"The devil whispered in my ear; 'you're not strong enough to withstand the storm.' Today I whispered in the Devil's ear; 'I am the storm.'"

Tony flew into the prison in the base of the compound, where Loki sat calmly. "How. Dare. You." Tony hissed, stepping out of his suit. Loki looked up with a smug expression. "How dare I come back? There was nothing strong enough to stop me - that I knew of. I obviously underestimated your new little..."

Tony's fist connected with the everything-proof glass and he cut Loki off. "How dare you bring him into this fight?!" He snarled, and Loki raised an eyebrow in surprise. "'Him'? You mean you're little sidekick Spiderman..."

"He is not a sidekick." Tony cut him off again, and Loki sighed. He hated getting cut off. "Yes, I realized that when he defeated all of you - and then me! Very interesting. I wouldn't object to learning about him, unlike the rest of you who are predictable and, frankly, boring."

"You will never see him again, if I have anything to say about it." Tony hissed, leaning back and attempting to reign in his temper. "And, if I have anything to say about it, you will never see the world outside this cell again. I don't care if you're a god. You crossed a line."

Loki jumped up from his poor excuse for a seat and slammed a fist against the very same glass - which they tested with Thor and knew would hold. "You will not deny me! I have more power than you can fathom!" Tony paused before getting back into his suit, and turned back with a smirk.

"Then how were you defeated by a teenager?"

oOo

Peter's eyes slammed open, immediately being accosted by light. Yelping in surprise, he shielded his eyes with his hand and felt a tug as something was pulled out of his arm. He flailed around until he managed to sit up.

Where the hell was he? He was in a sterile white room, sitting on a strangely uncomfortable white bed, staring at a woman dressed in a white lab coat, and there were machines all around him with strange... wait, what?

"Wh-wh-who are you?" Peter sputtered, scrambling away from the Asian woman. Hang on, was she holding his shirt?! Peter looked down at himself to see he was shirtless and patched up, but thankfully still had pants on.

"I'm Dr. Helen Cho. Mr. Stark called me in to help you - you were in a bad way." Dr. Cho explained sweetly. Bad way? No doubt! Peter remembered being pummeled by every Avenger and then nearly frying his own brain to save the day. But now, he felt good as new!

"Uh, th-thank you for, um, helping me." Peter said awkwardly, rubbing his wrist which was bleeding from where he pulled out the IV upon waking up rather ungracefully.

"I really didn't do much." Cho admitted modestly. "You have an amazing healing factor - quite remarkable. All I had to do was set a few things back in place and clean your wounds - your body did the rest!" She told him, and Peter blinked in confusion. He knew he had somewhat of a healing factor, but it wasn't as amazing as she claimed.

Peter did know, however, that he was wicked hungry. He grabbed his mask from the table beside his bed and paused. "U-um... can I... uh... have my shirt, please?" Peter asked, looking sheepishly at the upper piece of his costume. Cho blinked in surprise and quickly handed the blushing teen his shirt.

"Of course. Sorry." She smiled slightly before turning away. "I'm just going to... check on your blood tests." She said quickly, excusing herself and darting out. Peter pulled his shirt on and pressed the center of his suit to tighten it. He then pulled his mask on and stood.

A wave of dizziness tugged at the back of his mind, but it was easy enough to ignore. He went out to the hallway and found... he had absolutely no idea where he was. He didn't know where the kitchen was - if there even was one - or even where the exit or Mr. Stark was.

Well, this was going to be interesting.

Peter did a quick game of eenie-meenie-miney-moe in his head before turning right, which lead to a labyrinth of hallways. Down the rabit hole.

oOo

The remaining 'Avengers' were gathered in the sitting room, waiting for Tony to arrive. Their minds were plagued with questions and fears as a silence heavier than lead hung over their heads. Were they even the Avengers anymore? They only gathered the first time because Tony called them - which turned out to be Loki and started this whole thing. Could they even trust each other?

Could they even trust themselves?

Finally, Tony came, ready to distract them from their own heads.

"I know everyone has a lot on their minds, but I don't want this to be one of those sappy 'feeling' circles." Tony announced as soon as he walked through the doorway. Almost immediately after, Cap spoke up with a sobering question. "How's the kid?" He asked, and Tony's facade of carefree playboy fell instantly. He shook his head tiredly. "I... I don't know. Helen said he'd be fine but... who knows. Loki... we did a number on him." Tony answered slowly.

"Have you seen the videos?" Nat asked, glancing slightly at the TV she turned off as Tony walked in - it had been playing the news story on loop with all the videos sectioned in. Tony nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. So lets start with the aftermath of that. Anyone have permanent brain damage? Clint?" Tony tried to laugh off the proof that he had hurt Peter and shoved the guilt to the back of his mind.

Barton looked up at Tony with a quirked eyebrow. "I was going to ask you the exact same thing." He smirked and Tony couldn't help but chuckle. That was when he noticed the severe look on Wanda's face. It had surprised Tony she of all people was unable to resist Loki.

"Wanda? Is there something you want to tell us?" Cap asked before Tony got the chance. Wanda shook her head to clear it and looked up gravely. "When Loki tried to take over me, he couldn't at first because I blocked him. But he shocked me and trapped me in a terrible... nightmare." She explained. "I can't even really explain what I saw. Carnage and death and... everyone. All the Avengers; gone. The world was mangled and in ruins, piles of bodies everywhere I looked. An apocalypse."

"He could've just shown you that so you couldn't get out." Ant-Man suggested, but Vision shook his head. "That's what I saw as well when he corrupted me." Explained the andriod.

"So... we have to worry about an impending apocalypse. What else is new?" Falcon scoffed, crossing his arms. "If either of you get anymore flashes, tell us immediately." Cap insisted. Suddenly, Nat got up, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Kid? Kid!" She exclaimed, and Tony spun to the doorway behind him. Sure enough, Peter poked his head in, in full costume. Tony thought he would faint in relief. "Oh, hi! Anyone know where the kitchen is...?"

"Peter!" Tony cut him off and ran forward. "Are you ok? Should you be walking around? Did Cho give you a full bill of health?" He berated and Peter nodded. "Yup. All good. Honestly, I feel fine."

"Kid, I don't know what you're 'fine' is, but being the human pinball between a bunch of Avengers ain't mine." Falcon piped up, eliciting a glare from Tony and even Cap.

"I don't know what Dr. Cho did, but I feel completely normal. Except my shoulder's kind of stiff and I'm really hungry."

"Sounds like typical teenager behaviour." Wanda chuckled, standing. "Vision and I will show you to the kitchen - I... was teaching him to cook." She explained and Peter sent her a thumbs up.

"I... don't know if that's a good idea." Vision muttered, and Wanda turned to assure him, when Peter spoke first. "What? Why? Even if you aren't a five-star chef, I love all food." You could see his grin through the mask.

Vision looked at him in surprise. "You're not at all wary of me?" He questioned, the other Avengers equally curious. "Huh? No, of course not! It's not your fault you happen to have a stone in your forehead that Loki took advantage of." Peter shrugged easily, and Vision stood with a smile.

"Well then I would be elated to cook something for you."

Some fluff with the Avengers at the very end since it seemed to be a pretty angsty chapter - but Peter's back to his normal peppy self!

...or is he? MOOHOOHAWHAWHAW

~Meow