by her than her rather loud oaf of a brother. Teddy Bear though he may be there was no denying Thor’s massive physical presence.

At the end of the conversation she had asked for permission to bless the boy, and he had bashfully accepted it. Being able to lay a protection on him that was more formal than the passive one she had placed before made her feel better about fulfilling the vow she had made before her brother about protecting the boy. He was important, not just to her, and she wanted to give him every protection she could. His thankful smile had been more than enough to make her heart soar that afternoon.

Sigyn was startled out of her reminiscing by the red cloak that Strange wore patting her shoulder to get her attention. She looked up at it questioningly and it gestured to Strange.

“We are done for the day I think. Would you like to join us for dinner here?” Strange asked.

Sigyn found herself smiling again, “I would love to. I am a fan of the curries served here. Nothing in Asgard was ever so spicy, and I find myself in need of such things after too many bland meals. Would you agree Bruce?”

“Oh, absolutely! They may know plenty of ways to roast boar, but their other food prep seems to be tame in comparison to what I was used to on earth. I need a little spice in my life,” Bruce smiled, and Sigyn felt herself blush in response. She turned to hide the response, masking it by walking in the direction of the kitchen.

It had been a long time since she had blushed like that, and she didn’t want to think about what it meant. She had been spending more time with Bruce since they arrived on Earth, and in truth the only reason she hesitated to call the man her friend outright was that she found herself oddly attracted to the small man. His intelligence and gentle spirit were welcoming, and even his other side seemed to be open to her in her female form. Sigyn wasn’t going to do anything about those feelings though. Bruce would never look at her that way after their shared history, so it was a moot point. She would just pursue the blooming friendship she felt with the man, and ignore her more romantic feelings. She had long ago learned that there were few who would accept her that way anyway. It was just her lot in life, and she was not about to ruin the good things that were just starting with messy thoughts of a doomed romantic pursuit. She smiled thinking about the meal that awaited her, shaking off the more melancholy thoughts in favor of focusing on the good that awaited the trio there in the kitchens. She turned a mischievous smile to Strange.

“Do you know if there is any Hunka Hulk of Burning Fudge in the fridge?” She asked.

Bruce blushed and Strange laughed, “It is the only one we keep there regularly.”

She nodded, “It is by far the best.”

Bruce turned a deeper red and smiled embarrassed back at them. Sigyn loved her new friends.

Chapter Text

If someone had told Bruce 10 years ago that he would be living in Norway, free and clear allowed to be exactly who he was without having to hide, he would’ve called them a liar. Even at the height of his time with the Avengers he had felt like he was always one mistake away from running, which is why he had ended up running as Hulk in the first place. His two sides really weren’t all that much different from each other at this point. Sure the Hulk in the back of his mind was never going to be able to follow the science he had studied most of his life, but at this point Bruce knew the Hulk wasn’t an idiot.

Running might just have been the best thing that Hulk could have done at the time, really, if what he learned about the team welcoming Maximoff to their ranks was to be trusted, and from what he had found it was. He understood that she was a powerful ally to have, but the idea to just trust her change of heart right after she had mind whammied most of the team felt a little off putting. He still felt on edge when he remembered what she had made him do, and the Hulk remembered too. He would need a significant enemy to face in order to put that sort of enmity aside, and the last thing he would want to do would be to loose control or strike at someone who could redirect him onto someone else. Yeah, as far as he was concerned he was more than happy to know that he was now considered Asgardian by nationality. He was also an official representative to Norway for the Asgardian people and so had some diplomatic defenses as well.

He would not have thought his friendship to Thor would have born such fruit when it first started, and for that matter his new friendship with Sigyn was surprising on an even more basic level. Loki had not been his friend, but he also was probably the only person on the planet who was never worried around the man. Even Thor had his moments of hesitation around his brother, although he was much more relaxed around the sisterly form, but Loki hadn’t ever truly frightened Bruce. He knew the Hulk could take anything that the godling could dish out. He had never run for fear of what others might do to him. His fear had always been about what he was capable of when he lost control, and now that he had lost control for many years together he was no longer worried about that. The Hulk was not a mindless rage monster, but rather an overpowered child of a rather overbearing father(with Bruce owning up that he was the father in this scenario) who was acting out in self defense or for attention, and on the very rare occasion when his father let him actually play.

Bruce had done a lot of self reflecting recently, and he knew that the Hulk was growing inside of him. It was even possible that he might be able to somehow find a way to blend his two personalities into one in the near future, but that also called into question whether he should. He was not a psychiatrist, but he was pretty sure that what he had was a form of DID directly tied to the trauma of his first transformation creating a form of amnesia where the Hulk mentality was born. He had no identity when that happened, only instinct, and he acted like a toddler throwing a tantrum. The longer the Hulk exists the more he learns, and the more advanced he becomes. To blend the other guy into himself would be in a way erasing that personality’s prominence in his mind, which would be closer to what the original experiment should have done. He couldn’t see a good enough reason to do that at the moment, as he finally felt settled in both sides of his personality standing on a cliff side in Norway and helping to set up the integration system for the computers in the school while he listens to the sound of the ocean crashing far below him. He knows he is home, and it’s beautiful.

——

Tony’s return to work was harder than he expected it to be. He had spent a wonderful two weeks on a small island in the South Pacific with Pepper on their honeymoon, but the lack of technology had him almost growing hives by the end of the second week, and he was happy to be back to civilization. Civilization was not work, though, and if he could have stayed away longer he probably would have, but he ran thin on excuses when his wonderful wife got right back into the swing of things the next day.

If it had just been tinkering in his lab he would have been ecstatic, but it was more housekeeping, paperwork, and politicking than he ever really cared for because he had to catch up on everything he missed in the weeks he had been gone, familiarize himself with anything new, and make sure all deadlines for upcoming rollouts were being met. The fact that his CEO was also out for those two weeks meant that a lot of stuff that would have been handled by her in his absence had to go to a different person, which ironically turned out to be Peter Parker for most of the stuff that Tony himself would have handled. Tony trusted the kid, but there was a worry in the back of his mind that he had put too much on him, and there would be metaphorical fires to put out from his vacation.

As it turned out, his fears were completely unfounded, and his faith was proved to be justified, as he returned to the compound to find everything running as smoothly as he had left it. He had answered all missed emails on the plane ride back alongside his wife who had done the exact same thing. He wasn’t as behind as he could have been, and Peter had coordinated with all department heads to make sure everyone stayed on top of their deadlines. Peter was even waiting for him when he arrived.

Summer vacation meant that May was a lot more lenient for when her nephew could stay at the compound, and for the two weeks that Tony had been away the kid had stayed at his room in the compound, keeping an eye on things. Happy and Rhodey had also stayed there, but Peter was taking care of the more business side of things along with FRIDAY. From the looks of the smile on the face of the kid greeting him everything had been fine. He couldn’t help smiling back.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter chirped cheerfully.

“He kid,” he responded, “How’d everything go?”

“It was fine, pretty quiet really. There was one hiccup that Legal had to handle about the patent application for the medical liquid adhesive bandages, but it was resolved the same day. Apparently PR wanted them to change the name on the Patent, but hadn’t pushed it through in time, so PR wasn’t happy, but it really couldn’t be helped.”

“Yeah, PR is rarely happy when I name things,” Tony smirked.

“I know, but apparently they aren’t happy when they can’t focus group names before patents are filed, which legal was nearly pulling their hair out trying to explain that the patent does not have to be the trademark name.”

“They were just worried that S.M.A.S.H.E.D. Bandage was what they had to market.” Peter smirked.

“Spider-Man’s Awesome Sticky Healing Emergency Dispensable Bandage sounds like too much of a mouthful,” Tony explained with an air of childishness that betrayed how he liked his own joke.

“Miss Pepper is right,” Peter shook his head.

“She usually is, but what about this time?” Tony asked.

“You sometimes act like more of a child than I do,” Peter said with fondness in his eyes.

“Well one of us has to,” Tony defended easily, “Thanks for holding down the fort.”

“Of course Tony, I’m happy I was able to help. I hope your trip was great.”

“It was, but I’m happy to be home,” he said as he wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders and they made their way to the labs and offices.

Peter would spend the next few hours catching Tony up on all he had missed both at SI and New York in general. Tony smiled as he fielded praise for his protege from all his department heads, especially legal, which he knew would also fill Pepper in on how successful Peter had been. The Press had always called Tony a Futurist, and he knew looking at the kid that the future was safe in his hands.

Chapter Text

When May had first met Tony Stark she had thought he was an incorrigible flirt. The second time she had met him she was flaming mad and had called him the stupidest genius to ever walk the earth. His wince at her words and the following apology had only solidified the belief in her mind that Tony Stark did not know how to human very well. After she had got his word that he would actually be making an SI internship for her nephew, and that she would be kept in the loop for all things Spider-Man from then on, she had left and threw herself into her own go of research.

She had known of Tony Stark only through the headlines he made, and even that had been only a casual knowledge. She hadn’t ever really followed celebrity gossip. She had known that Peter was a fan of the man, but not much about him personally. That changed as she began gathering as many resources as she could to get a feel for the man’s history and time line. What she found made her feel torn.

Tony Stark had been sent off to college at the age of fourteen. He was a genius, but still a child in a world of adults. May considered that this probably skewed his view of what an adult age actually was. On the surface he would know that eighteen was what the law considered adulthood, but he wasn’t given a normal childhood so subconsciously he would consider Peter mature enough to handle things even if he never admitted it out loud. He had a bias that was so ingrained he probably wasn’t even aware of it.

This combined with what genuinely seemed to be a desire to protect her nephew in his own weird way made May feel like she wanted to give the man a chance to prove himself, so she decided to do just that with the caveat that she would be watching her nephew like a hawk in the coming months as his internship progressed to see if the connection was a beneficial one. What she ended up seeing had blown her away.

Her nephew was thriving, and Tony Stark had been reaching out to her personally on a biweekly basis alongside his head of security Happy Hogan who was a more constant presence, to keep her in the loop for everything her nephew was getting up to.

This led to her having a very world shaking internal debate then realization. She had support, but at the moment it was only through unofficial means. Peter needed more tangible security, and May knew how to get it, at least she hoped she did. So she sent Tony Stark a text that she needed to talk with him and waited for him to call.

Five minutes later her phone rang, “Hello,” she answered.

“Hi May, what’s up?” Tony’s smooth voice was only slightly muffled. May assumed he was calling her using a speaker, and the other ambient noises were the familiar whirring of mechanical objects like what surround him in his lab.

“Tony, I have been thinking about something for a while that I want to run by you to see how you would feel about it,” May led in.

“Okay,” his voice wavered slightly.”

“Nothing bad, I promise. I have just been thinking about how much you support Peter, and the role you have taken in his life as his mentor. This is hard for me to admit, but I’m truly thankful for the way that you have stepped up with him and all the ways that you have already protected him. I feel hesitant to ask for more protection, but that is exactly what I am doing with this call.”

“May you know I would do anything for that boy,” Tony said, “If you need it just tell me.”

May let out a breath, “Tony would you be willing to sign shared custody papers with me and become Peter’s second guardian legally?”

The line was silent for thirty seconds as Tony processed this question, the whirring sounds reassured May that the call hadn’t been dropped.

“Are you… I mean… May,” Tony’s voice was quiet, hesitant, as he puzzled through, “Are you sure?”

May smiled, “I’m very sure. I know how much you care about him, and it has been bothering me that there could be something that could come up with him in an emergency setting that would prevent you from getting to him or helping him because you aren’t actually tied to him legally. I trust him with you. I know you will make sure he would be safe if anything ever happened to me. After Ben died… I’ve been terrified that he would be put into the system if something happened to me. Now more than ever it is important that he be protected from that. I could put it in my will, but that could be contested, and I don’t want to risk that. It would be safer to make sure that he is protected now.”

“I absolutely agree,” Tony answered, “We will get it done as soon as possible.”

“I have the paperwork prepared. I was wondering if you wanted to utilize one of your lawyer for the process?” May suggested.

“We can do that. I will talk to Pepper, but I know she will be on board. She loves him too. The kid’s impossible not to love. Have you mentioned this to him?” Tony asked.

“No, I wanted to run it by you first. I know he would talk himself into circles about how he didn’t want to be a burden or something even more ridiculous if I didn’t already have your approval,” May answered.

“You have it,” Tony said, “Why don’t I send a cat for you and Peter to come to the compound for supper tonight and we can all discuss this step together with Pep. Then we can file the paperwork tomorrow. You both could stay at the compound overnight and I could have a driver bring you back in the morning. Will that mess with your work schedule?” Tony asked.

“That will work. I’m off for the next two days. I thought you might want something like that, so I scheduled my work accordingly.”

“Perfect, I will see you both tonight,” Tony said.

“See you then Tony,” May responded before the call disconnected.

The conversation with Peter that afternoon involved sputtering denials and incredulous disbelief before being filled with happy tears. They both packed overnight bags with a sense of happy expectation. The car arrived on schedule and they made it to the compound right as the delivery person arrived with their dinner. Tony was waiting for them at the front, and hugged Peter with a smile as the boy got out of the car. May knew that she had made the right choice as she looked at the joy in both of their faces.

She was happy that her family was growing and more people would be looking after her nephew. She just wondered how long it was going to be before her nephew started calling Tony Dad.

——

Pepper couldn’t really say she had been surprised when her husband called her that afternoon asking for permission to sign joint custody papers for Peter. The writing was on the wall, and Pepper was an intelligent woman. Peter was Tony’s son in all but blood and the law, so naturally the next step would be to make it legal. He was already legally the man’s heir. This just seemed the next rational thing in their lives.

The only thing that made Pepper Potts hesitate for even a second at this was the fact that she suspected she might be pregnant. Not that she thought having a baby would break the bond between Peter and Tony, but it would be an added variable that she wasn’t sure she should bring up. Naturally Tony addressed the subject on his own with his trademark carefree attitude.

“And Peter could be such a great big brother if we ever have any other kids you know. I think he would love a big family. His heart is so big you know,” Tony gushed and Pepper smiled.

So she waited for Peter that night at dinner and prepared to become a step mother through this unique situation. She smiled when Peter arrived. That boy was pure sunshine. She breathed deeply and relaxed. Their family was growing in more ways than one, and Pepper felt blessed to be a part of the chaotic ride.

Chapter Text

The phone ringing surprised Bruce. He didn’t get many phone calls, as most of the people he talked to on a daily basis didn’t own a phone. Sigyn just teleported to his location whenever she wanted to talk, and Thor would walk over to his home or visited him in his lab. Valkyrie was the same as Thor in that regard, and the rest of the town rarely sought him out personally. If he did get a phone call it was typically Tony, but even then the man usually only called around once a week. Since Tony had already called just yesterday he wasn’t expecting to hear the ring interrupting his meditation time. But that surprise was quickly doubled when he saw the caller ID.

The name Betty Ross blinked on the phone screen and Bruce felt his mind white out. He hadn’t spoken to Betty for over four years. They hadn’t ended on particularly good terms. He felt his gut churn uncomfortably with dread as to why she would be reaching out to him at all. Reluctantly he hit the answer button.

“Hello,” he said as even toned as he could manage.

“Hello Bruce,” Betty’s voice sounded strained, “I hope you are doing well.”

“I have been doing pretty well recently,” he answered.

“Good, that’s good… I am so sorry that this is the first time I have reached out to you since, well, everything fell apart really, but I didn’t know who else to go to with this,” Betty’s voice shook.

Bruce took a deep breath to prepare himself to ask for the clarification he needed after that statement.

“With what Betty?”

He heard her take a deep breath and sigh before answering, “Dad started experimenting again Bruce, using your blood and Cap’s blood, and gamma radiation. He had been becoming obsessed, even more than before, if you can believe it. I think he is going to try and make another go at the super soldier serum. I think he is gonna test it on himself Bruce.”

Just then Bruce felt the familiar shimmer of magic entering his room and knew Sigyn had let herself in. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having her eavesdrop on this conversation in particular. He was already struggling to keep the green at bay while thinking about the General and all the man had done to him. Sigyn was not fully aware of his past, of how he became the Hulk, or any of the people he left behind. Talking on the phone with his Ex while Sigyn listened without all the facts made him feel a twist of awkwardness in his gut that he couldn’t place an adequate name for. He offered her a small strained smile and continued as if there were no one else in the room.

“Betty, why are you calling me about this? How close is he to testing? Don’t you think you should get the proper authorities involved? If he is going back into human experimentation but without proper authorization this time I can’t see that ending well for anyone involved. It’s not like any of the previous experiments ended truly well, right down to Captain America if you take into account his going AWOL recently.”

“I think Dad is operating in secret, but I’m not sure whether or not he has been authorized to do so. Our government is corrupt enough in places that if you know the right channels you can get anything approved, and as Secretary of State my father definitely knows the right channels.”

“Well if he is operating within the law there really is nothing I can do Betty,” Bruce said, “It’s not like I even have the moral high ground where this argument is concerned as I did perform the experiment on myself.”

“Bruce don’t talk like that, you couldn’t have known what would happen,” Betty started.

“Betty we have had this discussion before We aren’t going to change the other’s mind. I’m sorry about your dad, but I really don’t know what you want me to do,” Bruce said.

“If I sent you copy’s of some of his work would you be able to at least look over it and let me know if he is doing what I think he is doing?” She asked.

He sighed, “Not behind his back Betty, and I honestly doubt the man will reach out to me in his own. He blames me for how everything went wrong the first time around, and in some parts of that he is right to, although he should shoulder a good deal of the blame himself.”

“Bruce please,” Betty begged.

“I can’t Betty, You know why,” Bruce sighed.

“Well bye then,” she hung up the call and Bruce dropped his head.

He took a few breaths to try and calm himself before he turned his attention to Sigyn who had remained quiet through that disaster of a phone conversation.

——

Sigyn hadn’t meant to overhear the conversation that Bruce was having with the woman he referred to as Betty when she first teleported to where he was, but he was already on the phone when she arrived. Honestly it was an odd situation as she had actually had a purpose for arriving and didn’t want to leave until she spoke to Bruce about the next visit they were planing to take together to the Sanctum in New York. It was simply bad timing that had her arriving when such a personal phone call seemingly occurred, but she also couldn’t make herself leave.

Whoever this Betty was she was someone who could make Bruce sigh, and Sigyn didn’t know how she felt about that. On the one hand the sighs seemed to be of the frustrated and exhausting forms, but on the other hand there had been very few people who Sigyn had observed who could get even that much of an emotional response from the usually calm stoic man. It unnerved her. Who even was this Betty and what influence could she have over Bruce when he had never mentioned the woman in her presence before that phone call.

“Are you okay Bruce?” Sigyn asked.

“Not really, just a very personally painful blast from my past letting me know that my bad decisions could still have potential unforeseen consequences and begging me to step in to help or interfere somehow,” Bruce answered.

“If you want to talk about it I’m here, and if you need help you need only ask. I know both myself and Thor would step in to aide you in anything you face. You are one of us now, and a claimed shield brother to Thor. Whatever you face you need not do so alone,” Sigyn offered.

Bruce smiled, “Thank you. It all comes back to the failed experiment I was working on that ended up creating the Hulk. Someone from my past is attempting to recreate that experiment. I can’t see it ending well.”

“And the person who called, what did they want past sharing that information?” She asked.

“That was Betty Ross, my ex girlfriend whose father was in charge of the experiment in the first place. He is the one she wanted to, I guess warn me about. He wants power any way he can get it. He is mentally unstable as he is on his own. I shudder to think what kind of Hulk he would make.”

“Ross… would that be the General that you and Stark are always complaining about?”

“Got it in one. General Thaddeus Ross, also known as Thunderbolt Ross, Secretary of State for the U.S.A. And general pain in the neck of everyone who knows him.” Bruce said with a pained smirk. He sighed again, “At one point I thought that man was going to be my father in law, but I truly feel I have dodged a bullet on that front. Betty was a good person, and she hates her father nearly as much as I do, but she also loves him, and that makes things messy.”

“I can understand that sort of pain, as Odin was never the kind of father one could refer to as ideal. He manipulated me to be the worst possible version of myself that I could be for years, constantly pushing me to compete with Thor for his recognition when he knew he would never give it. He refused to let me stay in this form for long as I could be respected and even revered as a female magic user on Asgard. As a male I was considered wrong and weak for being strong in magic, which I know is idiotic, but it was what it was. I wanted Odin to love me as a father should. A part of me still loves him despite all the pain I feel at what could be nothing but betrayal of trust from a parent who set their child up to fail so that their true born son could excel.”

“Yeah, Betty’s father, as insane as the man is, no one could doubt he loves his daughter. I think that is one point in his favor in this whole thing, but he is walking down a path of destruction that can only lead to pain. I hope Betty isn’t the one to suffer. My transformation was enough suffering to put her through. She blamed herself for encouraging me and the relationship she tried to foster between her father and I before the whole to g went down. Then I left her for her own safety even through she pledged to stay with me through it all. I knew when this happened to me I couldn’t stay with her. It wasn’t safe.”

Sigyn felt a wave of jealousy flood her at the pain in his voice. She pushed the feeling down and took a deep breath continuing the conversation as best as she could as her feelings were jumbled. Bruce was her friend, nothing more. He had a past just like she did, and that was simply a fact. Her newly discovered soft longing for her friend had no place in this discussion. Anyway he wasn’t with this Betty woman now, and it didn’t sound like he was trying to start the relationship up again. There was nothing to be jealous of now. She just needed to be there for her friend.

He interrupted her train of thought with, “I honestly don’t know what she expects me to do. I have no authority or influence over her father. I can only interfere if he does something bad. If I try to stop it before he does anything I could face a jail sentence if he is operating within the law, and I have no proof that he isn’t. All I can really do is worry at this point.”

Seeing the struggle in her friend’s eyes Sigyn expertly steered the conversation to the reason she had come there in the first place and they planned for their upcoming trip. It was a bright thought that lightened Bruce’s mood. He was looking forward to reading some of the books about elemental forces and how the body responds to those various forms of energy. He hoped to find a tie between that and his own transformation as radiation was a kind of elemental force in and of itself. With that change in topic they both felt better and so they avoided returning to thoughts of the warning Bruce had received.

Two weeks later Sigyn was sitting next to Bruce in the Library of the Sanctum when Stephen came in suddenly. His grim face foreboding as he said, “You need to see the news.”

He pulled out his phone and played a video showing a rampaging red hulk like figure destroying what appeared to be part of the capitol building. Sigyn watch Bruce tense his shoulders.

“He did it,” Bruce croaked out. Sigyn watched as green tinted his skin. She put her hand on his arm.

“What do you want to do Bruce?” She asked.

“I need to stop him. Is there some way to contain him until he calms down?” Bruce asked the two.

“I might be able to trap him in the mirror dimension,” Stephen offered, “If Sigyn would hide me from sight while I do so. It might make him madder though.”

“Trap myself there too. I can tire him out while Hulk tries to reason with him. I will give him a focus for his wrath if nothing else,” Bruce said.

“No,” Sigyn said, “You are not facing him alone. I will aide you both and if Bruce is to be trapped so shall I be. Please let Thor know where I will be,” Sigyn stated.

Bruce was stunned, “You do not need to do this Sigyn.”

“I don’t do anything I don’t want to do, you must know that by now,” She answered, “I will not leave Hulk or you alone in the mirror dimension to face that foe. You are both my friend.”

Bruce sighed, “It’s too dangerous. Hulk can handle it.”

“I know Hulk is capable, but I want to be there for my friend. Now we are wasting time arguing. Stephen please, a portal to where the beast is ranging,” Sigyn said.

“You are both nuts, but ok. Don’t die,” he answered as he began opening the asked for portal.

Chapter Text

Ross’ Hulk did not go down quietly. After Stephen trapped the beast in the mirror dimension with Bruce and Sigyn the sorcerer followed invisibly to provide aide or escape if needed. The beast mindset of the red hulk seemed even less coherent than Bruce’s Hulk when it had first been created, but that might just be from the disorientation of being newly formed.

Though the bulk of the fighting occurred between the red and green hulks, Sigyn was not idle. She threw impediments in the way of the red Hulk whenever she could, and Stephen watched as she inched her way closer to the fray with each new clash. The behemoths did not seem to be tiring quickly and Stephen wasn’t sure how much longer they would be trapped together when Sigyn finally was able to touch the Red Hulk’s head and his eyes glowed green until he fell unconscious. All three took a calming breath collectively.

Red Hulk shrunk until he was once again Ross, though still enchanted asleep.

“You did it big guy!” Sigyn praised Hulk.

“Red Ross even worse than before,” the Hulk huffed.

Sigyn nodded, “He is very unpleasant, but now he is sleeping, and he will remain sleeping for as long as I wish it.”

“Good,” Hulk grinned, “Time for puny Banner to come back?”

“It can be, though if you want to stay for a bit more Hulk I’m sure we can arrange it,” Sigyn said.

“No, Hulk tired,” he answered and started to fade, slowly returning to the petite form of Dr. Banner.

Sigyn waved a hand and clothes appeared on the tired Doctor who smiled at her in thanks. Then Stephen portalled them out of the mirror dimension, levitating Ross unconscious behind. The handoff with the proper authorities happened immediately, with all three promising to submit reports through Tony as soon as they could. One good thing about the Accords was the protections it provided for those who were willing to file proper paperwork. Bruce smiled to himself that now he doubted Ross would be overly pleased with the Accords for where they placed him in relation to everyone else. It was an odd change, to be more backed up by the government than the general. Bruce wondered how Betty would take it.

Stephen portalled the group to the Stark Compound instead of bringing them back to the New York Sanctum. They needed to talk to Tony sooner rather than later to get ahead of everything and include the billionaire with their plans. It worked out well for them as once they arrived FRIDAY directed them to a conference room with windows overlooking the pond behind the complex. There was a coffee maker and tea caddy set up which FRIDAY told them to help themselves too while they waited for Tony to get to a stopping point in his lab. Tony joined them there ten minutes after they arrived.

“Ding Dong the witch is dead, or close to it so I hear, thank you and congrats. How long will Ross be out of commission, and please tell me he has to be woken up by true love’s kiss, because I don’t think he would ever wake up if that’s the case,” Tony breezed into the conference room speaking with his usual quick wit and sarcastic tone.

“He will sleep until I wake him, such was the enchantment I laid. It is one regularly used to aide in surgery, so not having one wake on their own is essential there. I believed this situation needed something like a controlled coma. It is far easier to plan what and how when the enemy is contained, but I do not recommend leaving him like that for too terribly long unless he can be given fluids and nutrients while unconscious,” Sigyn answered.

“Don’t worry, they will have home hooked up to an IV already I’m sure. Though I don’t know how much they plan to put in him vs take out of him, but he should be the last person to complain about that either way,” Tony said.

The billionaire poured himself a coffee and sat down at the conference table with a grunt. He downed the cup in one go and looked around the room with a tired gaze. His shoulders lost a bit of their tension as he saw the group look at him with knowing smiles. Bruce understood better than most what kind of a sword of Damocles Ross had been in their lives up to that point. To have the man off the board was a relief as much as it was hard to accept, waiting for another shoe to drop.

“I will have my best lawyers on this, we will make sure he is put away and you will all get commendations, I’m sure. I had FRIDAY load the forms you three need to fill out onto these tablets,” he pulled three tablets from a drawer on the conference table and handed them to the three gathered there.

Chapter Text

Sigyn smiled as she smelled the familiar scent of ancient books and the burning oil smoke of the torches in the library at Kamar-taj. The peaceful quiet hum of magic in the very air welcomed her back like an old friend. It reminded her of the libraries on Vanaheim, ancient with vast knowledge gathered over many centuries. Asgard had had libraries too, but none were as permeated with magic there as Vanaheim or Kamar-taj. It made her feel connected to something so familiar. She had spent many happy years studying on Vanaheim in her youth, and now she had a new opportunity for study. It made her feel young again.

She browsed the shelves for awhile before she came across the librarian. Wong was an interesting man. His dry sarcasm and stoic face hid a very mischievous soul. Sigyn could see the man for the many layers he held. He had a capacity for chaos and pranks that he rarely allowed out. He also enjoyed watching people flounder in their stubbornness instead of offering help voluntarily. One must ask before Wong would give them the knowledge he held. He had no patience for fools or pride. Sigyn could respect that. There were many times in her own past that she enjoyed watching idiots flounder while holding the key to their success in her mind. It had been the cost of overlooking her.

“Wong,” Sigyn spoke as she tilted her head in respect toward the sorcerer.

“Lady Sigyn,” Wong answered with an even tone. It was both respectful and warm. She found herself smiling.

“I have been browsing your tomes without any real direction today. Do you have any recommendations for what I should be studying?” She asked.

“That entirely is dependent upon what you wish to learn,” he answered with an air that bordered on sarcasm, and it made her smile widen.

“I want to read about the magic that is tied directly to this realm. I have read about Vanaheim’s magic and Asgard’s magic, which were similar but had their subtle variations. I know most of the sorcerors of Kamar-taj utilize dimensional energy, but there are inherent seidrs here that I have felt since I arrived. They welcomed me,” she answered.

Wong nodded, “You are a mage, so you would connect to this plane differently than I as a sorcerer do. There are few tomes here for mages as there are so few native mages on earth. Most were called witches, warlocks, or wizards in our history, and if they wrote their own work then they held onto it. The smaller library at the London Sanctum has three such tomes. They were written by a wizard of earth named Merlin. His memoirs, his study of natural energies, and his reflections on magical flora and fauna of the English isles are the three books there, written in an old English dialect. They are all located together on the fourth aisle from the entrance of the library on the left side, halfway down the row on the bottom shelf as you face the entrance.”

“How do you do that?” She asked.

“All books in the possession of the master’s of the mystic arts are the purview of the librarian. I know where all our books are at all times. It comes with the position,” he explained.

“That is a wonderful skill to have.”

“Master Strange rarely grasps that concept,” Wong grinned.

“Has he ever asked?”

“No,” Wong answered smuggly.

“Has anyone ever told him?” Sigyn asked.

“I have mentioned it in passing,” Wong answered.

“And Strange being Strange probably thought you were waxing poetic over your own skill,” Sigyn smiled.

“He does have a tendency to hear what he wants to hear doesn’t he?” Wong added.

Sigyn smiled and bowed, “I shall make my way to the London Sanctum with your permission to look at the tomes you suggested Master Wong.”

He nodded to her with a smile.

Chapter Text

“Boss,” Friday’s voice interrupted the flow of the lab. Both Peter and Tony looked toward the camera as Tony answered.

“Yes baby girl.”

“There has been news I think you would be interested in. You know about the recent space exploratory mission by the research team headed by Dr. Reed Richard’s?”

“Yes, they were planning to set up a base in orbit around the moon to research various anomalies from a better vantage point,” Tony answered.

“One of those anomalies has damaged their vessel and they had to abort the mission. Upon their return they have been revealed to be altered in some way. It is unclear what the extent of the damage has been to their persons.” Friday’s voice seemed to show concern.

“Well, crap. Reed is annoying but he is one of the most brilliant minds on earth. His IQ is reportedly even higher than mine,” Tony said.

“Dr. Storm was also on the ship. I’ve read a few of her papers. She is a genius as well. I hope they are ok mentally even if they have been altered some way. I mean I have been altered and I am fine.” Peter said a little sheepishly.

“All members are alive and cognizant according to the news reports, but they haven’t yet revealed what they mean by altered,” Friday explained.

“Well that is ambiguous, but I guess we can hope,” Tony said.

“Who all was aboard the ship?” Peter asked.

“Dr. Reed Richards, Dr. Sue Storm, Astronaut Ben Grimm, and pilot Johnny Storm,” Friday answered.

“Isn’t Johnny Storm like my age?” Peter asked.

“He is one year your senior Peter,” Friday responded.

Tony took a deep breath. He looked down at his work table and place one of his hands to his head, as if he felt a headache coming on. They were all younger than him. He felt worry and empathy that he wasn’t expecting to feel. He just knew that family would be completely upended by whatever had happened to them. Altered was not a word used lightly in the day’s political climate. Whatever happened to that team was drastic, and he only hoped that they would make it through the trials ahead together unlike his team had. For a moment Tony felt incredible old and weary.

“Hey Tony, let’s get back to work, what do ya say?” Peter asked gently.

Tony took the out that work and distraction would provide, “Yeah kid, that’s enough sitting on our laurels isn’t it.”

Together they both returned to their projects and Friday turned the music back on. The world might have changed for those four, but in the moment there was nothing that duo could do about it without more information. They just got back into work, solving the problems that they knew they could handle.

Chapter Text

Peter was masked and swinging between buildings on his way to a robbery in progress when he saw something out of the corner of his vision that confused him. At first he thought it was a missile of some kind, but the whole object seemed to be on fire. As it neared him he realized that it was, despite the impossibility of the thought, a human of some sort made entirely of fire.

“Hey Spidey,” the being called.

“Um hi, Flamey I guess,” Peter responded.

The fire being laughed and Peter continued webslinging toward the street where the robbery was supposed to be happening. The fire being followed him.

“Uh… I’m kinda working right now, not to be rude or anything, but you’re not planning to do anything nefarious right now are you?” Peter asked.

Again the being laughed, “Not at the moment, no.”

Peter wasn’t sure how to end the discussion. The flying fire man was following him at a pretty fast speed. He didn’t want to be rude and ask the man to go away, but he also wasn’t sure what to make of the situation as a whole. His spidey sense wasn’t flaring up around the man so that was something he guessed.

“I’m about to stop a robbery right now, general run of the mill crooks, no enhanced,” Spider-man offered.

“Cool,” the man responded.

“I don’t hurt criminals any more than I absolutely have to,” he explained, “Most people aren’t fire proof.”

“Ah… makes sense,” the man seemed sheepish, “I’ll hang out up here. If you need help just yell.”

“Thanks,” Peter said, then he proceeded to descend down to the electronics store that was currently being held up.

Three minutes later all three armed robbers were webbed up and their weapons had been disarmed and webbed in a separate pile. With the sound of sirens in the distance Peter gave a solute to the gathered civilians and shop owners before flinging out a web and slinging away. He came to a rest on top of one of the many sky rise office buildings along his forward path and waited the seconds it took for the fire person to catch up to him.

“So what’s your name?” Peter asked

“Johnny,” the man answered.

“Whoa man I meant your alias, not like your real name dude! Like why would you tell me your name?!”

“Oh! I’m not doing secret identity stuff. I will have a moniker though, but everyone will already know who I am,” he said shrugging as he landed on the roof and dropped his flames.

“Johnny… Storm… your Johnny Storm…” Peter spoke slowly in realization mixed with disbelief.

“So you’ve heard of me,” he smirked.

“Your sister is only like one of the smartest women alive, married to one of the smartest men alive, and I was just reading up on the phenomenon that ‘altered’ you as the news was putting it. They hadn’t got any specifics yet, but seeing as you turn into fire I’m guessing ‘altered’ might be an understatement,” Spidey answered.

“Man, fame by association is not something I’m used to.”

“I’m a nerd,” Spidey shrugged, “If it ain’t science or math related I’m not interested.”

A look of pain crossed Johnny’s face, “Fair I guess. So how did you get your powers? Are you a mutant, or did you science up your suit?”

“I got bit by a radioactive spider, so most of my powers are from that, but I designed my webs in a chemistry lab. So a bit of both if I’m honest,” he answered.

Johnny mouthed radioactive spider with a look of shock on his face. A moment of silence stretched between them as Peter watched Johnny come to terms with what he had said.

“So did all four of you on that ship turn into fire beings?” Peter asked when Johnny didn’t seem to know what to add to the conversation. Apparently radioactive spiders weren’t on his mental bingo card.

Johnny then launched into raucous laughter and Spidey had to wonder if the torch guy had lost his mind until he managed to choke out a no, but refused to elaborate further.

“Alright, I guess I will see you around then flamebrain,” Spidey said with a salute before slinging away on a web line.

———

Sigyn could feel Bruce’s eyes on her as she read her most recent borrowed time from the Kamar Taj library. He had been staring at her on and off for the past ten minutes with increasing length and frequency. She was enough of a practiced reader that she could keep her focus on what she was reading even with the knowledge that she was being watched, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to. He obviously was thinking about asking her something, and she thought he might only be waiting for her to reach a stopping point in her reading before interrupting her. It was the sort of courteous thing that Bruce would do, and so she raised her eyes to meet his and smiled. He grinned back.

“Yes Bruce,” she said playfully, “I can sense you have something you want to talk with me about. I assure you the book I’m reading will keep while you speak.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt, but there have been some questions I hoped to ask you about something you have only touched on once in conversation with me,” Bruce gently let in, “I hope that this topic is not offensive to you, as I know it probably is not an easy one to talk about, but my scientific curiosity has been ruminating since the subject was first breached. Would you be willing to answer a few questions about your species?”

Sigyn felt her eyes widen and her heart jump into her throat at the question. She didn’t want to talk about what she was most of the time. She didn’t even want to think about it. The humans had a word for it, dysphoria. That was what she had, species dysphoria, where the humans used the word to describe things within their own species, the word still fit her. She gulped.

“I am willing to answer your questions, Bruce, because you are my friend, but this is not a subject that I typically would choose to talk about. My adoptive species were enemies with my biological species and I was raised to hate the very thing that I am. I was instructed as a child that my entire species were monsters, savages, not worthy of the mercy they received by Odin to not be completely wiped from existence. So much so was my indoctrination in this ideal that when I found that I was one, I attempted to destroy the planet of my birth and the what remained of my species. Such is my greatest shame, and I must live with the destruction I wrought trying to earn the approval of my adoptive father who had lied to me for my entire life about what he actually wanted from me so there was no hope that I could ever earn that.”

The empathetic grimace that Bruce gave her made her feel a little less horrid. She knew she had done horrible things. She lived in dread that the few who truly knew her would look at her like she always feared they would, with horror as they realized what a monster she truly was. Bruce understood though. The man housed a berserker soul that was slowly gaining an intelligence all its own, but for years the man had been afraid of himself, of what he’d already done, of what he could possibly do. Sigyn understood that mentality.

“What happened to the rest of your species?” Bruce asked gently.

Sigyn grimaced and took a deep breath before sighing. Then she told him everything from plotting to mess up her brother’s coronation to falling off the rainbow bridge. She pause here as the flashbacks accompanying her story tried to go further and darker into what followed before she shook herself out of it.

“I don’t know if Jotenheim was fully saved by Thor’s intervention, but I have held on to the hope that I am not completely to blame for the loss of one of the nine even though I know my plan led to the destruction of another. Asgard is gone partly because I unleashed Surtur. If Joyenheim is also destroyed then there are only seven of the nine left. I know that I am unable to feel my birth planet though, so my hope is not high for that.”

“Do you know if any other’s of your species can skywalk?” Bruce asked.

“I don’t know, but it stands to reason that if one could there would be others, although you would think they would have travelled far and wide if that were the case,” Sigyn said.

“Are your species natural shapeshifters,” Bruce asked.

“They are not reputed to be, but again I can’t rule it out.”

“So there could be any number of sky walking shape shifting Jotun on any number of planets that no one knows about.” Bruce surmised.

Sigyn blinked, then smiled, “Yes I suppose there could be.”

Chapter Text

“Mr. Stark, Tony, the guy was on fire!” Peter exclaimed.

“So you’ve said,” Tony replied in a mock bored tone.

“I don’t think you are understanding me, he wasn’t, like hurting, he was just on fire, like he was made of fire, then the next minute he wasn’t. Karen do you have a recording you could share with Friday,” Peter asked in equal parts exasperation and excitement.

On one of the holoscreens Friday played back the encounter for Tony to watch. Peter turned to watch Tony’s reaction and was surprised when no shock or awe appeared.

“You knew already,” Peter concluded.

“You made the news with your fire friend flying through the streets of New York, of course I knew Roo,” Tony laughed out.

Peter hung his head a bit. That made sense, but his embarrassment was short lived.

“Did you also know that he is Sue Storm’s little brother?” Peter asked.

“Not until this conversation, no, but really his name is less of a shock to the system than his abilities, and I had already wrapped my head around those. In this business you get a high threshold for weird coincidences. We were already expecting to hear eventually what had happened to that foursome, and now we know about one of them.”

“He said that they would be going public soon, so I don’t think we have long to wait,” Peter added.

Tony nodded, “I had already reached out to Reed after finding out about the accident, as I know Bruce did as well. They have been locked up tight though, until now, so I don’t know what changed.”

Friday’s voice interrupted, “Actually Boss, about half an hour ago you received an Email from Dr. Reed Richards thanking you for your offer and inquiring whether you and Dr. Bruce Banner would be available someday next week to discuss some things related to the accident.”

“Super genius think tank, yes!” Tony said smiling and Peter could help but laugh at his enthusiasm. Tony grinned at Peter, softening his expression to something more personal. Peter found himself grinning back once he stopped laughing.

“Friday, you know my schedule better than I do, send him a polite response with my availability, coordinate with Bruciebear too,” Tony said.

“Already coordinated with Dr. Banner, Boss, I was simply waiting to let you know before I sent the response,” Friday answered.

“Ask if my protege is invited,” Tony added.

“Already done,” Friday answered with sass that made Tony smirk proudly.

“If I meet Dr. Richards, I’m pretty sure my secret identity will be forfeit,” Peter added.

“Possibly, but I’m sure he can be trusted to be discreet. He has worked on many top secret government projects through the years. He will respect your privacy, but the decision is yours,” Tony said.

Peter seemed to consider it for a bit, “The science nerd in me is overpowering the paranoid side.”

Tony smiled at that and nodded, “You hear that Fri, you got the go ahead.”

“Good, the best day next week for you all is Thursday.”

“When we hear back from Reed let me know if they had any conflict. Keep me updated,” Tony said.

“You got it Boss,” Friday confirmed.