Chapter Text
It was dark by the time they arrived at the compound, but it was still early.
The lights were on in the front drive of the area, and Tony was silently relieved to see that there were a few people waiting for them. Not surprised, since he’d had JARVIS send a heads-up that they were almost there, but relieved, nonetheless.
“Wow!” Ned said, from behind Tony. “Natasha and Rhodey are here.”
“Everyone but Clint and a few others are here, this weekend,” Tony told him.
“Wait till you see the ball pit they got in the gym,” Peter said, also from behind Tony. The boy had been buckled in beside Ned, so they could chat easier on the way. “And the playground that Steve built.”
“Probably won’t see either of them until tomorrow,” Stark told both boys, shutting off the engine and smiling through the glass at their welcoming party.
Peter’s door opened, immediately, and the little boy was pulled from the car as soon as he was unbuckled.
“Peter! How’s my favorite little guy?”
The boy hugged Natasha, tightly, grinning.
“Good. Ned came!”
“I see that,” she said, setting her prize down and smiling at the other boy. “Ned! It’s good to see you.”
Ned unbuckled and slid across the seat to the same door that Peter had used.
“Hi, Natasha. How are you?”
“Better, now,” she told him. “I’m glad you came.”
“Thanks for having me.”
“Hey Cheese Pizza,” Rhodey said to Peter, tousling the boy’s hair, cheerfully. “How are you?”
“Good.”
“I hear you and Tony blew up his workroom.”
“How did you hear that?” Stark asked, getting out of the car.
“I have my sources,” Rhodes told him, affecting an air of mystery.
“Pepper,” Peter guessed.
“Maybe…” Rhodes winked at Ned. “Did you guys eat?”
“Not, yet.”
“Then let’s get your stuff to Peter’s room and go find some dinner. Tony?”
“Right behind you,” he agreed.
The two boys gathered their things and flanked Rhodes, who was already asking Peter about the volcano project. As they vanished into the main entrance of the compound, Romanoff looked at Stark.
“How was the drive?”
“Noisy,” he admitted. “Ned is the complete opposite of Peter. He’s a boisterous little guy, and he had a million questions. Be prepared, because I’m sure he saved some for you and the others.”
She smiled.
“He’s adorable.”
She’d spent some time with him at the housewarming party, after all.
“No wonder he gets along so well with me and Peter, then.”
The superspy rolled her eyes, amused.
“Ready for dinner?”
“Have you eaten?”
“We were waiting.”
“Who’s here?”
“Everyone. We can’t wait to see the volcano video.”
The billionaire smirked.
“We’ll see…”
They walked at a more sedate pace, but were soon in the lounge. Tony saw Peter and Ned both sitting at a large table, and now Rhodey had been joined by Steve and Sam. Ned was big enough that he had no trouble being seen over the table top. Peter was still using the thick books for a booster. Mainly because none of them wanted him to feel like a baby by offering him an actual booster seat.
Peter didn’t seem to mind.
“What’s for dinner?” Tony asked, walking over and seating himself in the chair left beside Peter.
“Pork chops and mashed potatoes,” was the reply. Natasha took the spot beside Sam, across from the boys. “Tell us about the volcano, Peter.”
The smaller boy smiled and did just that, while the others listened and laughed. Tony was finally cajoled into providing not only a few photos of Peter (and himself) covered in the aftermath of the workroom eruption, but was also eventually talked into showing them the actual disaster sometime around when their dinner arrived.
The conversation turned to Ned while they ate, with the avengers all asking the other boy more about himself than they’d learned at Tony and Peter’s housewarming. The boys had been running around like madmen there, for the most part, so conversation hadn’t been easy. Now, it was. Ned cheerfully told them all about himself while they ate, and Sam shook his head, amused, when Peter proudly added that Ned was accepted into his school and was going to start there the next year.
“You’re like a magnet for mini geniuses,” Wilson told Tony. “Keep it up and we could have a whole army of them.”
Ned looked pleased at the compliment, and Stark nodded.
“Maybe enough for a bowling team, anyway…”
The boys both smiled.
“Do they bowl?”
“Eric took us, once,” Ned said. “Before Peter came.”
“How’d you do?” Natasha asked.
“They put up these things that kept the ball from rolling off the side,” Ned explained. “I think it’s cheating, but I did good.”
“Do we need a bowling alley here in the compound?” Steve asked, smiling.
“We don’t have any place to put one,” Nick said, walking up to them just in time to hear the question. “Not to mention, it’d be a distraction. Bowling alleys are noisy.”
“But they have good food,” Sam pointed out, smiling as Nick tousled Peter’s hair in greeting, and winked at Ned. “And beer.”
“Hi, Nick.”
“Hey, Peter. Ned. How was the drive?”
“It’s starting to snow,” Peter told him, happily. “Maybe we’ll get enough so we can build a snowman.”
“Let’s hope.” He looked at Tony. “You good?”
Meaning was there anything that Stark needed from him. Mainly did he want Nick to be the bad cop and lay out all of the rules for the two boys while they were at the compound. Peter knew them, of course, but Ned was a first-time visitor and the SHIELD director didn’t want anything to go wrong while he was there.
Tony understood, immediately.
“I think we’re good. On the way up, the boys and I went over the ground rules for Ned’s stay, here, this weekend.”
“No wandering off,” Peter said, smiling.
“No being in restricted places,” Ned added. “And I can’t pretend that I didn’t know how to read the signs, because everyone knows that I can.”
“No running in the corridors,” Peter said.
“And we can’t sneak into the bar and drink alcohol.”
“No dangerous stuff.”
“No hurting ourselves.”
“Stay out of the river.”
The adults all smiled, and Nick nodded.
“Sounds about right.” He rested a hand on Peter’s head, tilting it up at him. “Have fun, though. Okay?”
The boy grinned up at him.
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“Join us for dessert, Nick?” Tony offered.
“No. Thank you, but I have a few things to take care of that can’t wait until later.”
He left them, then, and Natasha smirked.
“You’d think he wasn't used to having little guys running around his super secret avenger compound…”
“I’m glad he allowed it,” Sam said, smiling at the boys. “We’re going to have a fun weekend.”
“Can we show Ned the ball pit?” Peter asked, hopefully. “And the playground?”
“In the morning,” Tony said. “Tonight we’re going to stick with movies and games.”
“Video games?” Ned asked.
“Board games. That way anyone can play.”
And the adults might have a chance of winning.
>><><<><><
“We’re so domesticated…”
Romanoff snorted, amused, and looked at the two boys who were already dressed in pajamas, but clearly wide awake, still. They were playing Yahtzee with Sam, Steve and Rhodey, while Tony and Natasha looked on. The two weren’t feeling left out; they’d played Sorry with the boys and Natasha had triumphed in the end – and Peter pointed out that she hadn’t looked too sorry when she’d sent Tony’s little red token back to the start several times.
She hadn’t been sorry, at all, she confirmed. More amused because Tony Stark pouting and huffing about losing a board game was absolutely hilarious. She’d bowed out of the next game, though, as had Tony. They were still in the lounge, though, mainly because Stark wanted to be close at hand while Ned acclimated himself to the place, and (of course) to be close to Peter. He’d been gone too long, and was definitely going to spend as much time with the boy as he could that weekend.
“You’re domesticated,” she corrected. “I’m still footloose and fancy free.”
“You think so?”
“Yup. You’re his dad. I’m just the crazy aunt who gets to play with him, get him all kinds of wound up, and then hand him back to you to deal with.”
Stark smirked.
“Peter?”
The boy looked up.
“Yeah?”
“Nat, here, just told me that she can make pancakes and wants to prove it. How about we let her make breakfast, tomorrow?”
The boy’s eyes lit up.
“Can I help?” he asked her, hopefully.
Romanoff didn’t scowl – not with Peter looking at her like that – and Tony’s expression was smug when she nodded.
“Of course, you can.”
“Me, too?” Ned asked.
“You, too.”
“Wow.”
The two boys turned their attention back to their game, and Natasha jabbed Stark in the side with her elbow.
He snorted, rubbing the spot, lightly.
“Feeling domesticated, yet?” he asked, softly.
“You realize I’ve never cooked a pancake in my life?”
“How hard can it be?”
She didn’t look convinced.
“You’re helping.”
“Sure.” Fair was fair, after all, he supposed. Of course, he’d never cooked pancakes, either. “Peter and Pepper made them while we were in South America,” he pointed out. “We’re probably as smart as the two of them.”
Still didn’t look convinced.
“We’ll see.”