Illusions (The Avengers)

Prologue

The rain was thick, poring down in sheets and covering Forest Hills, New York in a gloomy atmosphere. The sun hadn't shone since Peter Parker had arrived at his childhood home, where his Aunt May had fallen ill.

The doctor had said that it was only a fever, but Peter wanted to be sure before he left; she'd lived alone for fifteen years since he'd moved into the Avengers facility, and he'd worried at first, but she'd gotten a job as a nurse after finishing nursing school so she could support herself and she called every Thursday to make sure he hadn't gotten himself killed.

It was around one in the morning when she had finally gone to sleep; Peter, who had sat by her bedside reading one of his old comic books for the past several hours, made his way out of the room, not making a sound as he closed the door and headed upstairs to his room. It was strangely sentimental, as his aunt hadn't moved anything.

The small room on the top floor was exactly how he'd left it, with his bed in the corner and his computer on the desk, which was littered with all of his incredibly organized notes, his old posters still hung and his bookshelf was covered in a thin layer of dust. He smiled to himself as he shut the door behind him, the familiarity sinking in. He flipped on the light, opening up the blinds to reveal the poring rain splattering on the glass.

Crashing down on the bed he stared at the ceiling, a ringing had started in his ears about thirty minutes ago, and it wasn't his spider-sense, this was something else. He fell asleep sometime in the next thirty minutes, pondering what was causing the ringing in his ears, only to be woken up by a loud rapping.

Jerking up, he glanced around, catching sight of a familiar face in the window. Frowning, he walked over to lift the window open.

"Ambur?" he asked, peering through the hood that obscured most of her face.

"Hello, Peter." She smiled apologetically," May I come in?"

He blinked, still half asleep as he registered her question." Uh, sure."

He backed up as she effortlessly hopped through the window, swinging her legs over the side of the windowsill.

Ambur Wolf had been one of Peter's first good friends when Tony Stark had recruited him for the Avengers, she had been the only one who hadn't treated him like the fifteen year-old kid he was, and fifteen years later, she was still someone he went to if he needed to talk. However, the last time he'd seen her, three days ago, she'd been two days away from giving birth and everyone had been going out of their minds; there had never been kids in the facility.

Now, she didn't look as if she was ever pregnant, but as she was far from a regular human, he wasn't surprised.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as she pulled her hood down, her black hair spilling like oil down her back.

"Listen," she said urgently," I don't have long, but I need a favor."

"Absolutely," he replied instantly," Whatever you need."

She peered at him for a moment before moving an arm back to reveal the small bundle cradled in the crook of her other arm. Peter felt his stomach do a bit of a nose dive, he knew nothing about babies.

"Peter, you are the one person that I can trust with her," Ambur pressed, glancing back out into the rain, she lowered her voice," Listen, Loki and Thor had to go up to Asgard because the cosmic balance has been weirded out and the nine reals are under attack."

"Wait, are you saying all of this is because of her?" he pointed to the sleeping newborn with raised eyebrows.

"She's a Nature Queen, Peter. Enemies are easily drawn to a newborn Nature Queen; whatever her powers might be, it's upsetting the balance and I have to get back to headquarters and help Tony and Bruce fix it but she can't be there. It's only for a few days," Ambur glanced back outside again," Please, Peter."