Peter sighed, wiping spaghetti off his face while MJ went off on the student who threw it. Ned hovered over him, worried and unsure of what to do. MJ had told him to help Peter, but she looked like she was about to get into a fight with the kid and he didn't want her to get hurt... Peter understood his dilemma, having faced the same thing before his family drama because headliners. Someone had tried bullying Ned, calling him names until he was close to tears, when Peter and MJ rounded the corner and saw what was happening. MJ went after the other boy like a swarm of hornets, and when the fight turned physical and Peter started to go help her, she ended up decking the kid and knocking him out cold.

Safe to say, Peter wasn't too worried about MJ.

A noodle slipped from his head and landed in his lap, another sigh leaving Peter as he stood up. "I'm going wash up..."

"Oh! Uh, I'm- I'll..." Ned glanced between his two friends, his hands wringing together. Peter offered him a smile.

"It's fine, man. You can watch her. You know I can handle myself if someone tries something else." He sent his friend a wink and a smirk, seeing Ned's eyes widen in understanding before nodding.

"Okay, I'll come see you after this mess ends."

Peter glanced back at MJ and the crowd that had gathered around her as she verbally destroyed the kid. He smiled at that before turning away and heading to the nearest bathroom.

What Peter quickly learned when he first came back to school was that he was blamed for Loki's killing spree and that Loki's departure from Earth was public knowledge. Meaning that everyone thought Peter was free game now that his dad was gone...

School was more brutal than it had already been, not only the students retaliating against Peter but the teachers too. Whether it was turning blind eyes to the bullying, giving wrong grades, or refusing solely him bathroom breaks. It was unfair, and Peter and his friends made a point to call people out on it. But because of his parentage, no one really cared enough to stop the mistreatment.

There was Mr. Stark and the Avengers that still helped him, Tony even offering to homeschool him if things kept going downhill. As honored as Peter was by the offer, he felt as if that was giving in to what these people wanted. And Loki never gave in to others...

Another sigh left him as he entered the bathroom, seeing the large stain on his shirt. "Damn..." Grabbing a paper towel, he did his best to fix the damage. Happy was supposed to pick him up today, he would definitely tell Tony and the others... If they knew that the bullying had escalated this much he would definitely be pulled from school.

One of the stalls opened behind Peter; a quick glance to the mirror told him it was one of the kids that favored verbal assaults and was much more bold than Flash ever was...

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the son of a murderer."

Peter rolled his eyes but otherwise didn't respond, putting all his attention of trying to save his shirt.

"Tell me, Lokison, what's it like knowing that your dad is the most hated person in the world?"

"More hated than Justin Bieber? Wow, there has to be a medal for that or something."

"Justin Bieber did nothing wrong!" The boy slammed his fist against the sink next to Peter. But Peter didn't miss the hidden wince or elevated heart beat from him.

He paused in his cleaning, looking over to the guy and slowly smirking. "Are you a Belieber...?"

"No! As if! I just think your logic is stupid, comparing Loki to a singer that did nothing wrong and has good music."

"That sounds like you're a Belieber to me," MJ commented as she walked into the bathroom, Ned right behind her. Peter watched with a smile that the boy went a few shades paler and took an involuntary step back. He had already had his run in with MJ and Peter was proud to see that he was scared of her.

"You can't be in here, this is the boy's bathroom!"

MJ, in her perfect deadpan voice, squinted at him. "Did you just assume my gender?"

"But you're a-" A raised eyebrow had him stopping in his tracked, swallowing deeply.

"Get out, Belieber."

Peter snorted as he quickly shuffled out, head bowed and avoiding eye contact. Turns out he was only bold when MJ wasn't around and Justin Bieber wasn't mentioned.

"Loser," MJ muttered before turning to Peter. "Looks like that is going to stain."

"I know..." Peter sighed, "Mr. Stark is probably going to try to pull me out of school if he finds out about all of this..."

"Maybe..." Ned started, his hands fidgeting, "Maybe that would be for the best?" Peter and MJ's heads whipped towards him, confused and upset expressions causing Ned to backtrack. "I'm not saying that I want you to go, Peter, but someone just dumped spaghetti on your head today! There was someone in here cornering you! Everyone's getting more bold and the teachers aren't doing anything about it! I'm scared for you! It's only a matter of time before someone starts getting physical and you know you aren't going to fight back against them because you don't want to hurt anyone! I'd rather see you on just the weekends, safe, than watch you get hurt everyday..."

Peter let out a sigh, turning back to his reflection in the mirror. "I know... I'm not sure what I was expecting when I came back, but this... I'll talk to Mr. Stark and May, see if they can do anything. Worst comes to worse, I'll have the Avengers as my new teachers. That'll be pretty cool."

Ned gave a small smile as he and MJ stepped forward to help him clean off his clothes, the topic changing to Ned's new crush on Betty. Peter was grateful to get his mind off his own problems, and that Betty didn't think he was a monster... The topic was refreshing and had Peter laughing as MJ teased Ned.

Though when school was over and he left Ned and MJ's company, he all but threw himself into patrolling. It was his one distraction from... everything. His one reprieve to the chaos left in Loki's wake. It had already been three months since the whole Captain Universe thing and Loki's departure, and the tabloids and other media didn't seem to be letting the story go anytime soon... Some people were even starting to call for Peter to leave Earth as well, that they couldn't trust him to not finish what his father started. Mr. Stark and all the other Avengers were vehemently refuting the idea, standing by their statements of Peter being good and having helped them stop Loki's rampage - almost at the cost of his mentality.

The people didn't believe them.

Peter almost wished they would call for his removal... Then he would get to be with his dad again. He and Loki could travel the galaxy together, Peter learning far more out there than he ever would on Earth. But at the same time, he knew he would miss everyone here... To never see May or Mr. Stark or Ned and MJ again? The idea hurt...

With a sigh, Peter stood up on the edge of the roof he was resting on, stretching side to side before getting ready to jump. Just as he was about to shoot a web, he felt the hair on his neck raise. His body stiffened as he looked around, spotting movement in the East River that wasn't normal... Firing off a web, he swung closer, his senses telling him to run in the other direction but he ignored it and pushed forward. He had to know what was happening...

Landing on a building right by the River, the lenses on Peter's mask widened as he saw the large wave rolling up. Was that a tsunami? In the East River? But how, there were no earthquakes that he knew of! How could he even go up against a tsunami? It was a force of nature, his webs wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it-

The wave rolled higher and higher, unnaturally so; a shape starting to take form and a face coming out.

"Whoa... this is just like Aang at the North Pole fighting the fire nation..." He muttered to himself before he heard someone scream below. He shook himself out of his awe and jumped down, firing a web and pulling a woman to safety just as a water hand came crashing down where she once was. Water splashed against Peter's back, cold enough that Peter could actually feel it - which didn't make sense... It would have to be colder than Jotunheim! Maybe it really was Aang...?

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked the woman, his hands on her shoulder and giving her a quick check over. "You good?" At her nod, he turned her around and gave her a light shove down the street. "Good! Then start running!"

She wasted no time so Peter turned back to the water monster and took a deep breath. If this thing was cold enough for him to feel, it wouldn't be a pleasant fight...

Jumping in place to psych himself up, Peter shot a web at the monster-

Then proceeded to face palm as he saw the webs go straight through the water. Of course...

"Karen, what is this thing?" Peter asked as he stuck a web to the side of a building and lifted himself up, avoiding attacks that were aimed at him. "How can I beat it?"

"It... It appears to be a water monster..."

"Why do you sound so unsure of yourself?"

"I can't be certain, but something feels off about it. My scanners aren't picking up any kind of signature."

Peter blinked, his eyebrows pushing together, dodging another attack. "What? You're saying this thing isn't really here?"

Before Karen could answer, movement caught their attention and drew the attacks away from Peter. A man with a red cape and... fish bowl helmet was flying around, green swirling around his legs and magic circles kind of like Dr. Strange's appearing at his hands. He flew right up to the water monster and blasted it with the green power, Peter watching in awe as the monster seemed to cry out in pain.

Peter made his way up to a roof top, keeping his eyes on the man, watching as he flew around the monster dodging and throwing attacks. It was really cool...

But then the monster aimed a watery fist at the man, who threw up a shield - that didn't last for long... A cry of shock left him as he was thrown back crashing near the top of the building Peter was headed for.

He quickly made his way to the man, going to grab him when he suddenly lifted back up into the air with the green fog.

"Hey, Mister! Do you need any help!" Glancing at the monster, Peter gulped slightly as he saw it growing, absorbing more of the water. "I can help! I'm really strong and I'm... sticky!"

"I need to lead it away from the water!" Was all he said before flying off, the monster chasing him and destroying anything in his path.

Peter frowned, swinging to and maneuvering around the falling wall of a building that was crashed into, using his webs to wrap and secure the wall back to the structure. He followed behind the man and monster, trying to keep the damage to a minimum and succeeding for the most part. He cringed as he heard some of the buildings he couldn't get to in time falling, praying there was no one in them to get hurt.

But he kept up with the fighting pair relatively easy and the damage he couldn't stop was little. So he could easily watch the battle while he worked on keeping the buildings standing. The man did an excellent job of keeping the water monster occupied and unknown from the it was led down a small canal and was no longer in the open water. His fighting style was a mix between Mr. Stark, Wanda, and Loki... The green swirling around him stirred something in Peter's chest, watching curiously as the man landed on a roof for a second and moved in a way that was completely Loki. For a moment, Peter actually wondered if that was his dad returned to help him...

The battle didn't last much longer after that, the man lifting off again and delivering a final blow to the monster that blasted it away and left water spilling everywhere.

"Whoa..." Peter looked around as the water drained away, hearing boots land behind him. "That was so cool."

"I'm just doing what I can to help this world."

Peter turned, head tilting curiously at him. "This world? Are you not from Earth?"

"Oh no, I am," The man reached up to pull his fish bowl helmet off, the fog inside fading and dispersing to reveal a human looking man. "Just not this Earth. I'm Quentin Beck, I've come to help you save your planet."

Lokison

Peter smiled a bit as he and Beck rushed through the city together. They had fought off the Magma elemental not too long ago, beating it with overwhelming success. Mr. Stark and Thor had shown up for the fight, and Beck had acted a bit strange, but Peter figured it was just because he'd never worked with the Avengers before and was nervous.

Spending time with Beck turned out to be the balm to his fresh wounds of Loki's departure. Sure, Peter still missed his dad, but it was easy to ignore the pain when he was with Beck. The man's caring nature and kind eyes had a healing effect to them, one Peter appreciated beyond belief. Having lost his family as well, and was willing to talk about it instead of masking his hurt, Beck gave Peter advice he couldn't get from any of the others about dealing with his grief - temporary though it may be.

The two landed on a roof, Peter laughing as he skidded to a stop. He made sure he was far enough away from the edge and prying eyes of nearby buildings before pulling off his mask with a wide smile. "Dude, that was so awesome! Did you see the face of that one guy when he tried robbing the lady and you came up behind him? I've seen bad guys less scared when I pull the demon possessed act!"

"Demon possessed?" Beck chuckled, taking his helmet off and sweeping a hand through his hair. "What is that?"

"Oh, it's really fun! I can only pull it when someone tries to kidnap me as Peter Parker now since they don't know that I'm Spider-Man, but I crawl on the ceiling or crab walk towards them while practicing the Latin that Miss Natasha taught me! Most of the time the bad guys pass out, but it's the best thing! Dad always enjoyed it, he'd come to help me out if I needed it, but he'd stay in the shadows and watch. He was always really proud of that bit." Peter smiled to himself, looking down at the mask in his hands.

"As he should be," Beck placed a hand on his shoulder, offering a sympathetic smile. "You're a very special person to be proud of, Pete. Have you heard anything from Loki lately? Or progress on the Avengers trying to bring him back?"

Peter half shrugged, sighing and plopping to sit down. "Uncle Thor says he's been trying to contact dad for a while now... No reply though. Last we heard from him, he was in a star system really far away and met up with some group that apparently saved the galaxy twice." He laughed a bit, his eyes closing. "He told Thor that it really made him miss the Avengers and their half baked plans."

"That group must be something else to make him miss the Aven-"

Peter's wrist beeped, a projection of Tony's face popping up. "Kid, put your mask on. Now. I need to talk to you privately."

Peter frowned at the seriousness of Tony's voice, glancing to Beck before following orders and pulling his mask back on.

"Peter, you need to get away from Beck, I'm coming to pick you up, but you aren't safe."

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

"Quentin Beck is a criminal, he's working with what remains of Hydra and I think you're his next target."

All of the air left Peter's lungs, his insides twisted into knots and threatened to send his lunch back up. "N-no... No, that can't be right..."

"I know you trust him, Peter, but he's not your friend. You have to get away from him, he's dangerous even for you. I'm still thirty minutes away from you, so you have to get away from him until then. Understand?"

Peter nodded mutely, tears starting to prick at his eyes. He had befriended Beck... told him his secrets and fears... But it had all been a lie? "Yeah... Yeah, okay." Some son of the God of Lies he was...

Before Peter could even think of an excuse to leave, the scenery changed around him into a black abyss, ominous green fog floating in wisps around him. The lenses to his suit widened, Tony and all of the applications on his screen disappearing. "What's happening?"

"You know, this is an honest shame..." Beck's voice came from behind him. Peter whirled around, but didn't see anything but the darkness and fog. "I really liked you, Peter."

"Where are you?"

"If it wasn't for Loki, I think we'd actually get along pretty well."

Peter felt the tell-tale tingle at the back of his neck, ducking down to avoid a swing but then getting hit right in the face by something he couldn't see. He landed on his back with a sharp groan, a hand going to clutch at his throbbing nose. He quickly pushed himself up, looking around him to try and figure out where the next attack would come from... But he was thrown for a loop when a familiar green cape fluttered in front of him.

"Dad...?"

"What a disappointment you are..." Peter reared back, the lenses to his suit widening at the sudden change. "You are the son of me, the God of Mischief and Lies, and yet you can't even tell when you are being tricked."

"This..." Peter took a step back, swallowing hard and trying to hide how much those words truly hurt him - especially after his time stuck in that illusion with the Universe thing. "This isn't real."

"It's as real as you're going to get!" Loki was suddenly in his face, hand stretched out and wrapping around his throat, slamming him down to the floor. "It's as real as you deserve."

Peter gasped and struggled, kicking his legs and pulling at Loki's hand, but the man didn't budge. Tears fell from Peter's eyes, even as he told himself that it wasn't real, that his dad would never do something like this to him. It wasn't real, but those eyes looked exactly like Loki's...

"I should have never claimed you as my son."

Closing his eyes tightly, Peter bit back a sob as he brought his feet up, preparing to use all of his strength to kick off of the fake Loki. But when he shot his feet forward, there was nothing there. The pressure on his throat disappearing as well. Peter coughed, looking around while rubbing his throat, quickly pushing himself up.

"Do you want to know what the future is like, Peter?" Beck asked, floating down in front of him. "Because I can show you. You destroy the world, Earth is ruined because of you."

"I would never!"

"You already have." A grave appeared in front of him, the green fog clearing just enough to make out Tony Stark inscribed across the granite. "Because of you, Stark gives up his life for yours; Earth's Best Defender dies for a child, dooming the planet to all sorts of horrors. All because of you. You killed Tony Stark, Peter... Might as well have been with your own two hands."

"No... No, you're lying-" The ground exploded under the grave, a horribly disfigured zombie Tony crawling out from it and reaching for Peter, gasping and groaning. Peter jumped back, away from him and turning to run, but stopped short when he saw all of the Avengers behind him, all zombified and reaching for him. Peter's eyes flickered from one to the next, Steve, Dr. Strange, Natasha, Thor... all of them dead because of him. "No..."

Zombie Tony's hand grabbed Peter's ankle, starting to pull him down in to the earth with him. Peter cried out as he fell to the ground, too horrified to kick him off but too scared to run away. All he could do was watch as he was dragged into the ground.

"Kid!" A voice called, and just like that, the illusion was gone. Peter was back on the rooftop, Beck in front of him with a horde of drones hovering nearby. Peter scrambled back away from him, gasping and trying to compose himself when Tony landed behind him in his suit, Thor touching down soon after.

Tony stepped in front of Peter, his faceplate lifting as he questioned Beck, but Peter couldn't hear. His pulse was beating too loudly in his ears to make out anything else, his adrenaline higher than it had been in a long time. He was vaguely aware of Thor talking to him and getting his attention, but it was all so far away... It was his fault that the Avengers would die. His fault that Loki was banished from Earth and was now wandering the universe. What kind of son was Peter? He couldn't even tell a simple illusion apart from reality-

A zap went through his body, his eyes widening as he jumped, looking at Thor in confusion. "What was that for?"

"You did not respond! I had to gain your attention some way!"

Peter scowled at his uncle, but the longer he looked into those electric blue eyes, the more Peter felt alone... He needed his dad... Tears welled in his eyes again, and even when he tried to push his emotions away behind his mask, Thor seemed to know just what he was feeling. Strong arms wrapped around Peter, pulling him close to Thor's chest in a tight hug.

And that was all it took.

Peter broke down in tears, sobbing against Thor and clutching at him desperately. Some part of his mind was aware that Tony and Beck were still talking nearby, that they were still in danger. But he needed to release some pent up emotions before he could do anything else. He missed his dad desperately, needed his dad to be there and erase the images Beck conjured, needed his dad to comfort him from the school bullies and everyone that seemed to be against him now. Peter decided then that once they finished with Beck, he would join Loki in space. As much as he would miss everyone on Earth, this was not the place for him now.

Faintly, Peter could hear the thunder of Thor's anger brewing overhead, knowing that the longer Peter was unresponsive to Thor the stronger the storm became. Perhaps the lightning would screw up the drones and they'd be able to capture Beck easily.

Pulling away from Thor, Peter sniffled and ducked his head. "I'm good, I'm fine... Let's just finish this."

Thor nodded, helping Peter stand as they both turned to Beck and Tony. Peter took a moment more to compose himself, shaking his arms as if to shake off the emotions before concentrating fully on the scene in front of him.

Beck was yelling at Tony, accusing him of... stealing? Peter found that strange... But what he found stranger was that the rain that started to fall -but was spared from the three heroes thanks to Thor- was not working right around Beck. Peter's brows pushed together as he stared, focusing in on the rain and what wasn't right. It hit him like ice down his spine that the rain was just passing through Beck, not hitting and bouncing off of him. It was another illusion!

Sucking in a breath, Peter jerked around, trying to spot the man before he could attack or escape. He could see through Loki and the Universe's illusions, Beck should be no different.

Thor turned to give Peter a questioning look, but the boy couldn't get his mind to form proper words of warning, too focused on trying to find their target. He followed his senses to a spot behind them that was just slightly distorted, the hair on his neck raising just as a gunshot rang out.

Peter flinched, bracing himself for impact. He knew that the gun had been aimed at him, he had been Beck's target all along. And as long as it wasn't Tony or Thor getting hurt because of him, he was fine with that.

Peter's eyes closed, waiting for the pain.

But... It never came. Instead, there was a cool air circling him, the faint scent of mint and leather hitting Peter. His eyes open, seeing the bullet hovering in the air in front of him. He can hear Beck's breath stall, Thor's heart quicken, and Tony letting out a sigh. But more than the reactions around him, Peter is acutely aware of the presence forming behind him.

A strong and familiar hand is on his shoulder, squeezing it gently. "What exactly were you trying to do to my son just now...?" A deadly but calm voice asked, Peter's head whipping around to see Loki standing over him, his eyes almost glowing in his silent rage.

"Dad!"

"Loki!"

Though the corner of his mouth tipped upward from Peter and Thor's cheers, Loki kept his eyes pinned on Beck. "So... You're the one they called Mysterio. You were very hard to find last I was here, but then as soon as I leave Midgard you decide to target my son once again. Did I not prove to your people what I was capable of?"

"You aren't allowed to be on Earth," Beck pointed at him, glaring. "All I have to do is make a call and you and the rest of your team of circus freaks will be locked away."

"Will we?" Loki's head tilted, his smirk widening a dangerous amount. "Is that so, Stark?"

Tony hummed, pretending to think about it while rocking on the back of his heels. "Well, after doing a little digging into all those people Loki targeted before, I noticed something very interesting in his pattern. Would you care to know?"

Peter watched as Beck turned pale, glancing between them all as his mind reeled to understand what they were saying. He wasn't the only one, Peter was just as confused. He knew Beck worked for Hydra, but what did that have to do with all the people Loki targeted and killed before- unless...

Eyes widening, Peter suppressed a gasp just as Tony revealed the truth. "Turns out every single one of them belonged to this super secret organization that took over from Hydra. I think the World Leaders would be very interested to know that fact, since it would clear his name and label him a hero."

Once again, tears spilled from Peter's eyes as he turned to look up at Loki. "So you can come home...?"

Green eyes looked down to Peter, softening for a moment as he nodded. "Yes, I'm home now."

At that moment, Peter didn't care that Beck was still there. Let Tony and Thor handle him, he was useless now that Loki was here anyway and he knew it. Peter wrapped his arms around Loki, burying his face in his chest and holding on for dear life. Now that Loki was back, everything would turn out right again. Loki and Tony and Thor would make everything better.

And even if it took a while, Peter couldn't bring himself to care. Because his dad was back and his family whole.

Just as it should be.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my best friend mimsicalwrites. I may not be able to give you a hug, or spoil you rotten with presents, but I like to think I'm pretty good at writing so have a new chapter of Lokison! Just remember that I love you and am always here for you no matter wha 3

And as I said before, now that this story arc has been wrapped up and Peter and Loki are reunited, it's time to get into a whole new idea going! Who's ready for some Asgardian Peter? XD The next chapter is already halfway written, and I have a few more ideas after that! So hopefully it won't be too long before they're out. But then again, I also just saw No Way Home and am emotionally broken, so I may decide to make that everyone's problem. I've already been bouncing ideas off of Mimsical for some Lokison angst!

As always, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and a huge thank you to everyone who left such encouraging comments on the last chapter. I can't stress how happy it makes me to see that people enjoy my silly little stories. ^_^ 3

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Peter's eyes were wide as he stood in the tunnel, watching as a shark swam over his head. For once, he enjoyed the nervous tingle at the base of his neck that warned him of nearby danger, of the predators that swam in the tank around him.

"So cool..." He murmured, staring in awe as his eyes left the shark to watch a colorful fish swim by. He felt a pair of warm hands on his shoulder and a gentle kiss on his temple. He looked to May with a smile, leaning his head against her as they watched the fish.

"It's good to see you smiling again, sweetheart." She whispered, rubbing his shoulder before letting go. He watched her step back and go banter with Tony, smiling at the sight. Peter took inventory of everyone there; May, Tony, and Pepper laughing at something Tony said about a fish. Natasha, Clint, and his family oohing over one of the fish in the reef. Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Wanda huddled together in some sort of... competition? Bruce being dragged around by an excited Thor to get the best angles to see the sharks - Loki having escaped from Thor's grasp not too long ago and standing near the edge of the glass tunnel, watching him.

Peter went to stand next to Loki, his cool hand automatically going to rest on Peter's shoulder. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah," Peter nodded. "This is really awesome. I thought... after I woke up, I thought I'd never get to have that family day Captain Universe promised me. But now..." Peter's throat tightened as he stared at the groups, his family. He leaned into Loki's side slightly, "Now I finally have it."

Loki hummed in acknowledgement, a light smile on his face as well as they watched their family coo over various fish. Though he let out a dramatic sigh as Thor spotted them and marched over to drag the duo along with his shenanigans once more. "Though did we have to bring Thor? He has more energy than you today."

Peter laughed, giving his dad a playful shove towards Thor. And as Thor wrapped his arm over both Peter and Loki, Peter couldn't help but feel like he was whole now. It wasn't the picture perfect family that had been created by Captain Universe, but it was Peter's family. And that was enough.