Of Numbers and Strange Friendships

Chapter 54

Tony ran over and knelt on Peter's other side, taking the teen's hand in his armored one. His face-mask lifted and there was fear in his eyes. "Pete? Hang in there kid," he said before he glared up at Loki. "Why aren't you helping him? Do something!" He begged.

Loki hesitated. "The wounds are beyond my healing, beyond what any Midgardian doctor can do. Even Strange at his prime would not be able to heal this damage," Loki protested, his hands covered in Peter's blood as he tried to stop the bleeding with pressure and magic. It was no use, but he was trying anyway.

"What about Asgard? Mother? Sigyn?" Thor asked as he came over to offer what little help he could.

Loki shook his head. "He would never survive the journey in his condition and there's no time to get a message to Mother or Sigyn," he replied, running out of options. Though he couldn't, wouldn't just let Peter die.

There was only one choice left. One option. It was too soon and a Hail Mary pass, but it was the only way. He saw the light fading from Peter's eyes.

"Can't you do anything? All your magic. There has to be something you can do," Stark protested. There had to be something the god could do. He had all this power and had been flaunting it since Peter had been taken. There had to be something he could do to save Peter.

Loki hesitated while everyone stared at him. Whatever it takes a voice said softly in Loki's mind. He didn't know where it had come from, but knew it was right. He would do anything and everything in his power to save Peter. And there was still one thing, one option left to him.

The only option.

He glanced at Thor, his expression a warning for his idiot brother to not say a word. "There's one thing-" Loki started.

"Then do it!" Stark snapped. "We're running out of time!" There was panic in his voice. He couldn't lose the kid. He couldn't bear that responsibility, not when it was more than his fault that Peter was in this situation. If his security had been better, if he had let Peter come with them, there were a dozen ways that Tony could have stopped this. And as always, he blamed himself.

Loki couldn't hesitate anymore. He summoned the item he'd been saving to offer Peter the day he turned 18, the day he came of legal age to make the decision for himself. Now, it was the only way to save Peter's life.

"Loki, no. It's forbidden!" Thor protested. Loki glared at him and silenced him with a gesture and magic. Thor protests were muffled by his inability to speak or open his mouth.

"Right now I could not give a single solitary fuck about forbidden," Loki replied calmly. He wasn't letting his emotions into his voice. His parents would kill him for this later. He would accept the death with honor if it meant Peter would survive now.

"What is that?" Tony demanded.

Loki ignored him and drew a dagger to cut up the apple he had summoned. He held a piece to Peter's lips. "Eat this, arachnid. It will heal you," he promised gently.

Peter made a soft, weak, noise, but ate the apple piece by piece as Loki fed it to him. Instantly, his wound started to close. When the apple was gone, Loki undid his magic from Thor and lifted Peter into his arms. He was so light and small, Loki was surprised how child-like he still was. "We need to get him to Mother to finish the healing," he told Thor as Stark scrambled back to his feet.

"He'll be alright?" Stark demanded.

Loki inclined his head. "He will heal," he replied.

"Loki, you shouldn't have. You know it's forbidden, especially before he came of age!" Thor reminded him, sounding panicked and worried now.

Loki nodded "And I will take whatever punishment comes to me for it. I could not let him die,"

"He's mortal-" Thor protested

"He's my brother," Loki snarled and Thor flinched at the reminder. Loki would do anything in his power to save Peter, just as Thor would do anything in his power for Loki. "Just as you would not let me die. Nor would I have let him," he reminded his brother.

Thor sighed. "Very well. I will help you with father. I assume Mother gave you the apple." Loki inclined his head. She had indeed given him the apple to give to Peter. He just wasn't supposed to need it yet, though now he was suspicious since she'd given it to him two years earlier than he was supposed to need it. Frigga's visions were never wrong, though she rarely told anyone about them.

Tony finally got his wits about him. "What did you do?" He demanded of Loki. He'd agreed to anything to save Peter's life, but now he needed to know what exactly it was that he'd agreed to. He wasn't taking back that he would do anything. He just needed to know the consequences, needed to know what fight he was going to be in for this decision.

Loki hesitated before he spoke, before he admitted what he'd done. He knew that he might lose Peter's brotherhood and friendship over this. That he might lose more than that. But it was worth the risk.

"I gave him one of Idun's Apples,"