Okay, so here's the deal. This chapter is part of a short arc I'm going to call Out Of Control (OOC for short). Basically that means this chapter and three after it are going to be interconnected, so I'd advise you not to skip any of these chapters because then things'll get confusing XD. Other than that... enjoy!

[Small note: unless otherwise mentioned, Peter refers to Peter Parker, because I don't use Quill that often in these stories :). So if it just says Peter, I mean Spidey.]

[Smaller note: I reached 1K reads on this book! *squeals with happiness* thanks so much y'all!]

-

[29 days before Loki's birthday]

"Sir, we have reports of gamma radiation in the Amazon."

"The Amazon?" Tony repeated, pausing his inspection of his fourth favourite Ferrari's engine to listen to what JARVIS had to say, "where did that come from?"

"I am unsure, sir," JARVIS replied, "all I know is that Fury is requesting that Banner goes to check it out, accompanied by either Asgardian in case we're dealing with space objects. Should I inform Dr Banner of the situation?"

"Did I hear my name?" Bruce enquired, peeking into Tony's lab, "is there a problem?"

"Whether or not there is a 'problem' is still undecided, Dr Banner," JARVIS explained, "but there have been reports of gamma radiation in the area surrounding the Amazon river in Brazil."

"Well then, I'll go check it out!" Bruce decided, "I could take the Quinjet tomorrow morning, and be back by... friday, saturday, sunday... Monday evening maybe?"

"As I had just informed Dr Stark, you will have to bring along one of the Asgardians in case it is an interplanetary matter, but otherwise that plan sounds excellent."

"Whoa whoa wait up," Tony protested, "before you go on - Bruce, Peter is interning with you, right? You can't just leave him here in the middle of his project!"

"Much more importantly," Peter frowned, walking into the room, "Did Jarv just call you Doctor Stark?"

"Yes I did, Mr Parker."

"How did I not know this?" Peter enquired accusingly, turning to Tony with his arms crossed, "you have PhD's that nobody even knows about? Do you know how many people underestimate you right now that would instantly back off if they knew this?"

"Not to burst your bubble Pete, but I think that's the reason nobody knows," Bruce mumbled.

"This is completely off-topic," Tony objected, "we were talking about the fact that Bruce was about to go to the Amazon and leave Peter stranded in the middle of his project. Let's get back to that, shall we?"

"I wasn't planning to leave Peter behind," Bruce replied calmly, "I'd take him with me, of course."

"YOU WANT TO TAKE MY PETER TO THE AMAZON? Do you have any idea how many dangerous animals and stuff there are there?"

Bruce sighed.

"I think you forget that I was on the run from the government for years, Tony. I know better than anyone here what the Amazon is like."

"I bet it's awesome!" Peter exclaimed, "there'll be loads of exotic plants and animals, I'll get to fly to another continent, AND I can work on my gamma project!"

"But... but..." Tony stuttered, unable to bring any good arguments up against Peter's enthusiasm and Bruce's calm and collected facts.

"I volunteer Loki," Clint spoke up, dropping out of the vents.

"No you don't!" Loki protested, appearing out of seemingly nowhere (turns out he'd been using illusions to keep himself invisible while he watched the situation), "I'm staying right here."

"Well you'll have to go," Clint pointed out, "Thor is busy elsewhere - again - and like Jar-Jar said, they need an Asgardian."

"Would this be a bad time to point out that Loki is not technically Asgardian?" Peter asked nervously.

"No, this is actually a brilliant time," Loki answered, glaring at Clint, "like Peter said, I'm not Asgardian, so you'll have to wait for Thor to return. He'll be back in a day or two, can it really hurt to wait that long?"

"Yes it can, actually," JARVIS chipped in, "the source of gamma radiation appears to be spreading rapidly, like some sort of infestation. Those twenty-four hours can make all the difference. Secondly, Thor will be exhausted when he returns, and will need time to rest before he embarks on another 'quest'. And last of all; they need someone with the knowledge of an Asgardian, and actual bloodline is not really relevant. And there is no denying that you, Mr Laufeyson, have studied far more on miscellaneous subjects than Thor has."

"Solid argumentation, Jarv," Peter grinned.

"Thank you, Mr Parker."

Loki rolled his eyes.

"Why does even the AI hate me?" he asked the ceiling.

"I don't hate you Mr Laufeyson, I am simply stating the facts," JARVIS stated.

"Shut up artificial annoyance," Loki grumbled, before addressing Peter, "Fine, I'll come."

Tony sighed.

"Well then, there's no stopping you from going now, is there? I suppose I might as well start packing my bags."

"Who said you were coming?" Clint enquired critically.

"I'm paying, aren't I?"

Clint raised both eyebrows.

"What he's saying," Peter clarified, "is that he arranged the meeting. He arranged the menu, the venue, the seating. So the least we could do is let him be in the room where it happens. Or, in this case, the jungle where it happens."

"And aside from whatever pop-culture reference that was," Tony added, "I do what I want."

"That's my line," Loki grumbled.

"Right," Bruce raised an eyebrow, "anyone else who wants to hook onto this trip to an exotic destination, or can I go pack my stuff?

"Can Clint, Ned, MJ and Shuri come?" Peter enquired, putting on his best puppy eyes in an attempt to convince Bruce.

"Ned and MJ have schoolwork and projects of their own," Bruce pointed out, "and I believe Shuri is extremely busy on some Wakanda-forever project too. And Clint... well that's up to him of course."

"Of course I'm coming!" Clint replied with an indignant huff, "you didn't think I'd stay behind on a trip like this, did you?"

"If you would like to prevent further discussion on this matter, I suggest you drop the topic and go pack your bags, as Barnes and the Maximoffs are approaching and they will undoubtedly want to join this endeavor upon hearing of it."

"Right, you heard Jarvis," Tony ordered, "GET OUT OF MY GARAGE, ALL OF YOU!"

Bruce grinned, holding open the door so the others could leave.

"Bye Dr Stark," he teased, closing the door behind him on his way out.

-

[28 days before Loki's birthday]

"Guys, I think Peter is hyperventilating."

"SKDKSKSDKSDKSKS IS THAT A JAGUAR? WHOATHAT'SSOCOOL!"

"Hey look at that tiger!"

"That's a statue, Clint."

"I knew that."

"Why I did I let you guys drag me along on this?"

"Nobody asked you to come, Stark. You demanded it."

"Shut up Loki."

"OhhHHhhh look a metal detector! I bet all the normal people have to go through there."

"I guess it's a good thing we don't, I bet they wouldn't have let Iron Man through."

"I do not think that is not how it works, Barton."

"Yeah, well, they wouldn't have let you and your fancy Asgard armour through either."

"Come on guys, can we keep it civil?"

"I didn't think you were one to encourage a civil war, Banner. There goes your reputation as pacifist."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Is something wrong Dr Stark? You're so quiet."

"Please just call me Tony Peter."

"If that's what you really want, Tony Peter. It's a weird name though."

"That... I didn't mean... oh whatever."

"I feel like we're missing someone."

"Nah, no worries. We have Stark, Baby Stark, Civil, and me."

"Wait a minute... where's Clint?"

*faint screaming in the distance*

"Who's Clint? Never heard of him."

*collective groan*

-

At the Amazon River...

"We're setting up camp here, at a safe distance from the location of the gamma radiation," Bruce stated, "then tomorrow Peter, Loki and I will walk to the site of the radiation while Tony and Clint watch the camp."

Aside from a soft groan at the two who were to stay behind and the usual complaining from Loki, everyone agreed to the plan.

The next morning, before sunrise...

[27 days to Loki's birthday]

"It's too early to be awake," Peter complained to nobody in particular, rubbing his eyes and swallowing half a bottle of water.

"It's too late to be awake," Loki grumbled in reply, and Bruce rolled his eyes, adjusting the straps of his backpack.

"I was counting on you two to be the enjoyable companions, but maybe I should just take Clint and Tony instead."

"By all means," Loki replied, gesturing to Clint, who was still sound asleep, and Tony, who was snoring so loudly that it was a miracle that Clint was still sleeping.

Bruce shook his head.

"No, I need you because of your space knowledge, and Peter because of his internship. I guess I'll just have to bear with the fact that I'm stuck with two teenagers."

Peter pulled a face, but cheered up considerably at the reminder of his project.

"We have to be careful that we don't get lost," Bruce began, starting down a thin trail, "I know both of you are very capable of taking care of yourselves, but ideally we won't need to test those skills. So we have ensure that besides-"

"Are you wearing Clint's gloves?" Peter asked.

"What?" Bruce frowned, "no, why?"

"I meant Loki."

They both stopped and turned to face Loki, who had been walking at the back.

"Yes I am," Loki answered, "does that matter?"

"But... why?"

"Just... reasons."

"Why would Clint even bring gloves?" Bruce shook his head, but continued walking, "it's not like it's cold here."

"Yeah, I'm sweating," Peter agreed, "I don't see how you can even wear those in this kind of heat. Unless... you're a natural source of cold."

He eyed Loki carefully, trying to estimate whether he'd offended him by bringing up the fact that he was a Frost Giant.

Loki shrugged.

"Not really, I'm just as hot as you are."

"Then why wear the gloves?"

Loki shook his head.

"I'm not in the mood to explain. We should just keep going."

Bruce nodded.

"Right then, we'll drop the topic. Come on, we should get moving if we want to be back at the camp before dark."

-

Meanwhile...

"So umm... am I the only one that thinks this jungle is kinda scary?" Clint enquired, collecting some damp firewood that they would - hopefully - be able to use to keep their small campfire going.

"I mean, I'm Tony Stark," Tony answered, leaning against a tree, "I'm not scared of anything. But if I were a normal person like you, I would probably be sort of worried about all the dangers and stuff."

Clint raised an eyebrow, and tugged a branch out from under Tony's feet, sending Tony sliding down to the ground and sitting in the moist moss.

"Oops, sorry," Clint grinned mischievously, "I didn't see that you were standing on that stick, what with all the moss and leaves."

"I'll get you back for that," Tony muttered.

"Oh it's on."

-

"Look at those!" Peter pointed to a series of purple frilly flowers, and Bruce paused.

"That's Passiflora, or Passion Flower. Just be careful, it's toxic."

Peter, who has already started reaching towards the pretty flower, pulled back his hand with a speed that rivalled Pietro's.

"How about that one?" Loki enquired, nodding to a few thick vines with bright yellow flowers.

"That's a Uncaria tomentosa, or Cat's claw. It actually has a few medicinal uses, but it's still being tested - so if you like you could pick some for me."

Peter enthusiastically dived off the path to tug some of the yellow-flowered vines out of the ground, and Loki watched with a half smile.

"Come and help here Mr Loki!" Peter begged, trying with all his might to get the stubborn plant out of the ground.

Loki turned to Bruce for permission - well, we can't really call it that, because Loki doesn't need anyone's permission (he does what he wants), so approval then - and Bruce nodded.

"Please!?" Peter repeated, groaning as the plant refused to be uprooted.

"I'm coming," Loki answered, stepping off the path to help Peter out.

They tried it twice, but Loki couldn't really get any grip on the bark with his gloves.

So he took them off.

Instantly, Peter and Bruce could tell why he'd been wearing them. His hands were a blueish colour, pulsing between normal and what could only be Jotun blue.

"Are... are you okay?" Peter asked softly, genuine concern shining through in his voice.

"I'm fine," Loki answered reassuringly, although neither Peter nor Bruce was particularly reassured, "I don't even feel it, trust me."

As if to prove his point, he grabbed onto the flower again.

It wilted under his touch, and Loki let out a frustrated growl.

"Well that clearly doesn't work," he mumbled. He made a small gesture with his hand, and a pocket knife appeared in it, which he tossed it to Peter.

"Why don't you just try cutting another one off by the roots?"

Peter nodded slowly, and set to work sawing down one of the thin-but-tough vines. He succeeded reasonably quickly, cutting down two more smallish ones while Loki walked back to Bruce and the path.

"Are you sure you're feeling all right, Loki?" Bruce enquired in a hushed tone, "it looks painful."

"It's not, it's just annoying," Loki made a dismissive gesture with his left hand, and the small bush that grazed his finger crumpled and died.

Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show.

"Do you have any idea whether it's normal?" Bruce asked softly.

"No," Loki answered, an undertone of spite in his voice, "at least, it's not Asgardian. And Odin never allowed anyone to learn more about the Jotuns, because they're inferior after all."

Bruce heard the accusation in his tone and felt a wave of pity. He hid the emotion from sight carefully, well aware that Loki wasn't the kind of person to appreciate it.

"If you want me to take a look at it back home..."

Loki shook his head.

"I'm sure it'll go away in time. It's just a question of laying low until then."

Bruce perked up suddenly, and if this had been a cartoon a lightbulb would've appeared above his head.

"I have these herbs," he began, taking his backpack off his back and digging through it, "they help with staying calm and fevers and stuff. Maybe they can help?"

Loki raised both eyebrows.

"I suppose it's worth a shot."

Bruce showed him a light green leaf that Loki was unable to identify.

"Just let it melt on your tongue," Bruce instructed, "it'll take about five minutes to start working, but then the effects should last about two hours."

Loki nodded, and Bruce held out the leaf for Loki to take.

"Small problem-" Loki began, and then Bruce realized that Loki couldn't exactly take the leaf from him, because it would die.

"Right, sorry," Bruce apologized, "didn't think of that. Just... stick out your tongue."

Loki stuck out his tongue, and Bruce put the leaf on it. To both of their reliefs, it didn't wither away.

"There, just let it melt in your mouth," Bruce repeated as Peter came over holding three vines covered in yellow flowers.

"Where should I put these?" he enquired.

Bruce gestured to his backpack, which was still open.

"Just put them in here. If you could fold them a bit, they'll fit better."

Five minutes and a considerable amount of effort later, Bruce and Peter had succeeded in stuffing the vines into Bruce's backpack. Loki glanced at his hands, his shoulders relaxing when he realized that they'd gone back to normal - probably thanks to Bruce's herbs.

Peter noticed it too.

"Hey, Mr Loki, your hands are better again!"

"Yeah, I guess it was just because I was angry or something," Loki smiled fondly, knowing full-well that that wasn't the cause at all.

"Oh, good," Peter nodded, "I was worried, you know."

"I know," Loki replied warmly.

Peter turned around, and Loki shot Bruce a thankful look, which Bruce answered with a welcoming nod.

"Um, guys?" Peter turned around again, "which way?"

"Maybe I should go up front again," Bruce grinned, making his way past Peter and leading the way.

Peter skipped after him excitedly, and Loki followed at a calmer pace.

On to the source of the gamma radiation.

-

Meanwhile...

"Where's my lunchbox?" Tony enquired.

Clint sniggered, carefully putting Tony's lunchbox back where he'd found it.

"Probably where you left it," he answered, backing away from the scene carefully.

"I left it right-" Tony trailed off, his gaze landing on his lunchbox.

"...here."

"Told ya," Clint grinned.

Tony raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"That wasn't there five minutes ago."

"It was probably there all along," Clint shrugged, "you just overlooked it."

Tony's eyebrows raised slightly higher, and he opened his lunchbox.

The scream that ensued was loud enough to send every animal in the nearby area running for the hills, and the silence that followed was only broken by the sound of Clint dying (of laughter) while Tony hollered swearwords at the top his voice, chasing Clint through the trees.

A tip for the future: if you want to scare Tony of his wits, leave a spider in his lunchbox.

Another tip: if you don't want to get caught afterwards, don't run into a tree.

-

"There," Bruce lowered the scanner, his eyes flashing from the coordinates to the small clearing ahead of them, "this seems to be where the gamma radiation is coming from."

Peter, who had been starting to slump a little after three hours of walking, bounced back to life, springing past Bruce enthusiastically before coming to a sudden halt.

"What is it?" Loki enquired, moving to stand next to Bruce with his hands behind his back. They'd start to show blue splotches on and off again, and he was waiting for a good moment to ask Bruce for more of those herbs when Peter wasn't too close.

Bruce pointed to the silver-grey goo that covered most of the clearing.

It was thick, and reached up to five metres high in solid blobs of opaque jelly. The very edges were dark and crusty, almost like rocks, while the middle was a lighter, somewhat silvery colour, and almost seemed to sway in the soft breeze.

"What... is... that?" Peter asked in awed respect.

Loki's gaze steeled.

"If it is what I think it is, it's not good."

He walked towards it, reaching out to touch to it but stopping just before he made contact, instead picking up a piece of bark - which wilted, but stayed solid enough for Loki to scrape a blob of the goo about the size of a golf ball out of the big wave of jelly.

He inspected it from several sides, watching as the small blob hardened and darkened under the effects of oxygen to match the crusty edges of the big blob.

"STRANGE!"

Loki's yell startled both Peter and Bruce, and a several seconds later few sparks appeared, growing into a sling ring portal.

"What?" Stephen demanded, a cup of tea in his hand and an annoyed expression on his face, his hair standing up in several directions and his cape hanging limply over his shoulder.

Loki gestured vaguely to the jelly behind him.

"Do you recognize this?"

"No," Strange answered, his whole posture radiating can't you Avengers just leave me out of your issues for once?

Loki rolled his eyes.

"I specifically told you not to skip page 42, Strange."

"Yeah well, I skipped the whole book. Space is your strong suit, not mine."

Loki tossed the piece of bark and the glob of goo attached to it to Strange, who handed his tea to his cape so that he could catch it.

"Just store it in the mirror dimension for me please," Loki requested, "we need to get all of this off the planet as quickly as possible, but I want to save a piece to study."

Strange nodded curtly, vanishing the glob with a quick motion of his hands.

"Will that be all?" he enquired gruffly, taking a sip of his tea, "it's too early for all of this."

"What time is it?" Peter asked, regaining his speech as he overcame his initial surprise.

Strange turned his tired stare to Peter.

"8 AM."

"That's not too bad-" Bruce began.

"It's a Saturday."

"Oh."

Loki shook his head.

"What's up with you, Strange?"

"I told you, it's too early. What's up with you?"

"Oh, nothing," Loki retorted sarcastically, leaning against a tree - which creaked, all of the leaves wilting off it as it died and then snapped in half, leaving Loki leaning against nothing but thin air - as he rolled his eyes, "it's just that every plant I touch is so impressed by my awesomeness that it dies out of pure respect."

"Why didn't we just use a Sling Ring to get here in the first place?" Peter enquired.

"Because it would've been a nuisance to locate the right place," Strange answered, taking another careful sip of his hot tea.

"But you managed to find us now."

"Heat signatures, Parker."

"Gamma radiation signatures, Strange."

"I'm too tired for this."

Stephen stepped back into his living room, and the portal closed behind him.

Loki shook his head.

"Either way, we need to contact SHIELD and get them to jettison this stuff into outer space. Then we can go back home and live happily ever after."

Bruce nodded slowly, pegging Loki's sarcasm to his Jotun problem and deciding to ignore it.

Loki put Clint's gloves back on.

"Well then, do we just go back to camp?" Peter enquired, tilting his head like a puppy.

"I guess so," Bruce shrugged, rummaging in his bag and handing Loki another leaf of the herb, "there's not much else we can do here, is there?"

Peter nodded slowly.

"Right then, let's go!"

Bruce took the lead, followed by Loki.

"Just make it absolutely clear to SHIELD that they are not to keep any of this stuff for experiments," Loki told Bruce, still talking about the goo, "it's extremely dangerous, which is why I asked Strange to keep it in the mirror dimension."

Peter crept back to the jelly, carefully digging out a small glob about the size of a snowball, and slipping it into his backpack.

For... research purposes.

Then he joined Loki and Bruce, his usual spring in his steps.

-

When Bruce, Loki and Peter arrived back at the camp, they found chaos.

Clint and Tony were nowhere to be seen, the campfire was out, the contents of Clint's bag were scattered all over the clearing, and one of the tents was... smoking.

"CLINT?" Bruce shouted nervously.

"MR STARK?" Peter hollered.

"Over there," Loki pointed to two figures walking - well, one was walking, and carrying the other - out of the jungle and into the clearing.

Tony was half-equipped with his Iron Man armour, and was carrying Clint bridal style.

"Is... why is Clint unconscious?" Bruce enquired, crossing his arms.

"He ran into a tree," Tony shrugged.

"He probably deserved it," Loki mumbled.

"Mr Stark!" Peter squeaked, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

Clint groaned, and Tony dropped him.

Clint groaned louder.

"He deserved that," Tony answered when Bruce glared at him, "he put a spider in my lunchbox!"

"There's nothing wrong with spiders!" Peter scowled.

"They're scary," Clint announced with conviction, still lying on the sandy floor with his eyes closed.

Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Either way, we can go back home, it's up to SHIELD to handle this one. You ready to leave?"

The tent that had been steadily smoking through their whole conversation took this as it's cue to burst into flames, and the five Avengers watched it burn to ashes within seconds. The ashes were taken up by the wind, leaving only a few stray wisps of smoke.

"Well, that's one kilogram less luggage," Tony shrugged.

-

[25 days to Loki's birthday]

"SHIELD has handled the threat," Bruce told Loki.

"Thanks for the information," Loki nodded, not looking up from the stack of papers scattered all over his desk.

"And, um... I brought you this."

He put down a glass jar, filled with the light green herbs.

"I... um... I don't know if... it is still bothering you," Bruce went on, although a single glance at Loki's hands could've told him that 'it' was, "but that should be enough to last you... at least a month."

Loki nodded his thanks.

"I'll be off then," Bruce mumbled to himself.

"Thanks Bruce."

Bruce smiled slightly.

"You're welcome Loki."

-

So that was OOC Part I, what did you guys think so far?

Please don't forget to comment and vote if you liked it, that would really be appreciated :D. And thanks so much for all your support!!!

~Evanlyn