Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peter Parker had died. 

Peter Parker lived. 

Peter Parker may as well have stayed dead. 

Tony Stark had died, officially for over an hour, but for his loved ones it felt a lot longer. 

Being in Wakanda had helped, Rhodey and Pepper had flown him to the Shuri’s lab, where a makeshift hospital had sprung up, they froze him, not wanting his body to stop, monitoring his brain waves… until eventually a beep from the machine, blink and you’d miss it, by the time the doctors, Cho and Banner, and Shuri had decided that it would be safe to unfreeze him they still weren’t sure what Tony would be like when un-iced. 

The best they could figure was that Tony had been blown, like a fuse connected to too strong a current, but even with that hypothesis they still had no idea if Tony would ever be like his old self. 

Peter had stayed in Tony’s room, staying sat on the couch, silently watching, without wanting to overstep his place by sitting at Tony’s side, despite Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy all trying to convince him to talk to Tony or to hold his hand, preferably both. He didn’t open his mouth to do anything other than drink and eat when one of those three people or the rest of the Avengers strong-armed him into doing so, he tried to even not sleep, only doing so when he passed out. 

He was so sleep deprived that he was passed out when Tony awoke, freaked out, fighting the tube down his throat, but awake. He was awake the next time though, when Tony woke, no longer incubated, alert enough to understand where he was, to squeeze Pepper’s hand, to smirk at the worried Rhodey and Happy, to raise an eyebrow at the bandaged stump where his arm had once been as though adding a prosthetic arm to his to-do list, his eyes fell on Peter who had stood up for the first time in two weeks. “...Kid?” His voice was rough from weeks of sleep and tears were already building up in his eyes.

Peter had been about to step forward but froze, his heart quickening, Mr Stark didn’t want him there, he shouldn’t have intruded, he should have let any of the many people offering to drop him off at his Aunt’s take him. 

“He’s real, Tony.” Pepper’s voice was clear and strong. “He’s alive, he’s safe, you saved him. You got him back.” 

She looked over at Peter giving him that warm motherly smile she had given him the past few weeks in Wakanda, and when he went by the tower after all the events of Homecoming made Tony realise that he should try and step into (or at least take a few steps towards) the more paternal role Peter was desperate for. 

Pepper turned her eyes back to her husband. “He’s been waiting for you to wake up.”

Tony’s eyes locked with Pepper for a second, before looking at Peter with an already tired smile. “Pete, c’mere.”

He watched his mentor gestured with his head and Peter had no other choice than to obey. He went to walk on the right side of the bed, but Pepper guided him to the same side she was stood on, he didn’t understand why until she moved so that he was stood closer to Tony, and Tony’s hand cradled his cheek. For the first time since the last Snap Peter’s eyes filled with tears, his throat tightened and he bit the inside of his cheeks, still a couple of tears escaped, Tony wiped them with with his thumb, surprising Peter but only Peter.

“Tears for your long lost mentor?” He heard Pepper give a snort of laughter, and could practically feel Rhodey’s eyes roll and Happy’s vein pop in his neck, and it was worth it until Peter nodded and sniffled.

Before he knew it, Peter’s arms were around him, he was still for a second, before wrapping his around Peter, making gentle shushing noises, he could see Pepper rubbing Peter’s back with her hand, trying to soothe him, he couldn’t help but love her just that little bit more for that.

When Peter pulled himself together enough he took a step back from the bed, wiping his eyes on the sleeves quickly in the hopes they would all suddenly forget what they had just witnessed. “Sorry- sorry, I-, Mr Stark, I know we’re not there, I won’t-“

“Kid.” Tony rasped his words were slow and tired, “we’re there. ’N no mis’er Stark crap, Tony.”

“You need to eat,” Tony’s eyes fluttered shut and he tried his hardest to keep them open even as the pain killed surged from the I.V around his body racing to put him to sleep, “shower, ’n’ sleep, ‘m not goin’ anywhere. Listen t’Pep, stay wi’ us.”

The room watched as Tony fell asleep.

“Right,” Rhodey spoke up, “I’m going to pick up some food, Hap you wanna help?” He sent him a look until the other man begrudgingly stood up in compliance. “Pete, the clothes for you are still on the size, they’re not what you’re used to, but they’re the most comfortable thing I’ve put on my body.” His eyes flickered to Tony instinctively, waiting for the smirk and the comment, the one which he’s say something which would inadvertently traumatise Peter, but he was fast asleep.

“Once you’ve slept you’re calling your aunt. I’ve been fielding the calls, lucky for me she’s busy enough that she’s not blowing up my phone as much as you do.” Happy’s voice and words were gruff but there was fondness there.

Pepper waited for them to go before she spoke, her voice quiet even if there was no chance of Tony waking. “Go shower, honey, I’ll be with him, anything happens you’ll be the first to know, I promise, Pete.”

Peter was starting to feel more normal after the food, the shower, and the sleep, the sleep was nearly a whole day long, when he woke Pepper insisted he eat again and wouldn’t leave his side until he did, then Happy handed him the phone.

May’s voice sprung new tears into his eyes, she had thought he had died, he had technically, or he just didn’t exist, she had assumed that he had died in the snap, or he had been killed in battle, he immediately began to apologise, and for once she didn’t stop him, actually she just told him that they’d talk when she saw him again.

That wasn’t good news, Aunt May had just found out about his extracurricular activities and hadn’t been supportive but he had refused to stop. It had become a point of contention between the two; still Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy all assured him that she was just worried about him, and they must have told Mr Stark as he told him the same thing, and promised to put in a phone call.

Peter had still felt bad, he knew that Happy had told her he was alive, had told her everything in fact, but still Aunt May must not have believed it, according to the way she both cried and scolded him over the phone.

He had thought they would have another fight when he told her that he wanted, no needed to stay, just until he was sure that Mr Stark was okay, by Peter’s standards, not everyone else's; but May had surprisingly been okay with it, apparently she had become both a nurse and a homeless shelter volunteer, both of with ‘along with everything at home’, had been very busy according to May, and so long as Peter stayed in contact she was okay with him sticking around Wakanda and Tony for a while, it wasn’t like he’d be missing school, and at least then she knew where he was.

Peter still stuck to Tony’s room, despite being offered both a room in the Royal palace by the King of Wakanda himself, and a personal of the science labs by Shuri (once she had found all the YouTube videos of Spiderman and discovered, Peter assumed through Tony who was the only one who he had told, that Peter had made his web shooters and fluid), but had denied either.

Instead he spent his days talking to Pepper and Rhodey, when Tony was awake he would insist that Peter was told nothing about his college, or precollege… or post college… days, incase they ‘ruin his kiddie innocence’, which Peter had protested (he was fifteen not five!), but loved hearing about the things he had missed during the blip, and the stories Tony would allow him to be told.

He didn’t miss the fact that Pepper was mothering him, and Tony kept dad-ing him, but he put that down to them missing Morgan, and if he enjoyed it what harm did it do, it wasn’t like he’d tell them, instead he pretended to oblige in it.

Tony was getting better each day, the Wakandan doctors gave him medicine and treatments which were helping, he was even able to stay awake for up to three hours at a time, Pepper joked that it was the most sleep the mechanic had ever had.

Tony seemed to want Peter close as often as Peter wanted to be close to him, whenever they were awake, hell even sometimes when Peter was asleep Tony would be worrying about him being uncomfortable or about him having nightmares.

Peter talked to May everyday, using Rhodey’s cell,  they didn’t talk about Spiderman, and they didn’t talk about May’s life during the snap, they talked about the future, about the displaced people, about the kids left without parents, the ones left with two sets, about what was happening now people were back; Peter wasn’t used to the chaos of New York anymore, he was used to Wakanda whose government were trying to help everyone rather than avoid responsibility.

Leaving Wakanda was something Peter both wanted and dreaded, he missed the city, he missed May, and Ned, and MJ, he missed helping people… but leaving Wakanda meant no longer being with this small family forged out of their love for Tony Stark and their refusal to leave his side. But there was no way Tony would be staying there forever, for starters he had a daughter.

Peter knew it was coming, Happy had left to take Morgan from the lake to the tower, where it would be safer for Tony to recover, the Avengers all gave him looks, tried to get him excited about going to the city again, mentioning fun things about the tower then trailing off when they cottoned on to the fact Peter was a teenager who would have to go home. 

Pepper steered him to a seat in the main area of the plane, instead of next to Tony, Peter would have protested but she smiled at him and told him the med bay would tell them straight away if Tony was awake or needed them.

“I talked to May.” She told him gently after the noise told them that they could take their seatbelts off. “I know that she’s been really busy, sometimes even too busy to talk to you for long, I know she’s sorry about that…. We were thinking, me, Tony, May, that perhaps you wouldn’t mind sticking around the tower for a couple of weeks? It’ll give us all time to catch up, May to sort somethings out before she comes and gets you, and you’re probably one of the few people in the world or out of it who can get both Tony and Morgan to listen to you.”

Peter had to try and restrain the smile which was trying desperately to escape. “Morgan’s never even met me.”

“You’re her hero.” She told him without a doubt in her voice. “If you want to go back to May’s that’s also fine, we’ll all understand.”

“I’ll stay.” He answered quickly. “I mean if it’s not too much trouble.”

“You’re never too much trouble.”

Peter’s cheeks blushed. “Thank’s Ms Potts,” he mumbled looking down at his lap, “I mean Mrs Stark.”

“Peter.”

Peter met her face then realised, his cheeks turned from light pink to dark.  “Pepper, sorry.”

She ruffled his hair lovingly, apparently it took the end of the world, twice, to convince Peter to finally call them Pepper and Tony, and even then it took some prompting. 

Peter and Morgan met for the first time in the Tower, Pepper by Peter’s side, holding her arms out for her daughter, Happy at Morgan’s side smiling and saying it was nice to see Peter again. Peter was sure Morgan would hate him, despite assurances to the contrary, he had been there with Tony and Pepper and she hadn’t, he had been the reason her dad nearly died, he had…

Morgan immediately ran at Peter’s legs and wrapped her arms around them. “Spiderman!”

Peter froze, she must be confused, or trying to attack him somehow but hadn’t figured out the best way to do it.

“Peter!”

Peter looked down at her with a fearful look. She raised her arms up to him and he slowly picked her up, in his confused state, as soon as he did she continued to hug him.

“You saved daddy! And daddy got you back!-“

Peter frowned in confusion as she carried on, he didn’t understand, Pepper’s hand went to his back, rubbing circles on it, clearly picking up on his confusion.

“Honey, calm down a little, okay. Peter’s been very tired, he’s been watching to make sure daddy’s okay, and he’s not been eating, do you want to help me order everyone some food?”

Peter saw the out he was being given, he grateful held Morgan towards Pepper, with a small smile still on his face.

“Honey, Peter?”

“Huh? Sorry I was just…” He tailed off, he was so often caught in his own head these days, frankly he assumed the pet name had been for Morgan.

“It’s okay.” Her hand brushed his cheek, his thumb just under his eyes, the bags which he knew were there. “Tony’s in our room, it’s all been set up for him, can you check on him for me? Tell him we’re ordering food, Gino’s.”

Peter nodded his head and quickly escaped, his ears still hearing Morgan talking about how he was Spiderman, and asking her mom if he was going to be living with them, and if he would play superheroes with her.

“Hey, kiddo.”

He realised that he had made it to the Starks’ bedroom, in a daze, his confusion must have shown because Tony was looking amused, his half of the quadruple king size bed in the upright condition.  “H-Hey, Tony. Sorry I just…”

“Don’t worry kid.” He told him seriously before adding a fake sarcastic smile. “I know you’re just in amazement at the Amazing Iron Man.”

“Is your ego your greatest weapon?” Peter realised what he had said but before he could apologise Tony was beaming.

“Finally! I was missing that Peter Parker snark. You’ve been acting like a ghost kid, and that doesn’t work for me.”

Peter shrugged but when Tony nodded to the bed Peter moved to sit beside him. “Pepper said she’s ordering Gino’s.”

Tony hummed. “Pizza, it’s been too long. You hungry?”

Peter shrugged again.

“Yeah, me too.” They were quiet for a moment, Peter looked out of the windows at a city which was no longer his. “What’s on your mind Pete?”

“Nothin’.”

“You said that too fast for me to believe it, sorry, you need to work on your lying, or not, I probably shouldn’t be encouraging it.”

“I thought Morgan would hate me.”

“What?!”

Peter nearly laughed at how comically large Tony’s eyes went, instead he shrugged and mumbled. “I was there with you for weeks, and I was there when you did the… I should have done it, the snap, you had a family, and I-“

“No.” Tony’s voice was firmer than Peter had ever heard it, and he had been in trouble with the man more often than he wanted to admit. “Seriously, no. You ever let me hear you say that again and I’m taking your suit and grounding you. Peter, you know…” Tony fell silent.

Peter waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t Peter tried to fill the silence. “I don’t think you can ground me, y’know?”

“Wanna bet?” But when he caught sight of Peter’s tiny smile he shook his head, rolled his eyes, and sighed, but was smiling a little too. “I told her stories, y’know? Maguna, you’re her favourite superhero, I had to stop her from trying to climb up walls.”

“Why?”

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Because it’s dangerous?”

“I meant… why did you tell her stories about me? I mean you’re friends with the Avengers, with Cap- Steve-!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Tony held up his hand pausing him. “He gets Steve but I had to fight for like a year to be called Tony?” He watched Peter hide a smile as he shrugged. “Yeah, you’re totally grounded. Hope you like sticking around the tower with me. A week, probably more, maybe until you're thirty six.”

Peter bit his lip, he could see the glint in Tony’s eye, that he was using this to keep Peter close to him, or at least in the tower, for at least a week. He tried his best to look serious, and when that didn’t work he said. “I’m serious. Why…?”

“You’re a hero, Pete, looking out for the little guy, not getting into the fuckin’ politics the rest of us did-, hell you don’t even swear!”

“Mr- Tony, I’m from New York, Queens... you really think I’ve never sworn?”

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. “Yes. You’re actually not allowed to, I saved the world I think the president owes me, I’mma get them to add “Peter Parker isn’t allowed to swear” into law.” He reached over with his left hand, his only hand (he supposed he no longer needed to clarify which one), and ruffled Peter’s hair.

Peter let out a huff of air and dramatically dropped back to lie/ headbutt Tony’s reclining mattress. He heard Tony let out a snort of laughter, his hand stroked his hair.

“Take a nap, Pete.”

“You take a nap.” Peter mumbled into the mattress, sure he sounded like a five year old, but it was only midday and it had already been a long day. Another puff of laughter.

“I’ve missed you kid. A lot.” He lowered the bed but when Peter went to move Tony wrapped his arm around him, stilling Peter completely, it took all Tony had not to look at him to check he was breathing. “I’ll fall asleep when you do.

“Pepper sent me in to tell you about the food.”

Tony smiled, he knew that Pep sent Peter in because this was the only way he would be forced to take a nap. “Food won’t be here for a while, just… you sleep first, okay? I’m not going anywhere… and don’t give me that whole ‘I’m fine’ crap, coming back to life is tiring. And Morgan isn’t gonna leave you alone for long, this is probably your only chance… Sleep, Pete... please?”

“…I thought Tony Stark didn’t say please?”

“Tony Stark had to learn to use his manners or Mrs Stark would make him sleep with Gerald.”

“Who-?”

“Sleep, Peter.” Tony heard a huff but could feel Peter move slightly closer to him, he chanced a quick look and saw his eyes were closing.

“….D’ya think I’m classed as a zombie now?”

“Peter.” Tony let out in a loud and pained groaned, hearing Peter giggle in response, god, that was a good sound.

Peter fell into a routine at the tower:

He’d wake up in his room, shower, he’d down a couple of bananas, he’d grab a bottle of water, then would go the floor down to the Avenger’s common room and wait for the others, usually Steve, Bucky, and Sam, they’d head to one of the newly built parks and would run.

He’d get home, back to the tower, Morgan would run to hug him, Pepper and Tony would also be awake and in the common area, the kitchen or on the couch, they’d tell him to shower before breakfast, so he would.

He’d wolf down his breakfast, Tony and Pepper told him that he wasn’t allowed to claim not to be hungry, so for once he managed to fill that Spidey metabolism.

Then would spend the rest of his time with the Starks, the Avengers, and everyone else who were important enough to be in the tower.

Peter was surprised to find that Morgan genuinely loved him, and he quickly loved her back, he was pretty sure it was impossible not to love her, but maybe it was because she was four.

Did he sometimes get those feelings in his stomach which definitely weren’t jealousy when he saw Morgan with Pepper or Tony, or worse the three of them together, sure, but they were her parents, and things had changed in the five years he was gone.

But Tony would try and spend as much time as possible with him, even though he couldn’t stay awake for four hours straight yet, or Pepper would rope him into helping her with the Stark Relief Foundation, helping her choose which charities they should donate to (he normally chose foundations favouring orphaned children, like he was, or would be without May).

Happy insisted on teaching him some cooking, teaching him a few recipes which he could make cheap which would help fill him up.

Rhodey was often going on trips to the store, to grab groceries or things he claimed they needed, a couple of times he dragged Peter to the mall to get him clothes which weren’t Wakandan or Tony’s old clothes (not that Peter stopped wearing the latter).

Nat had him down in the gym most days, she would spar with him, letting him use his powers, and would teach him how to defend himself without his powers as he outright banned any Avengers dealing with Flash for him.

He taught Wanda and Vision how to play Mario Kart and they held regular races to beat Clint who promised to take them to shoot arrows whenever he lost, which, due to Peter, was often.

He saw Bruce often too, the doc was keeping an eye on the injuries which were slow healing thanks to the Alien weapons, he also helped him with a few experiments which Tony judged as being safe (Peter had rolled his eyes at that but neither men relented).

And when he wasn’t with any of those Morgan was at his side, begging him to play, normally Superheroes, and Peter would choose to play as Tony whenever he thought the man couldn’t hear.

He rang May every day, her shifts were often at night but she was working overtime, it was two weeks into his stay that she mentioned that she was married, she insisted that she had told him before, but Peter knew deep down that she had been hiding it.

Tony confirmed his suspicions when he apologised for not telling him, he had been waiting for May to tell him. Not only that but May had a kid, well, two kids, one was a step kid but one was a kid Morgan’s age. If Morgan’s existence made him feel like he had been replaced then this kid… it was something else.

Everyone tried to talk to him about it, Tony, Pepper, Banner, Steve, Sam, everyone, Peter insisted he was fine, no matter how many times Rhodey or Tony would call him a shit liar.

He didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to think about it, but every time he saw Morgan, Tony, and Pepper curled up together, or just talking, watching Morgan put on a play or singing songs, Peter felt homesick. He felt homesick for Aunt May and Uncle Ben, though, not Aunt May and whoever the hell she married, but he felt bad, hiding out here, and Aunt May was starting to talk about Midtown starting up next week, about how she missed him, how she had sorted him out a bedroom, asked him when he would be coming home. 

“You really don’t have to wait with me.”

“We do.”

“Tony, seriously, she’s late, and you’re in a pain.” He tried to look brave, his hands on his backpack straps, not looking down at his mentor who was sat in a wheelchair or Pepper who was stood on his other side. “And Mo is upset she probably wants you both-“

“Peter,” Pepper’s voice was iron, “we’re staying. Morgan’s upset that you’re going, she’s not the only one, but she’s going to see you soon, and she’s got everyone upstairs with her, she’ll be okay. Anyway, we’re with you right now.” She looked over Peter’s head at Tony.

“Kid,” he waited until Peter looked down at him, “Morgan will be okay, she’s gonna see you real soon, right? You’re still coming to dinner on Friday.”

“I don’t want to overstep-“

Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re not overstepping, and it wasn’t a question, you’re coming. Don’t make me pull out the ‘I just saved the universe’ card.”

A ghost of a smile flickered onto Peter’s lips, he shook his head. “You’re shameless.” He mumbled.

“Yup.” Tony proudly popped the ‘p’. “You got everything? Your clothes? Your suit? Enough web fluid? Oh did you remember your-“

“Tony,” Peter’s voice was quiet but silenced him, "I got everything.”

“You don’t have to take everything, kid, you have a room here, y’know if you’re in the neighbourhood, or if you’re not. Pep’s right, Mo’s not the only one who’s gonna miss you.”

Peter let out a sniffle, he felt Pepper squeeze his shoulder, but was too ashamed to look up.

“I’ll give you two a minute.”

“You don’t have to go.”

“Tony… I gotta.”

“I know.” Tony’s hopeful tone dropped to a sad and resigned one. “I know kid. She’s your aunt.” From his lower angle he could see the tears in his kid’s eyes. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, we’re gonna see you on Friday, yeah? And I’m only a call or a text away.” He reached into his pocket, then held out the gift to Peter.

“A StarkPhone? Mr Stark- Tony, this is, it’s too much, I can’t-“

“Hey, I didn’t save the world on my own. Hell, none of it would have happened without you, you’re the reason any and all of this exists. I owe you, so does the world. And even if that wasn’t the case I’d have the others on my ass if I didn’t give it to you, they all programmed their names in, I think if you don’t text them every so often you’ll have them on your ass instead.”

“Tony this is brand new.”

“I’m a billionaire, it would be very asshole-ish if I gave you a second hand one. And it’s technically a prototype, I figure that someone who needs a more reinforced phone on account of them throwing their backpacks against buildings should test one, think of it as official Stark internship work.”

“That’s… that’s not even… that’s fake, it’s a cover for-“

“Well, after Christmas we’re gonna talk about that…” Peter was looking at him all wide eyes, opened mouthed, adorable even Tony had to admit it. “You have to keep up your grades and your social life though, or you’re done. C’mon kid, you’re the smartest person I know, counting myself, so long as you never tell anyone I said that.” He took Peter’s spare hand and squeezed it. “Any time you wanna stay other, wanna talk, anything, I’m a phone call away.”

“No one calls people anymore-“

“Or you can text me” Tony said with a playful roll of his eyes. “You get anymore of those nightmares and you call me though, no matter the time. I mean it, don’t make me sic a new and improved Baby Monitor two point oh on you.”

Peter opened his mouth to thank him, or to say he didn’t need to worry, or to give him things, or many of the other things he wanted to say, but none of it seemed enough, he leant down and hugged Tony as tight as he could, still afraid of hurting him. He felt Tony’s hand go to his head and pull him closer so Peter’s head was resting against his shoulder.

Tony didn’t move his hand from his head, he was about to tell Peter that in another ten minutes he may as well just spend the night, or two, more even… hell they could take him to school the next week and then Happy could take him home aft-

“She’s coming down to the car park now, honey.”

Tony felt Peter pull away and stand up, he waited for Pepper to wrap him in a hug for Tony to subtly let out his disappointed sigh, he had wished May had turned up even eleven minutes later.

“You’ve got everything right? And you’re coming on Friday, and you’re going to let Bruce check on you without complaining, or demanding to see his credentials, or claiming he’s breaking the law treating you,” Pepper’s hands were cupping Peter’s cheeks looking him in the eye, giving him the look she had perfected since Morgan had been able to get into trouble, “I’m sure your- Tony taught you to do both those things, by the way.”

Tony smirked, he actually hadn’t, he wished he had seen that though.

“Hey,” Pepper’s voice hushed into a soothing one when she saw the way he was biting his lip, “c’mon, it’s going to be okay, hey, you’re going to be back here soon, and aren’t you and May going to grab ice cream.”

Peter sniffled inelegantly and nodding, not pulling away from Pepper wiping the tears from his cheek. “Me ’n’ her, Queenie’s. Her and Ben took me when my parents… ’n’ then when we were having a bad day… after Ben died… it’s our place.”

Pepper pulled him in for another hug, kissing the side of his head. “It’s going to be like you’ve never even been gone before you know it.”

It was not like he had never been gone before he knew it, May had turned up, she had pulled him into a hug and both of them had cried, he wanted her to hold him for hours as she had when he was five, how she had when he was fourteen and Ben had died, but she pulled away too soon, in response to a deep voice.

“Well, aren’t you going to introduce us, Maggie May?”

Peter’s eyes shot towards May, an eyebrow raised, waiting for her to chew him out as she did whenever heard anyone calling her that, or even if she thought they had called her that. But May wrapped her arm around the man’s waist.

“Peter, this is Charles Fisher, my husband.”

The man held out his hand, Peter looked at it then up at the man, his hair was greying at the sides, he was wearing a sharp suit which Peter would say was super expensive, but he had spent the last month and a half in the presence of two billionaires, so it was less impressive, his skin was tanned… actually it was too tanned, that explained the strong smell of self-tan, he not that there was anything wrong of that, but his spidey-sense was going off, he ignored the outstretched hand instead he used Tony’s stolen MIT hoodie to quickly dry his tears.

“Charlie, Charlie, Chaz.”

Tony’s hand slapped Charles’ into his own hard enough that Peter jumped, he knew that it must have hurt both men, and that Tony would have claimed it was worth it. He wondered

“How ya doin’? Wow man, you’re looking very tanned, been on vacation?”

“It’s Charles, Mr Stark, sir, just Charles.”

“Mmhm.” His tone showed how little he cared. “Hey May.”

“Tony.” Peter watched his aunt lean down and kiss Tony’s cheek. “You look good.”

“New diet, I lost like 12 and a half pounds.”

Peter let out loud groan. He felt everyones’ eyes on him. “It’s the average weight of a human male’s arm.” Tony looked proud and Peter rolled his eyes, of course he would be, though he’d be lying if he said that look didn’t make him feel better. “Bruce mentioned it to distract me from the needles when we were… abroad.”

“I could have told you that.”

There was Charles again, making Peter’s skin crawl, there was something off about him, about

“Charles is a doctor, Peter, and he’s in the army, he’s a Captain.”

“Like Sparrow?”

The question came out quickly, he was used to being around people like Tony and Pepper, people who were quick witted and both of whom laughed at his comment, a laugh escaped May’s lips, and Peter would have laughed had it not be the growl coming from the back of Charles’ throat, too low for anyone else to hear but him. Peter was being too paranoid, he was being overprotective of Aunt May, he was jealous of not being centre of her world anymore, he was just out of it after five years gone, not used to the overprotective feeling he got when it came to May.

“Oh Peter, it’s good to have you back.”

May’s smile was wide and soothed his senses completely, it would be okay, it would all be okay, because May was there, she’d never let any harm come to him,

“Well, Mrs Fisher, we should head on home, the two princesses will be missing us.”

“You’re not staying for a little while? You only just got here.” Pepper’s voice this time.

May hesitated, she looked to her husband, who gave her a tight but sad smile. “Sorry, we had been planning on coming earlier, but I had car struggle and Charles had some errands and… well, you have kid, you know how time gets away from you… I’m sorry.”

Pepper opened her mouth but closed it, her lips tight, she nodded. She turned instead to Peter. “You’re welcome to stay over any time you want, we’re really going to miss you around here.” She wrapped him in a tight hug and kissed the side of his head. “We’ll see you on Friday though, Happy’ll pick you up in the morning…”  She let him out of the hug. “As long as that’s alright with you, May?” It wasn’t really a question despite her pleasant tone.

Peter let out a breath when May agreed easily. Peter bent down to hug Tony again.

“You sure you don’t wanna stay overnight, bambino?”

Peter nearly agreed purely on the basis of Tony using the nickname he had taken to using on both him and Morgan, but he heard Tony’s heart quicken the exact amount it did when Tony was in pain, he had just been sitting out in an uncomfortable wheelchair for over an hour longer than he had been planning on for Peter, he wouldn’t have been in pain if it weren’t for Peter. Peter shook his head, he went to move away completely but Tony only let him get far enough to be able to look into his eyes.

“Call me if you have any nightmares, I’ll fly straight out.” He heard Pepper clear her throat. “Sargent Buzzkill or Platypus will fly straight out.”

Peter had stared out of the window of the car the whole way home, and by home he meant the new apartment in a different part of Queens, May happily told him that it was closer to the hospital where May worked, it was closer to the subway so he would get to school marginally faster, and was marginally closer to Tony’s tower, but it wasn’t Peter’s home. He couldn’t stand the car, May had tried originally, but Charles had hooked her into a conversation about some acquaintance Peter had never even heard of, May was wearing a new perfume which made his head pulse, and Charles’ cologne made him take slow and steady breaths so he didn’t have to ask them to stop driving so he could vomit.

His phone buzzed, he pulled it out of his hoodie pocket, the phone unlocked and he managed to find his texts.

Uncle Rhodey : Dare you to tell Chucky that the airforce is better than the army :).

Peter managed to hide his snort of laughter, he quickly text him back, rolling his eyes at the name which appeared on his side of the phone, clearly an added extra name from Tony.

Spider-baby : Aren’t you meant to be the good influence?

They pulled up in front of an apartment block which looked a lot nicer than the one he had spent most of his life in, less graffiti, no weird smell when he got out of the car (well no weirder than any city), better security at the door, there were some food places around. He hated it. The food places weren’t the ice cream place May promised, there were the people hanging outside he was used to, the smell wasn’t his Queens.

Inside they climbed into the elevator, and he found himself missing having to drag himself up the five floors in the old building where everything was constantly broke, Aunt May spent the whole ride trying to get him to agree how amazing this place was, he gave her an unconvincing smile and nodded, but he didn’t think she even realised.

The apartment was half of the entire floor, a lot larger than his own, no, his old apartment, but it was just… wrong…

Everything was super modern, like a show room, everything had its place, there were some toys around but they were all put in their own places, everything in Peter’s old apartment had been found through the years, nothing really matched, it fit in its own special way, there had been framed photo graphs in that apartment, but their frames had been mismatched, numerous, all the frames chipped, dusty on account of them both forgetting that dusting was a thing. There were photographs in this apartment too, but they were in shiny silver frames, or shiny black frames, or canvas prints hung on the walls, and only a carefully curated selection, all of the people, besides May, Peter didn’t know.

A chorus of ‘Mom!’s and ‘Dad!’s filled his ears, too loud, he slunk backwards ever so slightly, something bad, his spidey senses like alarm bells, things ever so slightly too loud, he tried to centre himself but May’s hand went to his back pushing him forward.

“This is Peter, Peter this is Chloe, and Sophia.”

In front of him was a blonde girl, Chloe, twelve years old and looking at him like she hated him, like he didn’t fit in there, like the type of girl who had been mean to him when he was twelve… at least they could agree on that.

Four year old Sophie had darker hair than her sister, a mousey brown a shade or two lighter than his own, she didn’t look happy to see him either, and he didn’t blame her, she was looking at him like he was a stranger, she moved past him to cling to May, her mom.

Peter raised his hand in a half hearted wave, too awkward and overwhelmed to know what was going on.

“Was he your sisters’ kid?” Chloe asked May, completely ignoring her.

“No,” May told her either not seeing or ignoring her rudeness, “I was married to his uncle, a long time ago, but I’ve known him since he was little.”

Chloe made an unimpressed humming noise in the back of her throat but she smiled at May and Charles. “Can we order pizza for dinner?”

It was the first time Peter had seen Charles smile.

“Sure, Princess, let’s just pay the sitter and send her home.”

Peter watched them move and found himself missing the Starks, missing Pepper knowing how he was feeling all of the time, Tony making sure he was never being left out, Rhodey giving him normalcy, Morgan just loving him. Maybe he should have stayed, he could have moved in another time, when it was just him and May, when he had slept more, had been more prepared.

“Honey, let me show Peter his room, you go and see your daddy.” The toddler gave a noise of protest but scurried off to find her father and sister.

May immediately wrapped Peter in a hug and the boy felt better, he had been over reacting, he was tired, overly emotional, not used to this new world. “I’m sorry honey, I had meant to… I had wanted to do this just the two of us.”

She let go of him too soon but Peter put on a brave face. “No, what? No May this is fine, this is great, I mean this is, this is an awesome apartment!” There was too much enthusiasm in his tone but May gave him a warm smile as though she didn’t notice.

“I know, I can’t believe how we coped with that tiny apartment, it was always too hot, and one you had gone…” She trailed off looking sad but she perked up again, a smile on her face she placed her hand on his back and led him down a hallway. “It doesn’t matter now, now you’re here, you’re home!”

Peter’s bedroom had been May’s office, which apparently she used rarely enough that she could share with Charles, there was a large bookcase and a desk, some biology textbooks were in the bookcase but Peter insisted that she could leave them when she went to move them. The bedroom/ office, was small and bare.

“I know it’s not much but we’ll get you some more stuff, we were trying to figure out where you could go quickly…” Her eyes fell on the spare camp bed, covered with a Disney princess duvet. “We can-“

“May, it’s fine, seriously, it’s… I get it, I… I’m grateful… I know that- that before we went, before I went to, I know it was…”

“Peter, it’s okay.” She wrapped him in another hug. “I talked to Tony, while you were gone.”

“You did?”

“He came to my wedding, we spoke a little while, it was hard for us both but… he explained, he explained you look out for the little guy, that you rescue cats from trees, and take home lost kids, that you would do anything to protect people, the neighbourhood. Peter, you’re a hero.”

Peter buried his face against her shoulder, she didn’t smell like her anymore but he could get used to it, he would get used to it, like she got used to him as Spiderman.

“Peter I need to tell you, I told Charles, about you, about Spiderman, he knows.”

“What-!” Peter pulled back, betrayal on his face.

“You died, you left me to go to space and you died, I didn’t think that…” She shook her head. “Look, he’s a hero too, he probably gets it. I needed to talk to someone, and Stark reminded me too much of you. It was too… Look we’re okay with you still being Spiderman.”

Peter calmed a little but there was still a stab of betrayal in his heart.

“But there are going to be some restrictions.” She held her hand up to quiet him when he went to protest. “You’re in bed by midnight, every week night, two am on Fridays and Saturdays, none of your grades drop below a B+ or you’re grounded, if you get hurt you tell me, or Tony, or Charles, and you take time to recover.”

Peter nodded his head, he knew he could heal his injuries by himself, they’d be healed overnight anyway.

“And no one knew where you were, Spiderman, they thought you had died, I mean you did…. Give it a week to come back, we don’t want people to figure out who you are, where you live, who…”

“May, I wouldn’t put any of you in danger.” He swore, it was true, he may not particularly care for Charles or the girls, but they had just met, he wouldn’t endanger them.”

“Good.” She smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I er, I got rid of most of your things, it was too hard… I kept some stuff, sentimental things, but we can get you some more clothes tomorrow, I’m off work, just the three of us.”

“Three?”

“Charles will want to come too. He’s a little strict, but he’s an army man, you’ll get used to it. He’s been so kind to me, he’s such a good father to the girls, he will be to you too-“

“-He’s not my dad.” Peter’s voice was firm for the first time. Even Ben hadn’t been his dad, Peter might have thought of him like that a few times, but Ben had been intent on not stepping into Richard’s place, like May had never become his mom.

“I… I know, I just… look just clean up after yourself, do your chores, follow the rules, and you and him will get along fine.”

Peter wanted to point out that the two of them had never needed a formal chore chart, they tackled them between the two of them, hell he wanted to point out that Rhodey was higher in the armed forces than Charles was, but this new May seemed like she might not take his side.
He nodded his head, swallowing his emotions down.

May nodded back, she moved towards the door. “Peter, I, I’m glad you’re back, really. You have no idea how much I missed you… Just… I know you get over protective of me, but Charles is a good man, give him a chance, for me. I let you settle in.”

She was gone before Peter could say anything else.

Peter’s phone buzzed, he opened it to see another text from Rhodey, it felt like a lifeline.

Uncle Rhodey : Nah, that’s Pepper’s job. ;) Just don’t do any of the shit Tony did and you’ll be fine :). How’s it going?

Peter smiled at it but didn’t respond, he didn’t know how it was going, not good was an answer but would also lead to at the very least a phone call but also probably a in person visit from War Machine.

He stood up, walking slowly around the slow room, there was a dresser, a cheap one, overly modern, the sticker with a for sale price still on the side, the books May had left looked interesting at least, maybe he could impress Bruce next time he saw him.

There was a photograph on the desk, a group one, outside of a church or something, he assumed based on the fact May was centre, a sleek white wedding dress, but not the wedding photograph to Ben he was used to seeing; May’s wedding Charles then. Peter was about to put it down when he saw Pepper and Tony to the right side. They both looked dreadful, like they had died, both pale and holding onto each other for dear life, Tony was skinny, too skinny, his muscles not there, and Pepper was pregnant, her eyes looking at May, a smile on her face but she looked sad, May looked ecstatic… Peter wondered if any of them were missing him.

When Peter’s door opened without a knock Peter assumed it must have been May, instead a frowning Charles was there, a slow fake smile spread on the man’s face, Peter placed his back against the wall, adrenaline flooding his veins. He wasn’t in danger, he wasn’t in danger, he needed to remember he wasn’t in danger, he was fine, Charles was a good man, Charles was in love with May, Charles was safe.

“Hey there, Champ. I thought we should have a little talk, man to man.”

“Er, sure,” He hated that new nickname which was weird because he was fine at the very many nicknames Tony gave him. “May already gave me the like, the outline of the rules, and stuff.”

“Good.” Charles closed the door shutting them both in. “Look before we start I think you should know how hard this has been for May. You lied to her for a year, made her worry about you all the time instead of telling her the truth-“ Peter went to protest but Charles held up a hand stopping him, “I am talking.”

In Peter’s head he heard Tony after the Ferry telling him that the adult was talking. “Sorry.” He murmured.

“May was… She was terrified about losing you, then you went awol, she thought you had been killed, only to be told months later by Tony freaking Stark that you had in fact hopped a ride to space, without a second thought for her.”

Peter bit his lip and looked down, he had thought about her, of course he had, but too late, when they were in space with no way back… he had been overwhelmed with the cool space shit, and the superheroes.

“It was a big decision for her to decide to take you in. It was so painful for her, if you weren’t Benjamin Parker’s son…” Peter had never heard Ben called Benjamin, “she’s already under a lot of stress, she’s moved on, it’s been a long time you’ve been gone. I was the one who said that she should take you in, I vouched for you, you do anything wrong and it’s on me. I won’t give you many chances to prove yourself to me. You’ve got to be a man and step up.”

The or else was unspoken but rang through the room.

“I really am sorry, Charles, I’m not gonna do anything wrong, I swear I-“

“Sir.”

“I… what?”

“It is sir or Mr Fisher. You are not my son, not my nephew, hell you’re not even May’s nephew, not by blood, you will show me respect or I will teach you it.”

Under his gaze Peter couldn’t help but fell powerless, like he had never been Spiderman, like he was just a small little kid, he wanted May there, he wanted Pepper, wanted Tony, wanted all of the Avengers who had adopted him as a mascot or a lost puppy. “I’m sorry, sir.” He squeaked out.

“Good. If you’re a second late for your curfew I’m locking your window.” His eyes were still narrowed for but a moment before that smile reappeared. “You should get some sleep, I’ll tell May that you’re tired, have breakfast by eight tomorrow morning or not at all. Oh, you should get a job too, I’m not paying for you.”

He left without another word, Peter could hear him a few rooms away, telling May that Peter was asleep, his voice all soft and sweet. Peter hated him, he hated him, he hated him, he wanted to go out and tell May what happened, but it struck him that May might not believe him… and maybe he was overreacting.

His stomach rumbled but he didn’t dare leave his room.

He changed into the pyjamas from his bag, a Stark Industries sweatshirt and those god awful but extremely comfortable pink Hello Kitty pyjama pants, the ones which had been a weird sort of punishment from Tony. He led on the bed and pulled out his phone.

Punkass Bitch <3: Hope it’s going well, bud. Any problems let me know (Text HoneyBear, he’s the only one who won’t rat on me to Pep)

Punkass Bitch <3: I’m not the one who set Steve’s name as this FYI. I think it might have been Combat Elsa… I think I might have respect for him… Don’t tell anyone.

Peter smirked, forgetting the conversations with May and Charles, pushing aside the weird smell of the apartment, all bleach and cleaners and sweat, and spicey aftershave and dusky perfumes.

Spider-baby: Wow… he keeps this up and you might even start to t r u s t him, huh…

Punkass Bitch <3: I already do, I wouldn’t have trusted him to go out anywhere with you if I didn’t.

Peter frowned at the text, uncertain what to say, he wanted to understand why, to pick apart the components of the words, to decipher its meaning, but before he could type anything Tony’s next text came through.

Punkass Bitch <3: Get some sleep, Underoos. Love ya.

Punkass Bitch <3: P.S Do not text back, Warden is on her way, send help.

Punkass Bitch <3: P.P.S Did you get your ice cream?

Punkass Bitch <3: P.P.P.S Shit don’t answer Pep is herrgrehbk

Peter snorted. “Got him before he could finish.” He mumbled to himself a smile still on his lips.

He shivered in his bed, it was colder here than the tower where Tony had set up Peter’s room perfectly for his body temperature, in the old apartment he know where all the blankets were kept.

He got up from his bed, rooted through his backpack before he found another MIT sweatshirt, this one was for the MIT Crew, with ‘Rhodes’ engraved on the left chest above the heart, but it smelt mostly of Tony, a little Pepper too, Peter smirked, clearly Tony had stolen it from Rhodey, and Pepper had stolen it from Tony, now it was Peter’s turn.

Peter had just led back down when his phone rang, he answered it with a frown, not looking at the caller I.D.

“H-Hello?”

“Hello Peter.”

“Karen?” Peter sat straight up the excitement clear in his voice.

“Yes Peter. It is good to hear you again. Mr Stark programmed me into this phone as an easy way to stay in contact, I can send you a text or I can phone you like I am now. I have a message from Mrs Stark.”

Peter was smiling from ear to ear but it dropped. “What’s wrong? Is it Mr Stark? Tony? Is he okay? Should I-?” He scrambled towards his backpack ready to swing over.

“Mr Stark is in good health, Peter. Mrs Stark would like to know if you would like some ice cream delivered to your bedroom window via drone.”

“Sh- She does?”

“Yes Peter. Shall I accept?”

Peter debated denying it but he felt his stomach rumble. “Please.”

“Mr Stark suggests Stark Raving Mad flavour.”

Peter smirked. “Sure, that sounds good. Can you, can you tell them I said thank you?”

“Of course Peter.” There was a pause as Karen communicated via Friday. “They insist there is nothing you need to thank them for.”

Peter could tell Karen was done and would hang up soon, but Peter couldn’t stand this unfamiliar silence. “K-Karen, can you keep talking to me?”

“Of course, Peter. Would you like me to tell Mr Stark that you would like some company-?“

“No! No, I mean… do you know any facts about stars?”

“I can tell you facts about the Cosmos, Peter. Would you like me to project the constellations as I talk about them?”

“You can do that?”

“Yes Peter.”

Peter settled back on the thin mattress as he listened to Karen’s soothing voice, waiting for his ice cream dinner. He could do this, it was just a rough day, he’d be okay, he was Spiderman, he could get over these stupid feelings, he could make May proud of him, make the girls like him, hell he could even get along with Charles; he had made The Winter Soldier like him, what was a Captain who had already vouched for him after that?

Chapter Text

Tuesday morning came before Peter knew it, he had fallen asleep in a sugary coma, Peter’s ice cream delivery had come in a bag with a note from Tony claiming that the bag worked as a freezer, in case he didn’t want to share, and more ice cream than even Peter could eat, he demolished two pints then placed the others under the desk in the freezer bag.

If he had been living with Morgan he would have shared the ice cream leftovers with her when her parents weren’t looking, instead he walked into the kitchen and May’s step daughter turned her nose up at him like he smelt, and May’s toddler started to scream-cry at the ‘stranger’, Morgan was the same age as her and never did that to him. He grabbed moved around the kitchen finally finding a bowl then stared at the cereal options in front of him, they all sucked.

“Charles is a doctor, honey,” May told him her voice full of love for her husband, “he makes sure we have plenty of healthy food, I don’t even drink coffee anymore.” She rolled her eyes at Peter’s shocked look, she had been a caffeine addict before, but a lot changed in five years. “But look, actual brands, not Cherlogs, Kelloggs.”

Peter let out a snort of laughter and poured himself a bowl of cornflakes, dumping plenty of sugar onto them.

He sat at the table keeping his eyes on the bowl, he wondered if perhaps he was still dead, everyone around him weren’t acting as though he was alive. May was talking to everyone other than him, her step daughter (who was calling May mom, stirring a hint of jealousy in Peter, he had known May longer but had never been encouraged to call her mom), Charles was clearly proud of his daughters, gushing about them to May in a way which Peter was certain was supposed to be for him to hear, Peter bit his tongue, focusing on his cereal.

Back at the tower Pepper would have never let him get away with eating just one bowl, or just cereal, knowing he needed more to fill his metabolism, but as soon as he finished Charles told him to clear up all the bowls and put the things away, Peter continued to bite his tongue, he knew that May and Charles were helping to get the kids ready for school and preschool, hell he was about to get to spend all day with May…. He just didn’t like Charles telling him what to do… or Charles… or the fact he was still hungry…

He mentally scolded himself, May just didn’t know he needed to eat more, he’d talk to her when Charles and the kids were around, she’d understand.

Or maybe he could get a job, May had always been against it, even when they were really struggling, she told him that school came first, and he was a kid, he didn’t need to worry about it. But if he got a job he could buy extra food, and it would keep Charles off his back, he could prove that he was mature, basically a man.

He was silent in the car to the big box store, he had gotten seven texts from people at the tower, apparently he had missed out on a food fight at breakfast, Tony’s team had lost meaning he had to buy the replacement breakfast feast, Peter felt ever so slightly homesick for a place he had no right to call his home.

“right, Champ? Peter?”

Oh shit, he had forgotten to listen to them, what were they talking about? He met Charles’ eyes in the mirror and swallowed, they were a cold grey, like a knife, he nodded his head, it was safest to just agree with him, Peter decided. “Yeah, totally.”

“Great.” Peter didn’t have to see May’s fact to know that she was smiling with pride. “So you two go and find Peter a bed and I’ll grab some decor things, then we’ll meet up to grab some clothes and some lunch.”

Oh shit. Peter realised too late that he had agreed to be with Charles… He tried to hide the regret on his face by looking out of the window and squinting in the late autumn sun. He tried to psych himself up, maybe this would be okay, maybe it was a chance for him and Charles to bond, maybe last night they had both just been tired, a misunderstanding.

Charles walked so quick that Peter was struggling to keep up, he knew that as Spidey he was fast, but he was keeping that on the down low, anyway he was tired, it was morning and he was used to a bit of a lie in at Tony’s.

When Peter was tired he was clumsy, hell he was clumsy when he wasn’t tired, most people in his life had found that funny considering his secret identity, but Charles growled at him to be careful, that if he broke something Peter would be paying for it not Charles.

Peter’s cheeks were pink in embarrassment by the they made it to the beds, he took extra care to avoid knocking down lamps or decorational vases.

Charles kept huffing as he stared at the beds then the prices. “Complete waste.” He mumbled, loud enough for Peter to hear even without his enhanced hearing.

Peter shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his phone was in his right one, warm against his hand, a lifeline to tether himself to, he took slow breaths. He had fought in an alien war in a hidden country for the whole of mankind, he had died and come back, he had lost his mentor and watched him live, he knew The Avengers by name, and what their bedrooms looked like, he had lost people he loved, he could handle some guy complaining about him.

“Really you should be twenty.” Charles had apparently decided to take the more direct approach to insult him. “You should be moved out, you should be buying your own things, an adult, a man.”

Peter’s cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry, Char- Sir.” He mumbled loud enough for him to hear him, but refusing to look up to see his face. “The camp bed really is okay, it’s not just okay, it’s great, honestly I don’t need a new one, I’m really happy with it.”

Charles let out a displeased hum. He continued to stride down the aisle until he found the cheapest wooden single bed. “How long until they’re in stock?” He barked at a young shop assistant.

Peter’s eyes bugged out, May would have reamed him if she had heard him being that rude, had she ever heard Charles talk like that, or was Peter causing his bad mood?

“Erm, they won’t be back in stock for a month, they’re the most popular bed since the er, since people came back, there’s a, erm, another model, slightly wider, $20 more, I can show it you, sir.”

“We’ll back order this one, it’s not urgent we can wait.”

Peter chanced a look up at the spotty college aged kid working here, he looked familiar, Peter was pretty sure he had gone to middle school with him. Shit, he was how old Peter should be. Peter bit his lip, suddenly feeling very out of place, he thought about his friends, Ned and MJ, May had assured him that both would be in his class again when school started up, both having vanished, he made a mental note to email both of them his new number.

“How’s it going?” May laughed as Peter jumped. “Woah, Pete, you been having caffeine or something?”

Peter gave a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his neck, he shook his head. “Sorry, I was just in my head.”

He felt her ruffle his hair and for a second he could pretend that he was back to a few years ago, before everything, before the Snap, before Spiderman, before Ben. But he just heard Charles’ low chuckle.

“Peter here was insistent on this bed or the camp bed, said it felt like going camping.” He said through a laugh, he seemed so genuine that even Peter nearly believed him.

May laughed along with her husband, he looped his arm around her waist and she melted into him. “Peter, you’ve never been camping.”

Peter shrugged forcing a smile onto his face, he could play along, it really wasn’t a big deal. “Yeah, but it’s what I imagine camping would be like.”

“You’re a weird kid.”

Charles said it with enough fondness in his tone that Peter looked up, but when his eyes met the cold shark eyes he knew there was no fondness, but also that he had done good to play along with May. He felt weirdly like he might have joined the wrong team, picked the wrong action, his hand brushed his phone in his pocket, Tony would know what to do. No. He wasn’t a kid, he was Spiderman  not Spider-run-for-help-from-adults-like-a-baby.

May had grabbed some things like a box containing a flat pack wardrobe which Peter was looking forward to putting together, some things like a trash can, some notebooks, pens, pencils, and books for school or to keep him entertained, Peter was feeling a little underwhelmed, he knew that he had never had much money when he and may would do their shopping, but she normally had a fun streak in her, or would have picked something she would know that Peter would have loved, these things she had picked were devoid of personality, like she was shopping for a stranger.

The rest of the shopping trip was just as stressful, for Peter at least, Charles and May seemed to be having fun, they were giggling and flirting like teenagers, it made him feel sick but he tried to hide that. Choosing bedding and clothes had been hell. He could feel the heat of Charles’ eyes on him when he looked at anything which wasn’t the cheapest item.

He ended up with two sets of boring bedding, he didn’t know much about bedding but he knew that he had picked the ones which would irritate his sensitive skin the most, but when May tried to put them back Charles had insisted that ‘Champ’ could choose his own, then made a ‘made his own bed’ job.

Peter Parker fucking hated Captain Charles Fisher, he didn’t care if he was some army hero, or if he was some successful doctor, he was a dick, he set Peter’s spidey sense off worse than Flash did, and that was saying something.

His saving grace was the fact that his stupid science pun t-shirts were the cheapest and on sale, along with some jeans, the hoodies were expensive, he told May he wanted to stick to his stole MIT ones, and for the first time he wasn’t lying.

Peter nudged closet to his aunt with each beep of the scanner, he could feel Charle’s heart beat faster, could hear the muscles and bones as he clenched his fists, he knew it was stupid, he was fifteen, he should be trying to get his aunt to protect him.

“What are you planning to do this week? I’m helping with the charity every day, sorry hun, I wish I had some time off but everything’s so busy, some people have really had their lives destroyed, with everyone coming back and all.”

Peter felt a lump in his throat, he wanted to ask her if her life had been destroyed when he came back, but he didn’t, he didn’t want to hear the answer. And he and May… they had never had that sort of relationship, theirs was jokey, she was the fun aunt, the one who let his stay out past curfew, who let him skip school if he told her why, the one who wouldn’t know how to deal with him feeling emotional.

“I, er, I was thinking about walkin’ around, y’know? Get to know where everything is, from the ground.”

“Sounds good.” She said with a shrug as though he had told her that it was going to be sunny tomorrow. “Oh, I need to make sure you have a sub card for school, honey can you remind me?”

Peter opened his mouth but Charles answered, he realised too late that of course May was talking to her husband. “I could, always help you, you know with the charity thing, like I have some experience…”

“Oh Peter,” May sounded touched but regretful, “that’s so sweet, but it might be better if you didn’t, I mean we have a lot of volunteers, and I haven’t told anyone that you’re back yet, it might scare some of the older dearies if you suddenly appeared.” She gave a small laugh.

Peter bit his lip hard enough that he could taste blood, he knew she didn’t say that to hurt him, that she hadn’t got around to telling people he was back, that it wasn’t that she didn’t want him around. He pulled out his phone as he heard Charles and May laughing about dressing him up as a ghost to scare people, a conversation about him not including him.

He realised he had missed several texts from different people, casual ones from Pepper asking what his rooms like and how he is, to stressed ones he could only guess were from Tony, using a stolen phone, which was either Sam’s or Bucky’s, he wasn’t quite sure. Most of the texts were minutes apart, and for some reason that made him smile.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Hey bud, how you doing not heard from you today.

Steve Roger’s restraint: This is Tony, BTW.

Steve Roger’s restraint: You didn’t go into a diabetic coma did you? I shouldn’t have sent so much ice cream. Text me back.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Pepper wants to make sure you’re okay give her a text.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Or me.

Steve Roger’s restraint: But also her don’t tell her I’ve stolen another phone.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Kid? You’re scaring me now. Answer will you? I’ll call you.

Peter typed a reply as quickly as he could dreading Tony calling him and hearing something off in his tone.

Spider-baby: chill tony im fine shopping with may ad charles, pls don’t cll.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Jesus, kid, you scared me.

Steve Roger’s restraint: I’m signing you up for spelling and grammar lessons, they not teach you that at smartie-pants school?

Spider-baby: smartie-pants school…

Spider-baby: imma send these txts as proof to magazines that ur not cool

Steve Roger’s restraint: Maguna’s making me watch kids shows with her. Send anything to a magazine and I’ll make your life a living hell.

Steve Roger’s restraint: I’ll turn up on every school trip you have.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Any dates and I’ll be there.

Steve Roger’s restraint: I’ll chaperone your next school dance.

Steve Roger’s restraint: How is your shopping trip?

Steve Roger’s restraint: Charlie a big spender?

Steve Roger’s restraint: I mean not as much as me but I broke the mould.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Still he’s a rich fancy pants doctor.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Ignore that I said fancy pants.

Peter looked to the cart which seemed to have more throws and cushions and things for the apartment than for him, hell there were more clothes that Chloe and Sophia ‘needed’ than there were for him.

Spider-Baby: you must be very bored.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Maybe I miss you.

Peter sucked in a breath.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Maybe not, who knows.

Steve Roger’s restraint: How’s your injuries? They healing okay? You need to swing by the med bay? Cho and Brucie are still here.

Spider-baby: im fine mom.

Steve Roger’s restraint: Grounded.

Spider-baby: *eye roll emoji*

Spider-baby: seriously im fine u dont need to worry

Peter could hear Charles grumbling about kids and tech and May sighing and saying his name.

Spider-baby: gtg speak to u later?

“Sorry,” Peter made sure to send the apologetic smile to his aunt only, “Tony was freaking out cause I didn’t answer earlier.”

“Is something wrong?” May’s eyebrows were scrunched up, she flanked Peter’s side as Charles led the way out of the store. “Does he want you out spidermanning?”

Peter tensed but no one seemed to hear his aunts whispered word. He shook his head. “Nah, he’s just checking in, making sure I’m okay.” He heard Charles make a noise of disbelief.

May let out a laugh and smiled at her nephew. “He knows that you’re practically an adult now, right?”

Peter smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes, he knew Tony could be annoying, hell he had glared at Natasha when she had mentioned teaching him how to throw knives, but it was kind of nice, having someone worry… not that May hadn’t, of course, but she had worked a lot, sometimes it was more like they were roommates than she was his guardian, he tried to hide the look on his face and busied himself helping to pack things into the trunk of the car.

He climbed back into the back seat as May and Charles began to kiss outside, he decided that he would begin exploring the neighbourhood as soon as he got back to their apartment.

Peter had woken up just in time for breakfast on Thursday morning, still tired from walking around the city all of the previous day to avoid being sick alone in the apartment, but just in time for May to still be there.

He took advantage of that by making himself a breakfast of toast, scrambled eggs and spinach, along with some roasted tomatoes, one of the breakfasts Happy had taught him, impressing May for the first time since he had been home, not that this place was home.

“Maybe these five years have been good for us, Peter, I mean we can both make edible food now.” She laughed.

Peter frowned a little, it hadn’t been five years for him, and he had died, which he didn’t think had been good.

“Oh honey I’m just joking.”

Peter looked at his aunt in surprise, thinking that she had noticed, there was something good about that idea. But she was talking to her step-daughter, kissing the twelve year old’s forehead, the kid she had been mom to for the past nearly five years. She had been that to Peter for ten years, but he died and she moved on.

“You two of course have been the good part.”

“What about me?”

Charles’ tone was teasing as he stepped into the kitchen, his hands on May kissing her, Peter no longer felt hungry.

“And you.” May’s voice was just as teasing.

Peter sat eating, staring down at his plate instead of at any of the Fishers, he came to the sudden realisation that he was the only Parker there, a fact that hadn’t mattered sat around a table with the three Starks, but he had never felt pushed aside there.

He finished his food quickly, clearing up after himself, in his head he kept reminding himself he could do this, he could keep on May and Charles’ good sides, they’d want him, and this would all become the new normal.

“Oh, Peter, you need to check your school mail, they’re sending you all work to catch up on what you’ve missed while you were gone.”

She said it as though he had been on vacation, sure he hadn’t felt it, he wouldn’t have known time had passed at all had Dr Strange not told him and Tony hadn’t looked older and been more huggy.

“Sure, yeah.” He could hear the way his voice hitched and he tried to subtly wipe his eyes, when had he even started to cry. Don’t think about it. Don’t be so sensitive. C’mon Spiderman.

“There’s a computer and printer in the office, I’ll be back tonight, so make sure you’re back, we’ll have a family dinner.” May called over her shoulder as she busied the girls out of the door.

“Is the boy gonna be there too?”

A snort of a laugh from Chloe.

“Honey, his name is Peter.”

Peter bit his lip, he knew he wasn’t supposed to hear May and Sophia, he knew May didn’t mean to not tell Sophia that he was family, he knew that Chloe just wasn’t used to him, neither of the girls were, it would take some time.

He dried his dishes and went to find the office.

His hardest task was trying to remember his passwords, as soon as he did he signed in on his cell phone and felt the fervent vibrations as the mail updated five years worth of frantic emails from school officials, standard school news letters, post snap emails from teachers and friends, and homework.

He focused on the computer, it was expensive and higher tech than he was used to, he wanted to take it apart and see how it worked, but he doubted Charles or May would appreciate that.

He felt rather than heard Charles enter the room, it took all Peter could not to turn around, he was probably just doing work, Peter just needed to filter his homework, print it off, then he could spend his day filling it out before his scheduled phone call with Tony, Pepper, and Morgan that evening.

A sharp pain on the back of his head, pushing him forward, it didn’t hurt that much, but it was a shock. He turned to face the direction it had come from, it took him that time to realise Charles had cuffed him over the back of his head, only sightly harder than May ever had, but more unwelcome.

“It’s my printer. You should ask me. Did you parents not teach you any manners? Or that uncle of yours?”

Peter’s cheeks heated up, of course they had, Uncle Ben had been big on manners, he had been a cop, he had been the reason why Peter had called everyone sir or ma’am.

“I’m sorry, Ch-er, Mr Fisher, sir.” Charles’ eyes were still on him waiting. “Please can I print it out, Aunt May told me I needed to-,“ he was sure that mentioning his aunt’s name would work, would remind him that May had told him to do this, that Peter was May’s.

“Do you have ink money?”

“I-, no.” Peter remembered how he used to print everything off at school or Ned’s, he didn’t have a printer at home because even the cheapest computer inks were too expensive when there were other options.

“Then you’ll have to figure something else out.”

Peter wanted to argue, wanted to protest, fire was filling his veins, he smothered the fire in his veins, walking out from the office to his bedroom nearby. There were other options, he didn’t need to get angry about this, he could go to the library, sign up for a card, print off his homework, he was pretty sure he still had a bank account, maybe he could get some books.

Or he could go to the tower, they said to swing by whenever, he could print off his homework, maybe get everyones help on itch could complain about what an asshole Charles was… or maybe not… Maybe they wouldn’t be on Peter’s side, would think he was being rude, would agree with the part of Peter’s brain which told him to tough it out, that he just needed time to acclimate.

He shoved his shoes on and grabbed the MIT hoodie, he could decide on his way.

He left his room and walked down the corridor to the front door, his hand was on the handle then suddenly it wasn’t.

He had been grabbed, his arm painfully twisted, he tried to break free not knowing what was going on, not wanting to be grabbed but not wanting to hurt anyone, he got free but was pushed hard against the wall, his hipbone caught on the side table, pain spread through the bone, he fell to the floor. He squinted up at Charles, tears had sprung in his eyes from pain and surprise, Charles had pushed him.

“I thought you were Spiderman?” The man sneered. “Don’t pretend to be hurt, no other teenager would have fallen, let alone a ‘superhero’, get up will you? Jesus.”

Peter pushed himself to his feet trying to keep as far from Charles as he could without agitating the man. Natasha would have lectured him, he should have been able to get out of that safely, clearly her tutorage had done nothing other than waste her time. “I- I, I’m sorry.” He couldn’t meet Charles’ eyes, he cringed hearing his own stutter, the one which had developed after his parents’ deaths.

“I’m the adult here.” Charles was speaking through his teeth. “If you want to go somewhere you ask me, if you don’t then you can piss off out of my home. Stop pretending like you’re hurt, you know what, go to your room, get out of my sight.”

Peter scurried away, he was halfway down the corridor when he heard Charles shout after him.

“I swear if I hear a peep out of you…!”

Peter was panting by the time he shut his door, he leant back against it, ready to fight to keep Charles out, but he heard the man head back towards the other side of the apartment.

Peter dived for his backpack, he found his web shooters, he  grabbed one and fired it at the door, Charles wouldn’t be able to get in for hours now. He stayed on the floor by the desk, panting, trying to slow his breathing, trying to think about what had happened. How had he ended up on the floor, he had fought aliens for gods sake! This was just a man, sure a strong army doctor man, but a man none the less, Peter could take him. Peter should have been able to take him.

He took out his phone. Maybe he could call Tony, explain what had happened, but then how could he be trusted to keep people safe when he couldn’t even stay upright after a gentle push? He could claim he just wanted to go to the tower, but he couldn’t leave without Charles seeing, could he?

His phone buzzed.

An email from Ned came through, apparently his sixtieth since the snap, this one had his new cellphone number, asking Peter to call.

Peter called straight away, it was Ned, his guy in the chair, his best friend, the guy who had covered for him to be able to go and fight aliens in New York during a school trip.

The two boys fell back into conversation without a second of hesitation, questions constant and overlapping without many answers, Peter wondered if this was how it should have been with May.

“Peter, can you come over?”

Ned’s voice was quiet and vulnerable, so unlike his usual one, Peter’s eyes fell on his webbed door. “Ned I-…”

“Peter… my dad died.”

“What!?” Peter exclaimed. “When? What happened?”

“A heart attack, sometime during the time we were gone. Mom told me when I came back, but it’s been…”

“I’ll come over.” Peter said without hesitation. He scrambled up from the floor, finding the subcard May had given him the night before, he shoved it into his pocket, he looked at the ice cream, knowing it was the only food he had for himself, he grabbed it and the freezer bag anyway, Ned needed this. “Where do you live?”

“The same place I always have.” Ned sounded sad, but less tense than he had before Peter told him he would be over. “I went to your apartment, did you move? There’s a new family there now.”

“Y-yeah… I’ll explain when I see you. I’ll be there in ten.” His eyes fell on his door as he tucked his phone into the fridge bag, too risky, so he opened the window instead, he climbed out onto fire escape, he’d be back before long.

He and Ned clung to each other as soon as the door opened.

“Man, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Peter said when they finally parted.

Ned shrugged. “It doesn’t… I still feel like he’s about to walk through the door, y’know, and apologise for working too late, it doesn’t feel real. And my mom is being super super nice which isn’t like her and she keeps watching me sleep, which is like, super creepy but then like I guess May is the same.”

Peter’s smile turned a little sad. “Er, not really.”

“Peter?”

“May got married, and she has like two kids, well one is a step kid who calls her mom which like I never did, not that I mind, but she’s busy working a lot so like I’m normally in the apartment with Mr- Charles her husband, well once I got back from the tower anyway-“ he was about to go on to tell Ned everything, his spider sense going off, May not really caring that he was there, Charles pushing him, but Ned’s mouth had dropped open.

“The tower? THE TOWER?! Oh my god Peter have you been hanging out with Tony Stark?! Didn’t he die? There’s been rumours he died on the boards, but that he came back did he-?”

“He’s alive.” Peter’s voice was firm. “He, he died, but he came back, he’s okay, he’s recovering, I was, I was there with him and the other Avengers and like they’re so cool but also so not? Like Steve, Captain America he swears so much and he will do like anything you dare him to do, Bucky and Sam, The Winter Soldier and The Falcon, they’re like the only ones who can stop him, and Sam only stops him like fifty percent of the time.”

“Damn, you’re so lucky, I mean you have like two families now, loads of people, not just you and May.”

Peter bit his lip to stop himself from protesting, he and Charles were not family, hell May felt more like a ghost roommate, but Ned had lost his dad, and now he was looking sad, Peter had gained a lot, Ned had lost his family.
“I brought over ice cream from Tony, Iron Man ice cream from Iron Man.” That was enough to make Ned smile again.

“So awesome! Hey let’s watch some of those new Star Wars cartoons, then we can build some Lego?”

For the first time since he had left the tower he felt like he could breathe.

Peter stayed out until he knew that May would be home, it hadn’t been hard: He and Ned had eaten all the ice cream and spent the day watching cartoons and playing with Legos, and Peter tried his best not to image the sneer which would have been on Charles’ face had he seen the boys, in fact he tried not to think about Charles at all.

Mrs Leeds had invited Peter to stay for dinner, Peter had accepted in a heartbeat, the woman didn’t know about his secret identity but always made sure to feed Peter up, plus she was an amazing cook.

The price had been having to lie about how happy his aunt had been that he had come home, had to listen to Mrs Leeds gush about how help she had been since Mr Leeds death, how both May and Charles worked so hard to help people who had come back in the snap and had been displaced. He had felt bile in his throat at that, if they were helping other people why did neither of them want to help him?

He had left at ten and had walked home, claiming to be being picked up by May, he could have hopped on the subway but he didn’t want the noise.

He ended up back at his old apartment and cringed, he was an idiot, it took another half hour to get to the new apartment, he took the stairs instead of the elevator. He was about to open the door when he realised that he had never been given a key.

He held his breath and knocked on the door.

It was thrown open.

“Peter! Where the hell have you been!?”

Peter was pulled into the apartment by May, harsher than she ever had been, he took in her face, there was a little relief but most of it was anger.

His eyes dropped to the wooden floor. “I- I had to go and see Ned-“

“I know.” Her tone was low and dangerous. “I had to ask Tony Stark to trace your phone as you never gave me your number-.”

She continued to rant and all Peter could think about was the fact that May had never asked for his number, she had never given him a key, and that it was late enough that he must have missed his call with the Starks, that he had left the phone on silent in the bag.

“-Do you even CARE about how worried Charles was? Of course you don’t! He’s already told me everything!”

Peter’s head shot up to look at May. “What-?”

“He told me that you wouldn’t print out your homework, that you told him you were going out to hang out with Ned, that you didn’t care when he asked you not to, that he wanted the two of you to bond but you didn’t.He didn’t even tell me you went to Ned’s incase it made you hate him.”

“That’s-“

“He only gave you up after Tony told us where you were.”

Her tone felt like acid on his skin as she continued to rant, telling him how lucky he was to have Charles; he could feel the pressure of that alien planet, of being torn apart, unmade, which his spider instincts tried to sew him back together. Tears trickled down his cheeks. “ ‘m sorry May, really, I’m sorry I-“

May let out a tired sigh. “Just go to bed, Peter, I can’t deal with you right now. And actually stay in your room this time.”

Her words hurt more than Peter could ever have imagine, he left the room quickly, trying to breathe, his spidey sense had been going off since he had entered the apartment, since when had his spidey sense feared his aunt?

“You think you can embarrass me like that?”

Peter jumped, Charles’ voice was a dangerous growl, Peter could feel tears still rolling down his cheeks but didn’t move to wipe them, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Charles just in case. “I-I- I didn’t, I didn’t-“

“Quit stuttering. You scared the shit out of May, I had to tell her about you trying to pick a fight, trying to sneak out-“

“I didn’t! I wasn’t going to-!”

“Do not interrupt me.” Charles shut the bedroom door behind them. “I told her you’re probably experiencing some PTSD shit, but you and I know that’s not true. I know you’re just trying to break up this family, to push May to choose you, you know that she wouldn’t, right? She moved on, she got over it, you being back here isn’t good for her, especially when you’re acting like a goddamn punk.”

Fire fuelled Peter’s body, he clenched his fists“I’m not-“

The back of the hand caused a cold sting as it hit Peter’s cheek hard enough to force him to fall onto his bed, hitting his cheek on the hard corner of the side table where it was still healing. He wasn’t sure if it was pain or embarrassment which flooded his cheeks with heat.

“I volunteered to keep you in line, your aunt agreed. The next time you step out of line, you’re home late, you’re going to be in real trouble.” Peter didn’t dare look at him, he could hear his own heart in his ears, so loud he could only just make out Charles walking the few steps to the door then stopping.
“And you better have a job by Monday,” Charles’ voice was cold and uncaring directed at Peter who was curling in on himself, “I’m not paying for a disrespectful brat who’s not mine, and who isn’t even the real nephew of my wife.”

Peter led in the dark silence for minutes, for hours, only moving when he heard May and Charles go to bed on the other side of the apartment, he grabbed his phone from his backpack, it was dead now. He placed it on charge, he didn’t bother to change for bed instead just curled under the covers in the dark, he could hear his phone buzzing as it caught up with all the missed calls and texts from the Avengers, from two unknown numbers which must have been Charles and May. He didn’t read any of them, he didn’t listen to the voicemails, he didn’t do anything other than curl up under his covers and wait for sleep to take him.

May had popped her head into Peter’s room the next morning, he had half expected her to tell him that he wasn’t allowed to go to the tower that day, instead she told him that Happy would be picking him up in ninety minutes, and that Peter would be staying over until Sunday morning,

Peter wondered if it was supposed to be a punishment but realised he didn’t care, he just wanted out of this place, he didn’t care if he had to face the wrath of Iron Man to do so.

Peter packed everything he didn’t want Charles to possibly see, including his spidey-suit, and the few framed photographs of a young Peter and his parents, and Peter with May and Ben, and a iron man teddy he had saved his allowance up for when they went to the Stark Convention, he wasn’t going to let Tony see any of them, but he didn’t want Charles to see either.

He made sure he had clothes and a phone charger before heading out to the apartment.

“Hey champ.”

Peter froze. Charles was stood at the stove, a ‘kiss the chef’ apron fitted across his light blue expensive shirt, his hair was perfectly styled, pushed back, and the smell of his spicy cologne and body wash stung Peter’s nostrils.

“I made breakfast.”

Peter was confused for a minute about why Charles was bragging about breakfast, what was he meant to say? He debating just walking out and sitting on the curb to wait for Happy, but would Charles lie to May again about Peter arguing and storming out? Would May ban him from going to Tony’s if he caused any more trouble?

“Come on.” Charles snapped, only just managing to remain happy.

Peter moved as fast as he could, he sat down at the table with his backpack still on, a plate of one banana pancake was placed in front of him.

“May said that you liked fruit pancakes.”

“Thank you.” Peter said quickly, picking up his knife and fork and cautiously cutting into it,  he had never counted banana pancakes as fruit pancakes, his favourite had always been blueberry pancakes, ones with so many blueberries that the entire pancake was practically purple. He hated the fact that the pancake were good almost as much as he hated that Charles was watching him, and that the gaze alone was making him feel too nauseous to eat.

“Peter, I’m sorry that I slapped you, that was wrong of me.”

Peter had to work hard to keep his mouth from dropping open and half eaten pancake from dropping out.

“You wound me up, I know we’re still getting used to each other… but I thought that you loved May, she claims you used to, even if you lied to her all the time…”

“I do love her!”

“You scared her half to death and didn’t seem too cut up about it. Look, you need to be a man, like your uncle was, to do that you need a job, you need to get good grades, and you need to listen to me and to May, you need to stay in line, not cause trouble, to respect people, especially adults.”

“I do.” He protested weakly.

“If you did then you wouldn’t have played up yesterday, you wouldn’t have lied to May about Spiderman, you wouldn’t be trying to argue with me now.”

Peter stayed still like a rabbit in headlights, his eyes down on his half eaten one meagre pancake, he bit his lip hard, his cheek still hurt, he was pretty sure he had torn open his healing stitches the night before. “I’m sorry,” his voice was quiet. He forced himself to look up to meet Charles’ eyes. “Really I am, I’m gonna try, I’ll, I’ll get a job by Monday, and I… I am sorry.”

“Good. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.” He stood up as he spoke, slapped Peter on the back a little too hard, then left the room.

The elevator door opened on the Avengers’ floor, it was still pretty quiet, everyone was either an early riser who had started their day, or still asleep.

“Hey there, маленький паук.”

An easy smile came onto his face when he heard Natasha’s voice. “Are you ever gonna tell me what that means?” He allowed a slight whine to come into his voice as he turned to see her walking towards him from the door leading to the stairs of the gym, a knockoff Spiderman water bottle in her hands.

“Nope.” Her smile dropped as she got closer. “What happened to your face, you’ve torn your stitches open?”

Before he could answer Friday’s voice boomed around them.

“Mr Parker, Mr Stark is requesting your attendance up in the Stark’s suite. I have filtered out some of his language due to the PG filters I am under.”

“I’m dead.” Peter whispered to himself.

“маленький паук?”

Peter looked back up, the concern in her voice and on her face was almost too much for him to take. “I kinda stayed out past curfew, May had Tony track my phone, it was on silent, I missed a few of his calls…” He decided to give her the abridged version.

She sighed gently. “You should go, remember his bark is worse than his bite, he just worries about you.” Her thumb brushed just under Peter’s cheek. “And go see Bruce, he’ll fix you up, or Cho, you might even get a lollipop.”

“When Happy tells you to come straight up he means to me, not to go and play with the Avengers, you come here.” Tony started as soon as the elevator doors opened, he was slowly turning from the screens he was working on towards the boy. “I know you’re not big on following instructions at the best of times, and according to May’s beau you’re going through some teen angst shi-.”

Peter froze as Tony cut himself off, his instincts going crazy though Peter was fairly certain he wasn’t in trouble.

Tony walked over to meet Peter, now able to walk short distances, a little more every day, so long as he wasn’t upright for long. “What the hell happened? You tore your stitches.”

“Oh I, erm…” Peter swallowed as Tony’s thumb brushed the cut, Peter could hear the dry blood which had dried on his face fall. “I fell over my backpack, fell onto my bed, managed to hit it on the metal side table.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed on him. “You fell over?”

“You’ve seen how clumsy I can be…” Peter protested, it was true he was clumsy, clumsy enough Tony didn’t need to know, didn’t need another reason to be mad at him.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, kid.” Tony mumbled, he held up his hand when he saw Peter’s face. “Just a phrase, seriously I’m all good. You can ask Brucie-Bear.”

Peter gave him a flicker of a smile.

“And by that I mean you can ask him while he’s checking you out.”

“Mr Stark-!”

“I thought I housebroke you of that habit?” Tony steered Peter back towards the elevator.

“Sorry.”

Tony frowned at Peter’s ashamed but quick apology, there was just… something about it, he didn’t know what… It might just be because he knew he was in trouble, but even so…

A chorus of “Hi Peter”’s came from the Avengers' couch as Tony steered him past, Tony wondered if Peter knew how much the Avengers loved him, everyone had clearly just assembled on the couch waiting for him.

“Peter’s in trouble right now.”

“Bye Peter!” Came several sniggering voices.

Bruce’s lab was just off the Avengers common room, it doubled as a medical room on account of Bruce deciding to finally get his medical doctorate.

“Peter! Hey we’ve all missed you, Tony’s been complaining all week, literally we’ve made a swear jar but it’s for every time Tony complains that you’re not here.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “He’s lying, kid.” He pushed him towards the examination table, Peter got the hint and climbed up.

“I’m not.” Bruce levelled Tony with a ‘drop your bullshit’ look.

“Brucie, look, Pete’s hurt.”

“What happened?” Bruce asked immediately gathering his equipment.

Peter quickly repeated the story he had told Tony, he received a sigh in return from Bruce.

“Are you even allowed to treat me?” Peter asked as Bruce cleaned him up and added a strip which would close the wound up again and heal it quicker than stitches, only for minor injuries, but helpful nonetheless. “I mean technically you’re not a real M.D, isn’t there like a code of ethics? And like as someone who knows us as like a friend aren’t you not meant to treat us?”

Tony snorted. He had been digging through the first aid kid, and now carried over a bandaid covered in Iron Man cartoons, he pressed it onto the kid’s face the kid hadn’t looked but the groan made Tony fully aware of the fact he knew what the bandaid was.

“I would leave you with it still open if it weren’t for the fact that Tony would kill me.” Bruce hit back with a smile. “Don’t tear it open next time.”

“Yes sir.”

Tony frowned. Since when was he doing that again, why was he looking…. Tony didn’t even know, there was just something…

“We’re all binge watching some show if you two want to join?” Bruce offered.

Peter opened his mouth to ask what but Tony was already answering for the both of them.

“Nah, thanks. Kid’s with me this weekend, he needs to do his homework, maybe next time?”

“Sure.”

Peter frowned as Bruce left, he went to jump down but Tony was giving him a look like he could see through him. Peter wanted to touch his cheek, the one which Charles had hit the night before, but Tony would ask questions.

“What’s going on?”

Peter picked at the seem of the hoodie he hadn’t taken off.  “What’d’ya mean?”

“I mean,” Tony sighed but was even tempered, “what happened last night? You’ve never disappeared on your aunt before, other than for Spiderman, and I know you haven’t started that yet. You’ve never ignored my calls either, did I… did I do something?”

“What? No!” Peter heard his voice, the anger in it, he smoothed it out. “No, I just… I got into a fight with Mr- May’s husband, I’m not used to him and I’m just… and then Ned called… his dad died, he couldn’t be alone, I didn’t want him to be alone, I went to see him, he was… I couldn’t leave him Tony, I know what it’s like to…” Peter fell silent, tears pricking his eyes.

A hand went to Peter’s head and he jumped, remembering the cuff around his head, but it was Tony, and he wasn’t hitting him, he was trying to both stroke his hair and pull him to rest his head on his shoulder.

As soon as Peter realised what he was doing he allowed him to pull his head down to rest on his shoulders. A strangled sob escaped his mouth and he tensed up Charles admonishment to be a man in his mind.

“Sh, sh, shhh,” Tony soothed, the same as he had when Peter had been staying with them and Tony had been the only one to be able to soothe his nightmares. “It’s okay, Petey, it’s okay.”

Peter found more tears escaping from him, his hands clutching onto Tony’s shirt, he tried not to think about what he looked like, he was acting like a kid, like Morgan, and Tony wasn’t his dad, he wasn’t his.

“You’ve been through so much, bambino, so, so, much. Sometimes I forget you’re only a kid.” He felt Peter shake his head. “It’s okay, don’t rush to grow up, I did, I was forced to, to ‘man up’,” he let out a scoff, “in short my dad was an asshole, it screwed me up, you’re not gonna end up like me, like that.”

“I wanna be like you.” Peter mumbled, wondering if Tony would be ma at the fact that Peter had soaked his shirt.

Tony just stroked his head. “You’re already better.” He whispered.

Peter just stayed where he was, he knew he should sit up, that Tony was still weak, but he didn’t.

“Kid? Kiddo? You asleep.” He felt Peter shake his head about his shoulder. “Okay let’s get you upstairs, you look like you haven’t slept in a week, you can take a shower, have a nap, then me or Pep will help you with your homework before Little Boss makes you play or watch cartoons with her.”

Peter was tired, he had to admit, he hadn’t slept well the night before, plagued with nightmares and fears that Charles would come into his room, he should protest but Tony’s plan sounded good, he bit his lip as Tony gently pushed him back.

“Hey, hey, Underoos,” He pressed his thumb under Peter’s lip making him stop biting his lip, “you wanna tear through your lip? You’ve got super strength remember?”

“Sorry.” Peter mumbled. Tony’s arm slipped around his shoulders.

“You don’t need to apologise, Pete, just try not to hurt yourself, it’s bad enough that you’re clumsy.” He joked. He could swear the kid looked skinnier already, maybe he should talk to May, or to the kid, he didn’t want to overstep.

Peter touched the bandaid on his face, tempted to peel it off.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Tony went to pull his arms away but hadn’t gotten used to using just one arm yet, luckily Peter dropped his arm. “Look, Pep is probably going to give you a lecture about the people who love you not knowing where you are-.”

“-You found out where I was.” Peter didn’t mean to say it but it slipped out.

“Because I tracked your phone, kid, don’t give me that look if you go missing I’m tracking your phone, at the very least. Pepper’s gonna say the name, so just look at her with those Bambi puppy eyes and she won’t be mad.”

“Bambi wasn’t a puppy.”

“Puppy, deer, what’s the difference?”

Peter gave a watery laugh, drying his eyes on his hoodie. "'tasha said I'd get a lollipop."

"If you eat all your dinner." Tony teased.

The weekend at the tower had been a sanctuary for Peter.

He found himself finally able to relax, to not hide away in his room, that people wanted him around.

He had done most of his homework, getting help from different people in the Stark and Avengers suites, the few things he had left he could work on on his own or at school.

Most of his time was spent with Pepper and Tony, they kept giving him weird looks, especially if he was being quiet, he kept checking his face in mirrors, expecting to see a burning red hand print every time he remembered Charles that night. Morgan had been a big part in him returning to himself, she made him play games with her, roping in her parents too, they had movie nights, Morgan forced him to listen to Tony’s completely made up Spiderman bedtime stories.

He finished packing up his things after breakfast, Happy was already waiting, grumbling in a way which Peter knew wasn’t serious.

“You got everything?”

Peter’s head popped up, Pepper was in his doorway, leaning in her casual clothes that the press would have a field day if they saw her wearing them.

“…Yeah…” He pretended to be fastening his backpack.

“You know you can talk to us any time, right?”

“Huh?”

“Me and Tony, we’re here if something’s wrong, if you’re having trouble adjusting, if you want a break, if you… You seemed quiet, honey, less so the longer you were here, but now you've gone all quiet again…”

She left the thread hanging, waiting for him to choose to speak, knowing he would.

“I was just… it’s just weird being back, nothing’s wrong-! I just Mr-mmyy aunt, she’s, and she’s got, like-“

“She married,” Pepper supplied, “and she had two more kids.”

“...I wasn’t really…. I was always her nephew, y’know? My uncle Ben, he always made sure I remembered my parents, that they were my parents y’know?”

“He didn’t want them to replace your parents.”

“Yeah, yeah, but like, I was just a little kid when they died, so I remember more about Ben and May, I was always theirs, y’know? And now things have changed. Nothing’s wrong, I just need time, I need to get used to it, them.”

Pepper had walked closer, she ran her hand through his hair with a small sigh. “Okay. I do know what you mean, it’ll take some time, just give them some time, okay?”

Peter bit his lip and nodded.

“Don’t bite your lip, honey.”

“Sorry.” He mumbled, though her gentle tone filled him with warmth, she pulled him into a hug.

He watched Tony walk in, a smile on his face. “You ready, kid?”

“Yup.” Peter mumbled against Pepper.

“... So....I know I wasn’t the most open in the past, but I want you to know that if something’s wrong, if anything’s ever wrong, you can talk to-“

“Pep just did this, Tony.”

“Aw, damn, you stole my moment!” Tony pouted at his wife, he watched her smile and rolled her eyes.

“You’re incorrigible... You can tell him the other thing.”

Tony grinned. “So I talked to Aunt Hottie....”

“-What?” Peter was suddenly alert, more than alert, he felt wired, as though he’d drank seven cups of coffee. “What do you mean? About what?”

“Woah calm down, Jesus, Friday make sure Peter never drinks coffee.”

“Mr Parker has not consumed any caffeine liquids today, boss.”

“Stalker.” Peter mumbled, still looking alert at Tony.

Tony shook his head. “I talked to her about you coming to stay over after school on Fridays, I can drop you back on Saturday night, or Sunday, depending on how busy we are.”

“Wait. Seriously?”

Tony grinned, the kid looked like he was about to see Santa Claus. “Course. Anyway, I’m nearly ready to be wearing a prosthetic, I need your help in designing them, might take a while…”

“Hell yes!”

Tony’s smile was as wide as Peter’s, Pepper was smiling at them both softly. Her eyes met Tony’s and relief flooded them, there was something not quite right, at least if Peter was there once a week they could keep an eye on him. And they missed him, more than either of them were ready to admit.

“And we all miss you around here, honey. You’re welcome anytime, just get permission from May.”

Peter had Happy stop when they were in Queens, a little away from his apartment, promising to be back in a second.

“Peter! It’s so good to see you!”

Peter smiled at the shop keeper, reaching to gently stroke the cat on the counter. “It’s so good to see you too, Mr Delmar, I missed coming here.”

Mr Delmar spoke to the person working with him. “My son in law.” He explained to Peter with a roll of his eyes. “He needs practice making sandwiches, you’ll get it on the house of course.”

Peter’s face lit up. “Oh my-, Mr Delmar, thank you, that’s so kind.” He fidgeted for a moment. “Sir, I was, I was wondering if you had any jobs, I could sweep up, or erm work the counter or erm, well anything, I’m like super strong I could carry boxes and…” He trailed off seeing the man’s face drop.

“I’m sorry Peter, I already have all of my useless relatives working for me.”

Peter gave him a sad smile as his smushed sandwich was handed over. “Thanks anyway, Mr Delmar, if, if you need anyone can you tell me? I can’t do Fridays or Saturdays, but I can do whenever else.” He was heading towards the door when Mr Delmar called his name.

“I just started delivering subs and groceries, you up to a delivery job? Only after school, and not too late, $10 an hour, not that many hours to start with, but you’ll be our first delivery boy.”

“Mr Delmar! That’s, that’s, thank you! Thank you so much! I promise not to let you down sir!”

Mr Delmar smiled back at the boy. “I’ll see you tomorrow, around half three?”

Peter quickly agreed and left the store slinking into the back of Happy’s Audi and chatted away to him about his free sub as they drove off.

Peter tensed as he walked up the stairs to the apartment, he hid his sandwich in his backpack before knocking on the door.

Chloe answered, before he could step inside she closed the door in his face. He waited, she must be playing a prank, he decided, like Morgan sometimes did. He waited five minutes, then ten minutes, before realising that she wasn’t joking at all. He sighed and knocked again.

This time May answered and let him in.

“I have a key for you.” She told him searching through the bowl on the side table. “Here, at least now we won’t have to keep answering the door whenever you bother to come home.”

Peter tensed, May was barely looking at him, he could tell Charles was listening close from another room. “I, er, I’m really sorry about the other day, and I’m sorry I’m home a little late, I had to-… I stopped off at Mr Delmar’s…?” It came out as more of a question than a fact.

“Oh?”

Peter frowned, he remembered when Delmar’s was Uncle Ben’s favourite place to go, he’d always get her a sub too, now she just didn’t… “I, erm, I know you always said that you wanted me to focus on school and stuff, but I, Mr Delmar asked if I wanted a job, he needs help and I just, I thought it’d be good y’know, learning responsibility and stuff. And like I’d be able to give you money for groceries and stuff ‘cause I know I have to eat more and… I can say I can’t do it, if you want me to?”

May’s eyes got wide and she stared at him evaluating, for a moment Peter thought the old May would resurface.

Then Charles stalked in. Peter shifted on his feet, automatically shifting to a defensive pose, watching him slip his arm around her waist, watching him kiss her neck and her giggling. He wanted to gag.

“I think it’d be a good idea.” Charles said with something which looked like pride, Peter wasn’t sure he wanted to receive.

May smiled. “You’re right, but keep on top of your school work please, really the last thing either of us needs is to have to miss work to go down to your school because you’ve not done homework for whatever.”

Peter bit his lip and nodded, neither Charles nor May told him to stop, or pointed out that he was hurting himself. “‘Course.”

“Okay.” May nodded approvingly and began to walk towards Chloe’s cries of “mom” when she turned back around. “If you don’t keep on top of work and school then you won’t be going on ‘patrol’,” she did finger quotes making Peter feel about five, “and you won’t be going to the tower, these come first. Prove to me that you can be responsible.”

Peter watched her walk off and began to wonder if he really had died on that alien planet, if this was some weird afterlife, where May was completely wrong.

An arm slung around his shoulders, Peter clenched his teeth, his brain played the noise of the slap the other day, the pain of the shove, c’mon Peter, it was nothing, really, if Charles was dangerous his instincts would kick in and he would protect himself.

“Good job champ, really, this is good, I’m proud of you.”

Peter did not want his pride or his praise, or his arm around his shoulder, or his beer scented breath.

“Now, I know you’ll want to keep some of it, you kids and your toys and your branded clothes, I know I have to buy Chlo about three new outfits a week.” He gave a comradely chuckle, “but I think it’ll be fair if you pay fifty percent of it to us for the rent, I know it won’t be much and that’s alright, I know that you can get a better job in a year when you’re sixteen, Me and May will make do, New York rent and all, well we can’t all be Tony Stark.” He gave another laugh.

Peter felt bad, maybe he should have looked for a higher paying job, maybe with more hours, May had struggled to afford the last place and that was with Ben’s and his parents’ life insurances, this place was a lot more expensive. Charles was right, it was he least he could do, he would just have to save money up to buy extra food for himself, maybe fill himself up at the tower, and he was on free lunches at school so he could make sure he ate there too.

“Yeah, yeah of course Char- Mr Fisher, sir, I get paid every day I’ll give it to you after I do my patrol.” He watched the man nod then walk away, he had clearly gotten what he had wanted, no need to cosy up to Peter after that.

Peter slid into his bedroom, pulled out his phone and fell onto his bed with the too scratchy sheets, he pulled up his contacts and pressed the new name, now that Pepper was finally trusting Tony to not get too stressed by the news and have a heart attack.

Iron Dad

Peter knew that all of the other names had been jokingly put by various Avengers, but Tony had put his own in, maybe it was because Peter had been joking he was going to turn into a suburban dad and start wearing socks with sandals, he already had the dad jokes down.

He pressed it.

“Miss me already, Pete?”

Peter smiled at the voice in his ear, precisely why he had chosen not to do a video call, and he did, actually. “I was just wondering, y’know, if you have any ideas for your new arm… if you’re not busy.”

“I’m never too busy for you, Pete.” Peter listened intently, and before long had accidentally fallen asleep, safe knowing that Tony was on the phone.

Chapter Text

Guns were blasting all around Peter, everything was dark, smokey,  he was on that alien planet, no he was in New York, everything was on fire.

Tony was there, they were in Peter’s old apartment, Tony was slumped on the floor, leaning back against the couch, he looked dead.

“Tony! Tony!”

“You screwed the pooch, kid!” He cough and spluttered blood, “God, to think I put my trust, my… You are NOTHING without that suit!”

The scene moved, changed, Peter was falling, other Spidermen attacking him, falling, Avengers dead around him, falling, people yelling, screaming, Thanos, Dr Strange telling them that they’re in the End Game, Peter was coughing blood now, spluttering, searching for Tony, for Pepper, for Aunt May, for anyone.

He was slapped across the face, he went flying, his head hit back against something hard, something metal, Peter didn’t look but he knew that it was a large Iron Man suit.

Peter couldn’t look, he had to keep his eyes on the sight in front of him: Charles was huge, powerful, covered in blood which Peter was certain was his own.

“Please, no, please!” Peter’s begging voice was a powerless squeak.

“You are nothing. ” Charles voice roared.

He was walking to Peter now, slowly, one step at a time, each time his foot

“Mom! Dad! Please mom, da-!” Peter didn’t even know who he was calling for, not his biological parents, the ones who were gone before his sixth birthday, who put work before Peter and ended up dead for their troubles, maybe for May, for Ben, for Tony and Pepper?

Charles raised his fist-.

“Peter?”

“Peter!”

“Peter you are having a nightmare, you need to wake up.”

May.

Peter knew before he opened his eyes she was there, she was finally there for him. She’d stroke his hair, she’d apologise for not seeing how out of place he was in this new apartment, she would listen to him and he could tell her about what Charles had done and she would tell him that Charles would never touch him again, and that it could be just the two of them again.

It was not May.

Of course it was not May.

His phone was next to his head, he had fallen asleep texting Ned, now the screen was on, getting brighter and brighter, Karen’s voice was coming out of it.

“Peter, it appears that you had a nightmare.”

Peter let out a sigh, he could both feel and hear hit heart beating fast and strong, he was alive, he was okay, he was along. He let his head drop back against his thin pillow with another sigh “Yeah.”

“Calling Mr Stark.”

“What?” Peter sat upright. “What! Karen, no, no no no, I’m fine there’s no need to call Tony!”

“The Night Light protocol expressly demands that I call Mr Stark as soon as you have a nightmare, I have already waited until you are awake.”

Peter frowned, he knew that Karen probably shouldn’t have been able to hesitate in carrying out Tony’s orders but Tony’s Stark’s tech had always carried that spark of rebellion, Peter had laughed at Dum-E pouring motor oil into Tony’s coffee enough times to know that.

“Kid?”

Peter bit his lip, he nodded his head, before remembering Tony couldn’t see him. “Sorry.” He mumbled. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Karen said you had a nightmare, bud.”

Tony’s voice was low, Peter assumed that he was still in bed, probably with Pepper, maybe even Morgan, not wanting to wake them like he had been woken.

“I’m, I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t, I didn’t want Karen to call you, you can go now, I, I’m fine.”

“Pete,” Tony’s voice went soft like it did when Morgan had fallen and scraped her knees, “do you want me to come out? I can be there within forty mins.”

It was then that Peter realised that he was crying, and that was why Tony had sounded so concerned, so soft. Peter wanted to say yes, god he so wanted to say yes, he wanted to ask if he could pack a bag and stay the rest of the night in the tower. “No.” His voice was soft, barely audible, he should hang up, let Tony go back to sleep.

“Pete,” Tony sighed, “really I can come out, I’ll be there soon.”

“No! I just… Please just…”

“Peter”

“Tony,” he had meant to sound as challenging as Tony’s had but it came out as a whine, “I’m fine, really, can you just… can we just talk a bit…?”

“Of course, Underoos,” there was noise on Tony’s side, “wait a second, kiddo.”

Peter kept his head pressed against the cold cellphone, he could make out the deep mumbling of Tony and another voice, Peter let out a breath of a laugh at the fact that the genius tech billionaire and creator of the cellphones they were both using had covered the speaker with his hand instead of muting himself.

“Peter, honey, are you okay?”

A smile came to his face, he felt bad Pepper sounded worried, she shouldn’t be awake right then, awake and worried, but it was nice hearing someone care about him.  “‘M fine, just, I just had a nightmare, I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t say sorry,” Tony again, sounding slightly different, Peter realised that he must have been put on speaker phone, “it’s why I programmed Karen to call me, I figured you’d be a pain in the ass and stubbornly refuse to.”

Peter opened his mouth to protest but Pepper beat him to it.

“I wonder who that reminds me of…”

‘Someone who is trying to stop his kids from following in his footsteps?”

Peter’s mouth hung open, ‘his kids’, no, no Tony didn’t mean to count him, he had been trying to get out of trouble with Pepper, trying to distract her, it can been a slip of his words, an accident. He heard Pepper give a hum of appreciation, he figured it was the best way to not get lectured, or at the very least get Pepper to tell Tony off.
“Did you really have to call it the ‘Night Light Protocol’?”

It didn’t work, he could hear Pepper hiding a laugh, Tony outright snorted. “I would have called it The Baby Monitor Protocol, but that one was already taken, I think I’mma have to come up with some more names at this point.”

Peter let out a groan. “You’re a child.” He said through a pout, which eased when he heard Pepper and Tony laugh in response.

“Honey, you wanna tell us about your nightmare?”

Peter grimaced, he really didn’t want to think about it, his eyes fell on his shut door, suddenly terrified of Charles coming inside.

“I can still come over, Pete, it’s not a problem, you could-…” He cut himself off.

“It really wasn’t a big deal.”

“Karen says you were thrashing and whimpering, and your heart rates still going crazy.”

Peter frowned. “How do you know?”

“You’re holding your cell phone, it has some apps on there, I’m guessing you’ve not explored them all yet?”

Peter guessed he had been so busy that he hadn’t looked, or hadn’t wanted Charles to see him on the phone too much, didn’t want him to know that Peter owned something so expensive.

“Kid, tell us or I’m driving over and you’ll still have to tell me.”

“Tony.” Pepper admonished him gently and quietly, not agreeing with him threatening Peter, or at least not so firmly.

Peter let out a sigh, knowing that Pepper could and would only hold him off for so long before she let him or drove them both, or something else which would result in waking May and Charles up where his nightmare had not.

Peter slowly told them about his nightmare, enough of it was based in his own memories; the alien planet, the Chitauri setting New York on fire, Tony dying, everyone dying, Dr Strange, Charles; that he could remember the dream clearly. He told them it all… up until the point that Charles appeared, Peter couldn’t tell them, it was only a nightmare but he didn’t want them to know, to even suspect…. So he hid it, it wasn’t a big deal, it didn’t change the meaning if it was Charles or some faceless monster.

“Honey, do you think that maybe it could be caused from stress?”

“What?”

“I mean you start school again tomorrow, that sounds very stressful, I know you have some friends who are going to be with you, but it’s going to be weird going back there, I’m sure.”

Peter frowned, he hadn’t actually considered that, in fact he had been doing his best not to think about school at all. “Yeah, I guess. I guess they’ll go when everything’s back to normal.”

There was a pause in which Peter got the answer he had been dreading: nothing was ever going to go back to normal ever again.

“‘Course, Underoos… but y’know if you call me or Pep when you have one I won’t need Karen to force a call through.”

His tone was so soft even when he was admonishing him, and he was obliging him in the lie that anything could ever be normal ever again, that Peter’s cheeks turned a very light shade of pink which he wasn’t sure was even physical. “I was asleep,” he explained, or gave an excuse, he wouldn’t have called him even if he had been awake and they all knew it, “Karen woke me up.”

“That’s okay, honey, but if you wake before Karen does you’ll call us,” Pepper’s voice had a hint of steel lying just behind it, trying to push Peter towards the correct answer, “right?”

Peter nodded, giving a yawn, before saying “Yeah, ‘kay.” He yawned again. “I’mma get some sleep, I think I can sleep now… thanks for talkin’ to me.”

“Anytime Peter.”

“You sure you don’t need anything? I can come get you?”

Peter’s breath hitched, he could see it, future him saying yes, asking if he could stay a while, telling them how he doesn’t fit into the world anymore and he didn’t know what to do, but Tony was already moving on with his list, it was too late, Peter hadn’t answered fast enough. Stupid Peter, stupid stupid Peter.

“I could have some ice cream sent? Or if you wanna talk I can-“

“-Tony,” Peter’s voice was tired and quiet, “I think I’m just gonna sleep, if that’s okay?”

Peter could hear a sigh, he didn’t know what it meant, if they were relieved or disappointed.

“Okay, we’ll speak to you tomorrow, okay? Good luck at school, you have our numbers if you need them.”

There was a soft beep as he hung up the phone, his heart was beating quieter, the apartment was quiet, really he should be able to sleep but he couldn’t it wasn’t the quiet of his old apartment, of the Tower, of the hospital where Tony had been.

He stood up, stretched, let out a pleased sigh when all of his joints made the cracking and popping noises which he knew his aunt hated but was so satisfying.

He walked to the bookcase pressed against the opposite wall, there was the framed photographs his aunt had kept, some books. He looked up at the top shelf, a framed photograph from Peter’s ‘internship’, him and Tony holding two fingers up above each others heads, the certificate upside down, beside it were May’s thick biology and medical textbooks, he grabbed a medical one, maybe he could pick up a few things.

Peter’s morning was not off to a good start.

He had managed to fall back asleep for about an hour before the alarm on his phone was going off, he glared, knowing that he hadn’t set an alarm, but Karen told him that it was set to provide the optimal time for waking him from his sleep schedule with enough time for him to wake up properly, eat, shower, and ride the subway.

It was nice, he supposed, a helpful feature, but that didn’t stop him from hating it.

His shower was quick, Charles had already gone to work, using up all of the hot water before he had. Peter remembered him and his aunt planning the showers to allow each of them enough time to have warm showers, he wondered if there was a system like that in place already which he hadn’t been informed about.

He dried off, his hair curling from the shower, he cursed internally, he hadn’t bought any hair gel to smooth it down, hell it was getting too long to style how he used to, it would have to do.

He plunked himself down at the table with a bowl of the crap cereal and some buttered toast, and some OJ.

“You’re going to school in that?”

It took Peter a second to realise May was talking to him, it felt like it had been a long time since May had started a conversation with him, sure this didn’t sound like a particularly happy one but he could probably improve that, right?

He looked down at himself, it was an MIT letterman jacket, it had TES on the front pocket, and Einstein on the back, he wasn’t sure how exactly Tony got one as from what he heard he didn’t exactly do much work nor did he join any college societies, but it was warm and comfortable over his already thinning science pun t-shirt.

He looked back up at May with a half smile and a shrug. “It’s comfortable, and warm, I don’t really have many other hoodies, I have that MIT one I’ve been wearing, and maybe another? I could… should I go and change…?” He could hear his eagerness to please in his own voice but was unable to contain it.

“It’s as good as anything I suppose.” Her tone was clipped. “If you wanted a jacket or coat you really should have asked the other day when we were at the store, you should have remembered what you need, you’re not a little kid anymore, Peter, you should be responsible.”

Peter felt the pain in his lip before he realised he was biting it, again. “Sorry, Aunt May.”

He chewed the cereal, he had put too much milk on them and now they were soggy, they tasted like cardboard no matter how much sugar he added.

“Peter…” May hesitated, “Do you think you can drop the ‘aunt’, I’m not trying to, I just, it makes me feel old, like I’m one of the Golden Girls or something.”

A knife pierced Peter’s heart. He could see it before his very eyes, her severing their connection; they had been linked through Ben, then through Ben’s memory, May was moving on now, she had a new life, a replacement for Ben, not just a replacement but an improvement from Peter. Peter was not included, he was

“Y-yeah, yeah, ‘course, sorry I just… sorry.” He tried to sound upbeat but had to look down as tears came into his eyes. May didn’t notice she was too busy focusing on Sophia who had walked in the room dressed in an assortment of clothes none of them going with the other.

Before long Chloe came thundering in, each stamp of her foot was like a hammer in Peter’s head, he winced, keeping his eyes on his lukewarm toast even as he could feel her eyes on him glaring.

“Moooom,” her voice was a trill whine, “I can’t take a shower, there’s no hot water.”

“What? Babe are you sure? Your dad always leaves hot water for you.”

“It’s freezing, now I can’t have one!”

“Maybe there’s a problem with the pipes, I’ll call the landlord-“

“Peter used up all the water! He was in the bathroom forever taking a shower, he used up all of the water Mom!”

“Peter! You used up all the water!?” May demanded.

Peter was finally looking up from the table, his mouth open and frowning at the accusation, and at the May shouting at him.
“I didn’t! I had a cold shower too, it was Charles, he must have used it all up before he went to work.”

“Peter,” the stern tone was out, the one he had only heard when she had found out he was Spiderman, “don’t lie. Charles always makes sure there’s enough hot water for me and Chloe.

“I’m not lying.” Peter growled out trying to keep a rein on his anger. “I took a cold shower, I haven’t even used the hot water to shower here since like Wednesday, I’ve only been able to get cold ones.”

“Peter, I get you’re new here, but you really need to be more considerate.”

“Aunt-“

“Peter.” May snapped. “I am not fighting with you this morning. Just don’t do it again, and be more considerate, you are a guest in this house.”

May continued to lecture him but Peter couldn’t take it in, she didn’t mean that, surely, it had been a slip of the tongue, she would realise later and apologise. Hell he was even paying rent, most of the money he was going to earn would be going to Charles and May… maybe once he started paying he would be less of an inconvenience.

“Sorry. I’ll do better, I promise.”

“Apologise to Chloe too.”

Peter looked up at the twelve year old, there was malice in her eyes, a smirk on her face, she hadn’t really cared about the shower, hell she had probably known it was Charles, she just wanted him to know his place in this home.

“I’m really sorry Chloe, it won’t happen again.”

She gave a hum of acceptance before asking May to make her some breakfast, May moved to start it and Peter wolfed down his own unsatisfying breakfast, not that he had much of an appetite.

He cleaned up and grabbed his backpack, he said goodbye to May, she ignored him, the only sign that he had actually spoken was Sophia turning to May and asking her if ‘the boy’ was leaving forever now. Peter left before he could hear her answer.

Peter couldn’t help but feel grateful for the StarkPhone, sure it was an amazing piece of technology with an easy to use interface, sure it meant he was able to stay in contact with Karen at all times, and it had enough memory for him to download as many games as he wanted, and he was involved in several Avengers group chats.
But the best thing, according to Peter at least, was the fact it had unlimited data; Peter hadn’t asked for the wifi password at the Fisher’s apartment and after May’s tirade against him that morning he wasn’t planning on asking for it.

His phone buzzed contently after he swiped the metrocard through the barrier, it was one of the plusses of having been ‘vanished’ or ‘snapped’ or ‘unwritten’, he was eligible for plenty of new things free travel, free school diners, no late library fees at the libraries around the city, if he had been older he would have been eligible for subsidised housing, he wished he had been older.

His phone continued to buzz as he waited then climbed onto the subway, he stood on the train near a bar incase he needed to hold on, though the knew that he wouldn’t need to, not anymore.

His phone screen was full of text messages from everyone he knew in the tower; the Avengers, the friends of the Avengers, people who worked in the building like Larry the security guard who didn’t ask to see his ID anymore.

Peter had found an old pair of headphones in the box of stuff May had kept for him, they were cheap and crap, but they were good enough until he could save for some new ones, if he could save for new ones. They were good enough to be able to pull up the video messages from ‘IronMom’ and ‘Iron Dad’ several videos from each, all with an excited Morgan in, she kept getting distracted in the videos and telling him about random things instead of wishing him a good day, and telling him that she loved him, and that was probably the best thing he could possibly hear that morning.

There were also solo videos from Tony and Pepper, worrying about him mostly, Tony offering to order him food, Pepper pointed out in his video that it was Tony’s Italian roots bleeding through, Pepper reminding him that he could talk to either of them any time, Tony offering to sign him out of school and they could spend the day in the lab, Pepper telling him not to follow in Tony’s footsteps.

He recorded a short video as he walked from the station to his school, assuring the two worriers that he was fine, and engaging Morgan in her in depth explanation of playing with some action figures, he had just shot it off when he bumped into someone.

“Shii… sorry, sorry, I didn’t-“

“Calm down loser.”

Peter’s head shot up, sure enough there was MJ, giving him a crooked grin, Peter wrapped his arms around her straight away, to his surprise he felt her arms briefly wrap around him too. He let go sooner than he had wanted to, his cheeks ever so slightly pink, realising that they hadn’t hugged before.

“Er, I’m, I’m really glad you’re okay, MJ, sorry I mean Michelle-“

“MJ.”

“I thought, you said that was only for your friends to call you.” He watched her shrug and his smile widened despite his best efforts to stay cool, “Cool, cool cool cool.”

She sent him a slightly pitying smile, but it didn’t feel bad, that was just her style.

“We’ve got to go in through the other side,” she nodded her head towards a group of people, including Ned, Flash, and a few other people who were on the debate team and a couple of other clubs he had been part of before he had quit, “apparently the school changed, and we’re all in the same homeroom, I don’t know why it’s not like we’re all going to disappear again.”

Peter watched as she began to walk, before he could follow her she looked back at him.

“I’m, er, I’m glad that you’re okay too, Peter.”

Peter beamed maybe the day wouldn’t be quite so bad.

Peter wondered how he had ever been nervous about school, the day had been better than he could have expected.

They had started their morning being given a tour, all of the disappeared, which all of them had privately agreed was a bit ridiculous: they had all come back like no time had passed, like they had just been on that bus for the field trip to Stark Industries, they knew the way around the majority of the school, they could have figured out their way to the new classrooms by process of elimination, still it allowed them to miss world history class so none of them pointed that out.

His lessons had been okay, good even, so long as he ignored that half of their class had been ten when he was last in school and were now all older than him as he was the youngest in the class, and were staring at them all like they were aliens… Peter felt bad for staring at the aliens when he met them, though that Other Peter was still weird… he would have to send him a list of better movies than Footloose, if he could figure out how to message him.

They went from class to class, all of his friends were in the AP classes like he was, Flash was there too, but so far hadn’t bothered him, he was too busy looking lost, he barely even remembered to call him Penis Parker.

He couldn’t help but notice an improvement in the school lunch menu, as he stood in line with Ned and MJ and Abe he overheard someone saying that the food was never usually this good, he was struck by a feeling that the lunches had been improved thanks to Stark Industries, he would be annoyed but the food was really good, and he had only had bad cereal and cold toast that day.

He was sat tucking into his double cheese burger, when Mr Harrington appeared, Peter had always liked him he was a little weird and very nerdy but he was nice.

He started to gush over them all being alive, Peter tried his best to look appreciative while stuffing his face but wasn’t sure if he pulled it off or not.

“Debate is going to be starting up again, I know that you’re all keen members, I’ll count on seeing you all on Friday after school?”

Peter swallowed down a mouthful of food which hadn’t been chewed enough so hurt as he swallowed it. “Erm sir,” he gave a little cough and wince as the food full left his throat, “I can’t, I can’t do debate anymore, I have a, erm, I have to stay at my, my uncle’s house on Fridays.” His eye caught Ned’s and the latter’s eyes bugged when he realised that the fictional uncle was Tony Stark.

“Oh well, I was hoping we could have two sessions a week,” he looked at MJ who, as team captain, nodded, “the other on Wednesday after school, you can come to that one and catch up in your spare time.”

“Oh I erm, sir, I really can’t, I just got a job, it’s a delivery job, it’s on after school every day, I already have Friday’s and Saturdays and Sundays off so I really, really can’t, I’m so so sorry.”

“So you’re not going to your so called ‘Stark Internship’?”

Peter rolled his eyes at the smirk Flash was sporting, like he had finally won a game Peter hadn’t even been playing, he was tired of those malicious smirks, Flash’s looked too much like Charles’. “No I still do that,” Peter mumbled, “’s on at the weekends, that’s why I go to my uncle’s, it’s close to the tower.”

“I believe you, Peter.” Mr Harrington’s voice made it clear that he didn’t believe him at all but was indulging him, like a child, Peter wanted to protest that he really did, he had his badge he could show them all that, but MJ spoke up instead.

“Why don’t we have them at lunch times? There’s plenty of classrooms spare and it means that people who need to get the school bus or whatever home can still come.”

The was a moment of hesitation as though the teacher was trying to visualise it. “That should work, if that’s okay with everyone. I can arrange it with the lunch monitors that you’re allowed to take food from the canteen to the classroom, I’ll tell you where we’ll be meeting in home room later this week.” He gave them a pleased nod before seeing another teacher he apparently was pleased to see so left their table.

“That’s bullshit, Parker.” Flash spat. “You don’t have an Internship, it’s not even on at the moment.”

“Y-Yes,Yeah I do,” Peter cringed, his cheeks turning pink, he hadn’t stuttered so much for a couple of years, he knew that the more he thought about it the worse it would be, but it was hard not to. “I have a-a-a badge and everything, it’s still on for people who already work there- a-an-and-.”

But Flash was laughing and moving away from the table with his tray. “It’s bull, Parker, everyone knows that, seriously only Ned believes you.”

There were a few half hearted protests from the rest of the table and Ned sounded like he was about to gear up to insult the boy.

“You’re just upset because you keep getting rejected.” MJ said cooly as though unbothered by either side of the argument. “Didn’t you get rejected by OSCORP and Hammer too?”

Peter felt a swell of appreciation as he watched Flash splutter an answer before leaving, Peter sent MJ a small smile across the table, and she sent him one back.

Peter raced to Delmar’s intent on making a good impression, the man seemed happy to see him, he claimed he was getting too skinny and insisting that he was too skinny and that he’d be no good to him if he keeled over en route, he tossed him a sub and Peter thought it would be bad manners to turn it town.

The work was easier than he thought, he thought that perhaps it would be easier with a bike, but he had luckily found a skateboard in a dumpster the day before, he couldn’t keep taking his suit off and on between homes and the store so he couldn’t use his web shooters, the skateboard was the next best thing.

He worked for four hours, at the end of it Mr Delmar grinned, saying he wished he had come up with this earlier, he handed Peter $40, Peter held out the tips had had collected through the night, ready for them to be divided between everyone working, but Mr Delmar waved his hand.

“You earned that, son, now go on get out of here, go play on video games or whatever you kids do, remember to do your homework!”

Peter changed into the suit the ally behind the store, as soon as he had the mask on he heard Karen’s voice in his ears.

“Hello, Peter, it’s nice to have you back.”

Peter beamed. “It’s good to be back.” He swung himself into the air, webbing his backpack to the side of the store, a few stories up, at least he would know where he had left it this time. “What’ve we got?”

Peter was flying high by ten that night.

He had spent his entire time on patrol busy: he saved several people from being hit by cars, prevented half of a bicycle theft (technically it was their bicycle but better safe than sorry right?), he took a lost little boy home, and took a family of a mum and pups to a local animal shelter where they promised him that they would be homed together.

He was flying high not just because he was helping people (and animals because Spiderman was for equality) but because Queens was happy that he was back, everywhere he went were gasps or cheers or “hey Spidey!”, even criminals seemed happy he was back.

He was buzzed, but exhausted, mentally and physically, despite that he knew that he should get back to the apartment before his eleven pm curfew, he didn’t want to push it on his first day back.

That was when he smelled the gas. In his mind he remembered class, talking about gas leaks, the different types, the dangers…

Everything happened fast, for once it was easy getting people to believe him, helping to save the world gave him some credibility apparently, but it was hard work, an entire building of people and pets.

He was just grabbing the last cat when he heard it, the little click, his heart stopped, he fired his webshooter out of the window hoping that it would stick to something, anything.

The fire followed him, brushing the back of his suit, he felt the ferocity as he swung, he could smell the burning flesh, feel the pain. He placed the kitten in a fireman’s hand and swung his way down the street until he was far enough away, he settled onto a roof top, he led down, catching his breath, panting and trying his best to just breathe.

Eventually he calmed down and pulled his mask off. At his side was an Iron Man suite. “Mr- Tony?” He heard his voice transformed into a squeak from the surprise.

“What the hell happened?!”

“Wha-?”

“The gas explosion! You count that as sticking to the small stuff? Takin’ it easy?”

“I was- I, they would have died if I hadn’t got them out! I was just passing, I didn’t go looking for trouble, I- I was doing the right thing!” This conversation was too similar to the one they had after the Ferry, he was full of fear that his suit would be taken again, god he couldn’t do this if Tony took his suit and was mad at him, he couldn’t be stuck with school and that apartment.”

A tinny sigh. “I know, kid. I’m sorry… I overreacted, I was just… I was worried you got caught in it. Are you hurt?”

Yes. “No.” Peter told him certainly. “I think my suit is a little charred though.”

Another sigh, this time a little more fondly. “We can fix it when you come on Friday,” he promised. “Why’re you wearing this one? Why not the Iron Spider one? It’d be safer.”

“I can’t.”

“Is it broken?”

Peter shook his head.

“Then why-?”

“I can’t.”

“Why- oh.” His voice fell, he realised he couldn’t wear it, the same suit he had worn when he had died, when they both had. “We can start working on a new one on Friday.”

“I wish you were here, really here, I know you’re not, I mean I know you can’t, but… forget I said it.”

“I wish I could be here too, kid. Once I’ve got a prosthetic sorted I can use my suit again, I can be your backup.”

“…Like a sidekick.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips waiting for the reaction.

“Hey! If anyone’s the Robin in this situation it’s you, kid, in fact I’m better than Batman, I’m smarter and richer, honestly there was a poll in some magazine, I have it framed.”

Peter let out a laugh, he knew that was Tony’s intent in the first place, but it had worked.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m good, I’m… I’m tired but I got homework.”

“You wanna come the tower? You can do your homework when I get you checked out again.”

Peter wanted to say yes, he so wanted to say yes, but he remembered Charles’ stern words about curfew, he couldn’t just swing by the tower, he didn’t have time, he felt like he was chasing time, never quite able to catch up. “I can’t, I’ve got a curfew in,” he looked at his phone which he had hidden in a secret pocket in the suit. “Shoot, eight minutes.”

“A curfew…” The Iron mask was emotionless but Peter could hear the eyebrow raise in his voice. “… May has gotten strict.”

“Not May,” Peter mumbled mostly to himself as he fitted his mask again, “Mr Fisher.”

There was a beat of silence.

“…Mr-?”

“I gotta go.” Peter said running to the edge, then running off, swinging at the last possible moment.

He only just made it through his window, one minute to spare, he changed out of the suit Charles may know about him but he didn’t feel comfortable him seeing. He’d get the suit fixed on Friday, it would be okay in the meantime, he could just wear a bandaid or something to cover the patch on his arm. He stared at the back of his arm, having to twist it around to see, it wasn’t healed yet, he had a few other bruises, he had bumped into several building… he was going to have to sweet talk Karen into deleting that from the Baby Monitor footage.

“Gettin’ outta shape Parker.” He mumbled to himself. He took his phone out of his pocket and placed it on charge on his bedside table, he grabbed some pyjamas he had been give in Wakanda and went to the bathroom for another cold shower, it would wake him up enough to do his homework, and he hoped it would get rid of that funky burning smell.

His homework was half finished by the time his stomach was rumbling too much to ignore, it was late, just past midnight, he would have to be quiet, maybe a quick grilled cheese would be good.

He was in the living area before he realised Charles was awake, the smell of the beers hit him, then the sound of the news playing, he made sure to quieten his steps, he tried not to protest to his new channel choice, did May know that the guy watched Fox News? That had been banned in their old apartment, not that he had wanted to watch it anyway, he could hear the bouncy blonde reporter, ironically called Karen, ranting about the public menace Spiderman.

Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, ignore it. He moved to the kitchen, opened the fridge, kept his eyes open, gods he was tired, cheese, butter, perfect, he could make it then retreat to his room and finish his homework, maybe ring Tony, or he could ring Pepper to make sure that Tony wasn’t mad at him-

Pain burned through his arm as it was twisted, he was being pulled back, pressure put on his shoulder, a strangled yelp left his lips as he heard a crack, his shoulder had been dislocated. His spider sense was in overdrive, he couldn’t focus on what was wrong what had caused it, had someone broken in?

But all he saw was Charles: red faced, vein popping in his neck, the ice fire in his grey eyes.

“You’re stealing my food.” Charles let out in a low growl before Peter could even think about saying or doing anything.

Peter shook his head trying to find his words. “N-n-no, no, Charles.”

A swift punch to his stomach.

He crumpled over as best he could with Charles still holding

“You do not get to call me that.”

Peter let out a strangled whimper, he had to think quick, he had to deescalate this situation. His hand grabbed into his hoodie pocket, the money he had earned, not including his tips, he shoved it towards Charles. “I was, I was gonna give you that, I swear I had it out here I-“ the money was snatched from him and Charles pocketed it.

“That money is just rent, that doesn’t include our food.” His voice was a growl still. “You buy your own food in this house, Parker, unless I invite you to join us to eat.”

Peter wanted to throw up, he didn’t know if it was the sucker punch to the stomach, or the scent of a lot of beer on Charles’ breath. “May’ll never let you, let you do this.”

He was shoved to the floor, his head hitting as it collided with the tile, every part of his body hurt, he curled up as best he could, he was Spiderman, he had fought aliens, and Avengers, and villains, baddies, why was he so terrified of this man?

“Don’t you dare threaten me.”

His voice was scarily calm.

“You think that May doesn’t know? That she doesn’t approve?” He gave a genuine sounding laugh, as though Peter wasn’t curled up, cowering, or maybe because Peter was curled up, cowering. “Damn, you really don’t know her at all, do you?”

The light tinkling sound, Peter turned his head in time to see him undoing his belt.

“You are only here until you get kicked out of school, or until May stops feeling guilted into taking in little charity case Peter Parker. I think it’s time you learnt a lesson, Champ.”

“P-p-please, no, please-!”

It was an hour before he was left alone, another hour until Peter was certain enough that Charles was asleep and he could go to his room.

He passed the front door on his way, he could leave, he could go right now, he could go and stay at the tower, he had a room there.

But Charles was right, he was useless, a charity case:
Ben had only taken him because they shared DNA,
May took him in because she felt bad, no one else would want him, not really,
the Starks just felt bad, and they already had Morgan,
there was Ned, but his family had gone through enough they didn’t need him to add to their troubles,
and he didn’t even know where MJ lived and it would be weird even if he did turn up at her place.

He should have stopped him, he could have stopped him, he was fuckin’ Spiderman, he had led and whimpered and took it as the leather bit his skin, he could have stopped it, like he could have stopped Ben, he could have stopped Mr Stark, he didn’t.

He curled up under the scratchy bed covers without

He was a coward.

He didn’t deserve these powers.

Chapter Text

A hard nudge from Ned woke him up. He wanted to sleep, he wanted to eat, he wanted to not feel so tired.

“Peter?”

Peter’s head shot up.

Shit.

The whole chemistry class was staring at him, shit. He wiped his drooling mouth on his sleeve.
“I’m sorry, Mr Harrington, sir, I’m so sorry, I did’t mean to- I just-.” He didn’t know what to say, he glanced down at his worksheet, only half complete, everyone else’s was done, he normally would have been the first to finish.

“It’s quite alright,” The teacher assured him in that pitying voice people used on the return when they misspoke or they wrote the wrong year. “Can you stay behind, I just need to talk to you.”

Peter’s heart dropped, Mr Harrington had tried to make it sound casual but everyone in the class knew Peter was in trouble, Peter debated walking out of class then and there, but he would only end up in more trouble.

“Are you okay, dude?” He started to pack up his stuff like the rest of the class, bar Peter, was doing.

Peter gave a halfhearted half smile to his best friend’s whispered concern. “Just tired.”

“Maybe you should give up your job. I mean May’s working enough, and your new uncle,” Peter felt sick, “he’s like a loaded doctor right, and like you’re best friends with,” Ned dropped his whisper quieter, “Tony Stark, god man you’re so lucky, you’re so buying the next lego set.” Ned hesitated. “Are you sure you’re okay… you look like really skinny, super skinny, if my mom sees you she’s gonna try and feed you up y’know, and like you have like huge bags under your eyes, are you- you know you can talk to me, you can be honest, you can tell me-“

“-Ned!” He cut his friend off a little too loud, he felt eyes on him again, he dropped his voice. “It’s just, it’s Avengers stuff, I would tell you if I could.” He felt bad lying to his friend but he knew it was the only way to get Ned to stop prying. Ned had so much on his plate, Peter couldn’t be a burden to him too, he couldn’t lose him.

It didn’t help that Peter had no idea how to word the revelation.
How could he tell Ned that he was only allowed to eat things he bought himself but Charles took all his money?
That Peter hid tip money inside of his old Iron Man teddy, that he filled himself up at school and the tower and on Mr Delmar’s charity sandwiches?
That his back was littered with abrasions of various stages of healing from Charles’ efforts to teach him not to be a useless, disrespectful, weak, stupid piece of shit?
That Peter’s healing wasn’t working as well as it used to, it was still working but at half the speed, and Peter didn’t know how to fix it?
That Peter couldn’t sleep from pain and nightmares?
That the highlights of his day was being at school even though his grades had tanked in these last two weeks, or when he would talk on the phone to any of the people at the tower even though he couldn’t bring himself to text them and become a burden, or being Spiderman even though he couldn’t seem to move quite so fast and he was slightly scared that he was losing Spiderman?

But Ned didn’t push Peter, in fact he accepted it easily, with a beaming smile and a “That’s so cool.” Before wishing Peter a happy weekend and leaving Peter alone in the classroom with the teacher.

Peter could hear the change in his teachers heart as he walked over to Peter, it quickened ever so slightly, before he even looked at it he knew that his teacher would be looking worried. He needed to get out of this, fast.
“Sir, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I just, I… I erm, I was do-doin’  a movie marathon thing last night and n-“

“Peter,” his voice was calming, kind, how was Mr Harrington always so kind? “I’ve noticed that you’ve become more and more unfocused over these past couple of weeks back at school, as your homeroom teacher other teachers have told me that they’ve noticed the same; you haven’t been completing school work, you haven’t been completing all of your homework… I know that it must be hard, coming back, everything changing, it can cause a lot of trauma-“

Peter zoned out, he got the headlines, Mr Harrington thought that Peter was suffering PTSD or something from coming back to life, frankly the teacher didn’t understand the half of it, Peter had thought in a war, at least twice, he had lost everything, gaining only some of it back, Peter wished that Mr Harrington had been right, that coming back to life was the height of his problems.

He felt his phone buzz against his leg, it was Friday, Happy was picking him up to drive to the tower, if Peter didn’t appear soon Happy would come looking for him, or worse, he’d tell Tony that Peter was running late. “Mr Harrington, Sir, I’m so sorry, I swear I just…” a lie, he just needed a lie, something believable, something close enough to the truth that guilt didn’t eat at him, “I find it hard to concentrate at home, everything’s so… busy, but I go stay at my, my-er, my uncle’s home on Fridays and Saturdays, I can concentrate there, and get help from, from my uncle, I promise that if you send me some extra credit work I can, I can do it at the weekends, I’ll get better grades, sir, I promise.”

Mr Harrington frowned ever so slightly but nodded. “Peter,” he sighed, “Peter, I’m worried about you. I’m worried that you’re putting too much stress on yourself, I could talk to your par- your guardian?”

Peter shook his head fast but determinedly. “I can take it, sir, I can handle it. I c-can handle it.” He taste bile in his throat, the words he had used against Charles the night before while the man’s belt bit into the flesh of his back, calling him weak.

Happy had remarked on Peter being late when the boy had finally climbed into the car, Peter hadn’t been in the mood for Happy’s grumpy banter, he hadn’t been in the mood for anything, he wanted to sleep, desperately, but he had so much work to do, he had so much he needed to do, he couldn’t let everyone down, like he already was.

So Peter did neither, too tired to begin his homework, too stressed to fall asleep.

Happy had given him weird look as he sat silently the whole long ride.

Tony had met them in the garage, that was Peter’s first and obviously sign that Happy had told him both that he was later and that he was quiet, he didn’t know when Happy had text that, perhaps when they had stopped at one of the many red lights during their drive.

Tony had been the only one around when they went into the Stark suite, according to Tony Pepper and Morgan were spending the day in the city, he pushed a bowl of pasta in front of Peter, claiming that he had made too much at lunch, but Peter could see the still steaming hot pans in the sink, he wolfed it down so fast that Tony had to tell him to slow down before he choked.

They moved to Tony’s personal lab the floor down from the Stark suite, only accessible from going through the Stark apartment, really it was more of a workshop crossed with a science lab and a computer lab. It was Peter’s idea of heaven.

Tony busied himself on the computer entering in some pieces of code ready to show Peter something. “So, was it detention?”

“Wh- What?”

“Happy said you were very late coming out, so it was either detention, or a girl…. Or a guy, or a not either of those things, y’know whatever floats your boat.”

Tony had added the end bit so quickly and panicked that Peter couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter, but then he noticed Tony’s eyes on him, his face was formed into an amused smile, one of his eyebrows raised ever so slightly, clearly trying to keep the atmosphere light, but the question in his eyes was clear.

Anger swelled inside of Peter. “I wasn’t even that late,” he picked up a hammer and began to hit a piece of metal, “I was like ten minutes late, if Happy is so upset he doesn’t have to drive me, I can make my own way.”

“Woah, woah, woah, Teen Angst, chill,” Tony caught hold of the Hammer while it was in the air before Peter could use it again, he kept hold of it until Peter let go, Tony placed it back on the table. “Happy’s not annoyed, kid, he’s worried, he wanted to make sure that you’re not in trouble.”

“Well, I’m not.” Peter grumbled in response.

“Okay then,” Tony clapped his hands together. He turned on the holotable before turning to Peter. “Roos, you look exhausted, you have bags to rival my own,-“

“-You don’t have any bags.”

“… Okay, you have bags to rival the ones I used to have. You wanna take a quick nap before we do this thing?” He held in a sigh as Peter shook his head. “You sure? There’s a couch over there, you don’t even need to leave the lab…” Another shake on the head, this time Tony let out the tiniest sigh. “Okay, I’ve been designing two prosthetic arms, now that I’m allowed to wear one, the temporary one we’re gonna make today, the other I need your help with designing.”

“Woah, this is so cool,” Peter didn’t waste time placing his arm inside the holograph, watching it fit over his arm, annotative notes appeared telling him the features. “You made this? Like this would take most people years - I, oh, shh-shoot, sorry I shouldn’t have just done- I’m sorry, I should have asked, sir.”

Tony had never seen Peter’s mood change so fast, he looked… scared, like he was in trouble. Tony didn’t understand, and there was the ‘sir’ business, which was probably something he picked up at school, but it made Tony feel like his own father and there was little he hated more than that. He quickly shook his head.
“Kid, it’s fine, it’s why I turned it on, go wild.” He could see Peter still looking uncertain, his eyes flittering towards the door then at Tony.

“I made it for an old friend, well kinda friend, his name was Agent,” As Tony continued as though nothing was wrong he could see Peter physically relaxing again, Tony had taken the right course of action, “he died or faked his death, I’m not sure which, maybe both, anyway his arm got chopped off by an axe by one of his team - I’m starting to think our team isn’t so bad to be honest, he’s not retired so his has loads of different features I won’t need, like there’s a little pen containing poisonous jellyfish ink?”

Peter laughed. “He sounds awesome, can I meet him?”

Tony rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, sure, ask Pep. He’s still meant to be pretending that he’s dead but they email each other, and meet up for gossip sessions, hell he came to my wedding, I don’t think he’s as good a spy as he thinks he is.”

Peter laughed but began to play around with the holograph. “Okay, maybe you don’t need the weapons, but you could keep some defensive features, just in case.”

Tony smile and the two began to get on with their work, the two worked well together, even if Peter kept glancing worriedly at Tony, and Tony kept glancing worriedly back, when the other one wasn’t looking, of course.

“So, erm, he went to your wedding?”

“Yup.”

“I- I saw the photograph, a photograph from, not- erm, in May’s office- my bedroom, she, she left it, I think she thought I’d like to see it-“

“See what, kid?”

“A photo from her wedding, I, you were there.” Peter frowned down at the work in front of him, trying to see busy as he experimented with pushing a hidden button. “I didn’t, I didn’t realise you were friends with them May and Mist-er- Charles.”

Tony paused in what he was doing, the kid had his back to him, Tony stared at him anyway. “Not really, more of a, May had been mad, at us- mostly me I’m sure, but I think that I was a kinda stand in for you. It was, she was happy, y’know, your aunt, she really was, I know she missed you,” god knows Tony had spent the time counting down to leaving, “but she was starting to live again, let go of anger, y’know?”

Peter nodded his head but kept his eyes on the table. May had been angry at him. She had been angry when she found out about Spiderman, she had still been angry the week later, they hadn’t had a chance to talk, then Peter went on the school trip and Peter ended up in space, dead. She had been mad, she still was mad, he had still messed up and been the one at fault, no wonder she hated him.

“Hey, kid, Underoos?” When Peter didn’t respond Tony turned the spinny chair to face him using his foot. “Pete, why’d you call him ‘Mister’ all the time?”

“I didn’t. Who?”

“Smooth kid.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Moustache-less Charlie Chaplin. You called him mister just then, and you did it a couple of weeks ago, after you nearly became a flamin’ spider.”

“It’s polite.” Peter shrugged. “My, erm, my uncle Ben, he was a cop, he always made sure I was polite, I guess between him and school it’s a habit.”

Tony hesitated. “…So you’re not like calling him that at home, right? Cause that’d be weird, and not very happy families.”

“Of course not.” Peter forced a puff of laughter to escape his lips with his lie. “Totally happy families.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at him, there was just something… He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Peter was usually a terrible liar, so unless he suddenly improved over the past couple of weeks he must be telling the truth… but there was still just something. He unnarrowed his eyes, nodding his back towards a couple of computers. “C’mon, I’ll teach you how to code while we wait for the prosthetic to print.”

As Tony gave Peter some pointers he peppered the kid with questions:

“How’s May?”

“Fine, great.”

“How’s having two new annoying siblings?”

“They’re not my sisters. And I prefer Morgan.”

“And you prefer me to Chuck, right? I mean I am cooler, and-“

“Sure, whatever you say, is that one right?”

“Hows work? Subway, right?”

“It’s Mr Delmar’s and you know it.”

“Only cause you’re obsessed with their sandwiches. How’s school?”

“Fine, er- Tony is this one, are you sure you typed it right?”

“Shhh-shoot, good spottin’ kid.” Tony quickly fixed the line so it didn’t blow them all up. “So school’s fine? You still doing decathlon right? How about band? Any-“

“Mr- Tony!” Peter finally exploded. “Why do you keep asking about school? I said it was fine? Do you not believe me? I swear I - you don’t have to know every little detail of my life, school’s fine, life’s fine, what do you not believe me? What are you gonna do, start hacking into my school record-!”

“Kid!”

Peter felt Tony’s hand clutching onto his arm, tight enough to be felt, it shouldn’t have hurt, it wouldn’t have had Charles not punched him there the other day, it was enough pain to silence him, his eyes wide and darting around the room. When had he walked over to the couch?

“Pete? You with me.”

No, no he really wasn’t. Peter gave a jerky nod. He allowed himself to be pushed back to sit on the couch, Tony sat next to him, still holding onto him but gentler this time.

“Rhodey taught you to copy slow breathing, right?”

Another jerky nod, this time Peter was more certain in his answer, Rhodey had, back in Wakanda, when Peter had been having panic attacks which he apparently hadn’t hid as well as he thought he had.

“Good, good, copy mine then, okay, in for seven, out for eleven, easy to remember, huh?”

Peter copied Tony’s slowed breathing, his anger dispelling with each breath out, until he could finally breath, though he hadn’t realised that he couldn’t before.

“’m, I‘m so sorry Tony, so sorry, I didn’t-“ Peter was cut off as he was pulled into a tight hug.

“Don’t apologise Pete, I was just, I am just worried about you, you’ve been through a lot, you’re taking on a lot, a lot of responsibility, you look, you look like shit kid, worse, you look like I do when I look like shit.” He heard a small, wet laugh against his shoulder.

“I never meant to make you worry.”

Peter’s voice sounded so small, so broken, that it broke Tony too. “I’m always gonna worry about you, it’s just… Don’t say sorry, okay?” He pulled him closer so that Peter was leaning against him, his arm against Peter’s back, his hand stroking his hair.

“‘kay… I am still sorry though, even if you won’t let me say it.”

Tony smiled and rolled his eyes, even if Peter couldn’t see him and even if he was still sounding sad and small, because there was a hint of the real Peter in those words. “How about I promise not to invade your privacy too much, if you promise not to lie to me?” He felt a nod against him and let out an exhale.

Soon Peter was fast asleep, still in Tony’s arm, but Tony didn’t slide out from under him, he had nothing to do, other than wait for his arm to be printed, and at least this way he knew the kid was getting some sleep.

Peter was still asleep three hours later when Pepper came down to the lab; her eyes drifted over to Peter, fast asleep on the tatty leather couch, the lights over him dimmed, but she walked over to her husband, fiddling with the red and god metal arm now filling the space where his right arm used to be.

“You know, I’ve always thought those colours suited you?”

Tony’s head snapped up to see her, on his face was a huge smile, his eyes full of life, and mischief. “Aha! So you admit you were crushing on me when I was your boss!”

“You know that I married you, right?”

“Still… pretty embarrassing on your part…”

“I assure you, the only thing I wanted to do when I was working for you was kill you.”

Tony let out a snort of laughter still beaming.

“How’s it feel?” Pepper’s voice softened, reaching out to touch the warm metal.

“Weird.” Tony admitted. “It’s gonna take some getting used to, I figured this one could be like training wheels while me and Pete work on the real one, it’ll look life life, like Agent’s, but more superior, like me.”

Pepper rolled her eyes but she was still smiling, her eyes turned a little sad when she looked from Tony to Peter. “How’s our boy?”

Tony sighed and leant back against the table behind him. “I guess Fri told you about his panic attack?” His question was met with a nod. “I don’t know Pep, maybe he’s just stressed, he’s a kid who takes responsibility too seriously,” he ignored the look she gave him, “maybe he’s taken on too much, I mean. Or maybe we could get Sam to talk to him, I know he says that it’s important that Peter goes to him but if we trap Pete in a room with him it could work.”

“Tony we both know that’s not the solution, Sam’s right, Peter needs to talk to him, if this is PTSD then that’s important, if you try to force Peter into something he might just end up resenting you, and that’s the last thing we need.” Pepper rested her head against her husband’s shoulder.

They both stared at the sleeping teenager on the couch, Dum-E wheeled his way over to him and dropped a blanket on him.

“How come he never does that for me? Garbage machine, I’m donating him to a creche, all he does is try to poison me.” Tony grumbled but he was smiling at the sight. “Fri, send me a video of that, and add it to my files.”

They walked over, hand in hand, Pepper tucked the blanket around him properly, Tony brushed his hair out of his face.

“He looks too skinny.” Pepper whispered.

Tony knew, he’d been thinking that too, but he was hardly an expert on healthy eating habits. “I fed him before we started working, but he looks like he needs like eight feasts a day… I could send some to his apartment but he’d probably accuse me of over stepping… I kind of promised him not to invade his privacy, I think me having chefs follow him to work might be a bridge to far.”

“It definitely would.” Pepper confirmed when she saw the look on Tony’s face which confirmed that he was definitely still debating it. “I just… I know he’s big on responsibility but I thought May never wanted him to get a job while he was in school, that’s what he used to tell us right? She was even dubious of his fake internship.”

“I don’t know.” Tony let out through a sigh, that was his least favourite phrase to hear coming from his own mouth, particularly when it came to one of his kids. “We could talk to May, but if we did Pete would find out, and then he’d be pissed, you should have seen him Pep, I’ve never seen him explode like that.”

Peter spent his Saturday trying to avoid Tony and Pepper, it had been harder than he had thought it would be, but eventually Tony tired of pretending not to watch him while Peter did his homework, Peter waited until it was clear that Tony was busy doing something to sneak out of his bedroom and out of the Stark suite.

He took the stairs down, if he took the elevator he’d be announced by the ding of the elevator, and as much as he loved all the Avengers all of them could accidentally bring up his visit to Tony who would spend the rest of Peter’s time at the tower questioning him. His ribs burned as he took the stairs two at a time, he was fairly certain he had broken at least two of them, he had wrapped them up the best he could.

“Hey Spiderling.”

Peter jumped out of his skin, he watched Natasha smirk, his hand nearly went to touch his ribs but he stopped himself. “Nat, what’re you doing here?”

“I live here.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I meant hanging out in the stairwell.”

“You got a monopoly on stairwells?” Another eye roll, the kid really was Tony’s copy, even if neither of them were ready to admit it. “Stark’s been whining to us for the past hour that his kid’s been avoiding him, doing homework, responsibility, I figured that you would probably want to sneak down to avoid him and you’d probably have waited til you were sure he wasn’t about to catch you.”

“How’d you know I would be coming down at all?’

“Call it a hunch.” Natasha shrugged.

“Am I… are you mad at me for something? I’m sorry if I did something, I really didn’t mean to-“

“Of course I’m not mad at you.” Natasha interrupted looking as offended as she sounded. “You’re my favourite, well along with the littlest Stark, but you’re holding a joint position, I could never be mad at either of you.”

Peter’s cheeks reddened, he looked down mumbling. “That’s very… thanks, I, thanks Nat.”

“You gonna tell me what’s going on with you? You’re acting like a ghost, you’re skinny, you have bags bigger than Tony’s, you’re always too tired to spar or to go running with Steve who actually thinks you might hate him now, and you’ve clearly hurt your ribs.”

“It-it’s nothing.”

“Flash.” She enunciated clearly. “That asshole at your school, is it him? Did he hurt you?                                                      ````````````````````”

Peter hesitated then shrugged. “I can handle it. I just… look promise not to tell Tony?” She was silent and Peter figured that was as good as it was going to get. “I… My… Okay, I… I was gonna go and talk to Dr Banner, my healing’s kinda not working right now, I mean it’s still working just not as well, it’s slower, I’m not sure why and I don’t want Tony to stress or worry, I don’t want to add to everything - I mean he’s still healing, y’know?”

“So, the cut on your hand you said you got from trying to juggle knives-“

“-I did-“

“-But it’s not healed?”

“It’s healing slowly. It’s how I fi-”

“And your ribs?”

Peter sighed. “…You’re right… those were Flash.”
It was a lie, but if he tried not to focus on that he could try and not be caught, it was close enough to the truth, Flash had punched him in them the other day, it just happened that Charles pushed him down and kicked him until his ribs broke the next day.

“…Peter… I know you’re not telling me everything…that’s okay, but if the water gets over your head, will you talk to me?”

“It’s not over my head,” he assured her, “it’s exactly at my head.” He locked eyes with her for a moment and she nodded.

“Take this door, it’ll take us straight to the lab, Banner’s already there.”

“Thanks, I,-”

“-I’m coming with you, you don’t have to tell him everything, but I want to come with you.”

Peter thought about protesting but could do with some backup if Bruce began to pry too much, he was pretty sure Natasha would give him it, and he doubted he had much of a choice anyway. 

Forty minutes later Bruce came back into the room.

“You guys have seriously stolen all of the lollipops?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“I only took five.” Peter said quickly. “And I saved you this one. Sam took the others.” He threw one towards Bruce, who flailed but still couldn’t catch it, he scooped it up off the floor, unwrapped it, and stuck it in his mouth.

“Thanks Peter, you’re a good kid.”

Nat couldn’t help but agree, but mostly because Peter had made up Sam taking them, most of them were in her jacket. “So, what’s the results doc?”

“Right. Nothing’s changed, Peter, your healing should still be working perfectly.”

Peter’s smile fell and his face scrunched up in confusion. “But why’s it not working then?”

“Pete, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s noticed that you’re a lot skinnier these days- I remember being a teenager, well kind of, I know a lot of people who shot up and became lankier, I know that they would eat more food than The Hulk does, could it be possible that you’re not eating as much?”

Relief flooded his veins, thank god, it seemed it was yet another thing which was his fault, rather than Spiderman failing, he could only take one of his selves being a let down right now. “I guess I’m not eating that much, and I mean I’m probably burning most of the calories off, between Spidermanning and working,” he scrubbed the back of his neck, “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“You’re not wasting my time, I’d rather you come to someone if you’re hurt, even if your healing’s working, I’m surprised you didn’t ask Tony, he can run all the same tests I did.”

“And risk Stark wrapping him in bubblewrap for the next eight years?” Nat let out through a scoff, Peter sent her a small smile when Bruce wasn’t looking at him. “The kid came to me, I said we’d talk to you and that unless it was actually serious we wouldn’t have to tell his- Tony.”

Bruce looked between Peter and Nat, Peter with his puppy dog eyes, Nat with a calm look which casually informed him that she could tear him apart using just her fingernails and not even the Hulk could save him. He let out a sigh.
“Fine. But Peter you need to start eating and sleeping more, if it’s hard fo your aunt to afford all the food you need I can start working on formulating a meal substitute, you’ll still need to eat a lot but not as much, and it’ll only work if you start getting more sleep, no more staying up all night playing video games with Ned.”

“I promise I will Dr Banner, I swear, thank you so much, I -“

The door swung open, Peter jumped, silencing himself.

What if it was Charles?

Of course it wasn’t, Charles couldn’t get into the tower let alone this room, Peter knew that, it didn’t stop him from feeling relieved when he saw Tony walk through the door, looking tired but relieved, adding a smile to his face a few seconds too late.

“Hey Pete, what’re you doing here? I thought you had homework so were too busy to spend time in the lab? Unless you just don’t find me hip and cool anymore.” He tried to hide the jealousy and suspicion in his voice and fill it with humour instead but judging from Banner and Romanov’s faces he hadn’t succeeded.

Peter couldn’t tell him, he couldn’t become too much of a burden, if he didn’t have these weekends at the Tower he had nothing, but he didn’t know what lie to use, if he could keep lying constantly to him, but he couldn’t tell him the truth, if he couldn’t deal with this he couldn’t be Spiderman, if he couldn’t be Spiderman he wouldn’t be part of any of their lives anymore.

“Pete was just telling me that he’s more interested in ‘soft sciences’ than whatever you’re into these days,” Bruce lied with a laugh at Tony’s betrayed face, “I was giving him a run down of a basic blood test.”

“That-!” Tony tried to hide his disappointment, “that’s fine,” Tony let out through a strangled voice trying his very best, “completely fine, whatever you’re interested in Petey-Pie.”

Bruce and Nat burst out into loud, raucous laughter, laughter so infectious even Peter had to join in.

“I was making sure I got my biology homework right.” Peter assured Tony.

“Oh thank god.” Tony’s prosthetic flew to his heart. “I have history of heart problems, you can’t scare me like that, kid. Brucie I expected more from you, Triple-Agent, I expected exactly that from you.”

“Thank you.” Nat sounded genuinely touched.

“C’mon, we’re having a movie night, you can take the night off from homework kid, I swear you have more than I’ve ever done.”

“But, Tony, I really need to get it done, it’s quieter to do it at the tower and I-“

“You can stay late tomorrow, I’ll drop you home tomorrow evening instead, just text your aunt and I’ll help you with your homework tomorrow morning.”

Peter wanted to protest, only he really really didn’t, he really wanted to stay, he wouldn’t even bother texting his aunt, or not-aunt, she didn’t seem to notice if he was there or not anyway, now that the nostalgia of his existence had worn off.

“You need a break from homework, that’s my professional opinion.” Bruce told him with a smile, and a look in his eyes which told him to do as he was told.

“See, Brucie agrees with me.” Tony threw his arm around the kid’s boney shoulders, he led him off to join the rest of their large family, shooting worried looks at the kid who promptly fell asleep half way through Big Hero Six.

Peter was full of cautious optimism on the way home, Tony was chattering the whole while, and Peter was chattering back, pitching ridiculous ideas about how they could improve the prosthetics design, including a whisk which had made Tony playfully glare and tell him that he wasn’t a Dalek.

His backpack was full of treats and leftovers which everyone had insisted on him taking, he didn’t protest too much, and his phone had chimed with a text from 7PHDS that he would start working on the supplement that week.

“You sure aunt May’s not up there?” Tony had been frowning since Peter’s insistence that he didn’t need to be walked up the stairs to his apartment, with the excuse of not having seen May in a few weeks.

“Yeah,” Peter had no idea, truthfully, “she’s working.”

“I could go and see Captain, Oh Captain? I’m sure he’d love to see me too.”

There was a mischievous glint in Tony’s eyes which sent a shiver down Peter’s spine, imagining Charles’ response to Tony winding him up, his retribution which would be taken from Peter’s still healing flesh. Peter tried not to feel sick, tried not to beg Tony to let him stay with him just one more night, tried not to be as big a burden as he knew he was.
He tried to force a smile onto his face. “Nah, he’s working too, I’m gonna make the most of being home alone by having a doctor who marathon and getting ahead on some homework.”

Tony looked like he was going to protest this, but nodded his head, he trusted Peter. “Okay, kid, don’t work too hard.”

Peter started to climb out of the car.

“Hey, Pete?”

Peter paused. “Yeah?”

“You know that, you know if you wanted to swing by unannounced you’re welcome to, right? I know I said it but, I know you, I just want you to, you know that we’re there right? We’re at that level of,” he gestured between himself and Peter frantically as he searched for the words which wouldn’t send Peter running, “this, er, mentorship. And you know you could talk to me about whatever, no matter what, right?”

Peter felt sorry for the man, he clearly hadn’t spent enough time with Peter to realise that he wasn’t worth it. He nodded. “Thanks Tony, I’ll, I’mma go.”

Peter darted across the road, up the stairs, when he got to the apartment door he heard Tony’s Audi driving away. 

He shouldn’t have come inside, he should have sensed that something was wrong, the tense atmosphere tensed him as soon as he closed the door behind him.

He just needed to get to his room, he could shut the door and web it closed, he could wait out Charles’s anger.

“Nice of you to bother coming home.”

May’s anger hit him harder than any slap could have, she was practically simmering, he took in her balled fists and took a step back though he was mostly sure that May would never hurt him.

“I- I’m sorry I sent you a text, I shoulda-I shoulda called or something” His mind was racing a mile a minute, she looked madder than he had ever seen, there was ice cold fire in her normally warm brown eyes.

“Of course, a text, that makes everything fine then.”

Peter tried to

“We’ve been stuck with your teacher for half of the morning.”

Peter’s mind raced, shit. Had a teacher seen a mark on his skin? Had he let something slip somehow? Had he talked in his sleep, begging for his life, a full confession about what Charles had been doing? Or had someone come about his school work, how he was falling behind, how he was playing catch up to the extreme, that if he kept slipping he’d be taken out of the AP classes, he’d lose chances of getting scholarships to college? Maybe someone had figured out he was Spiderman, a teacher had caught him, somehow, he had kept his secret identity so close to his chest he had no idea.

“Mr Harrington, a very, very nice man who for some reason was concerned about you falling behind, thinking that you might have PTSD or something, saying we should pay for you to see a therapist. Now of course, I was wondering why this presumably smart guy was so concerned about the fact that you’re about to be shoved out of the AP classes when you spend all your time in your room apparently doing your homework.”

“Aunt May, I can explain-” Peter’s voice was begging, frantic and quiet, compared to her loud and supposedly calm one, which was dripping with sarcasm.

“I told you not to call me-!” She let out in a yell.

A hand across his face.

Silence.

Tears stung Peter’s eyes.

His hand went to touch his already hot cheek.

May’s mouth looked surprised, like she hadn’t meant to do it, her other hand cradled the one which had just slapped him. “Just go to your room Peter,” her voice was now low and hurried, trying to scurry away from her own actions while not admitting to them, “I have enough to deal with without you on top of it.”

Peter was still frozen, even as she turned on her heel and left, even as he heard her door slam shut, even as he realised she wasn’t coming back to check on him, to explain why she had done that to him.

He turned quickly, fleeing to his room, he had only stepped foot in it when he realised that everything he owned was ruined. His photo frames were all smashed on the floor, his text books had been ripped to pieces, his bed was gone, in its place was a mattress on the floor, and leaning against his desk was Charles, his belt in his hand.

Peter was still bleeding by the time he crawled out of his window, from his back, from his ribs, from his shoulders, his room smelt too much of blood, and of vomit. He had been calling for May but she must have left the apartment, he hadn’t been quiet, he had begged for her, promised to be good, to do better, Charles had just hit him harder.

He crawled up to the roof, where he led and cried under the orange of the light polluted night sky.

He heard someone go into his room, his mine span back to his hidden food, to his hidden money, to the three photographs which meant the world to him. He cautiously climbed down in time to see May walking away from the window which was locked.

Peter stayed on the roof until he heard the click of the window lock the next morning, he climbed through and numbly got ready for school, as though nothing had happened.

Chapter Text

Peter’s week had started with him led, bleeding and alone, on the roof of his apartment, no, not his, he was often reminded that it wasn’t his apartment, he was a temporary guest, a pest, like a cockroach infestation, and his week had ended the same way, led, bleeding and alone, on the roof of the apartment.

In between these two nights he had received: worried looks from MJ, or at least he assumed they were worried she seemed to be staring and frowning more, it was hard to tell with her, Ned had straight out told him that he looked like a Walking Dead extra and not in a good way, several teachers had asked him if everything was okay at home; and he had been dropped from the academic decathlon team.

It had been Thursday afternoon that Mr Harrington had approached him, sad and apologetic, informing him that because his grades had dropped so drastically he would no longer be allowed to attend the team, as per school policy, Mr Harrington had tried to argue that Peter was incredibly bright and was a, usually, dedicated member of the team, but rules were rules. Peter didn’t think it really mattered, he would have only failed the team again anyway, anyway his lunchtimes were dotted with detentions for missing homework, for falling asleep in class, for being Peter Parker.

Friday morning he had been so tired that he hadn’t checked the caller ID when he answered his phone, if he had he would have seen that it announced Iron Dad.

“Mornin’ sunshine.”

Peter suddenly woke up. He pulled the phone away from his face, looked at the name and photograph filling his phone, mentally cursed, then allowed his brain to race through what the man could be calling about so early in the morning: maybe the man had spent the night making some cool new thing he wanted to show Peter… or maybe he had discovered that Peter got a D on his world history quiz and his grades were below the grades he promised he would keep them above… shit.

“Kid? Pete? C’mon Underoos, did you fall back asleep?”

“N-n-no, sir, no I’m awake, I just…”

Tony let out a displeased hum but continued. “I’m sorry to call you, I know it’s not what your young hip generation does, but I just… we’re gonna have to take a rain check on you staying this weekend, kid.”

Peter’s heart dropped. “I- Did I… did I do something?” Had Bruce or Nat talked to Tony about his reduced healing rate? Or had someone seen something? Did Tony realise that Peter had ever so slightly hacked into his multimillion dollar suit, again?

“Nah, ‘course not kid, anyway even if you were none of us could stay mad at you, you’re like a puppy.”

“Sure. Thanks?” Peter let out a snort of laughter and shook his head. He pressed the phone against his ear with his shoulder and put together his bag, he had taken to carrying his photographs with him, tucked between the pages of his school planner, safe and always with him, along with his Spideysuit and that iron man bear filled with money, in case he needed a quick get away.

He could hear the gears of Tony’s mind ticking even through the phone, he could hear him opening and closing his mouth, trying to search for a way to let him down gently.

“Everyone here’s sick, kid, a sickness bug’s going around and it’s really not pretty… let’s just say I’m glad we have like a hundred bathrooms.”

“Gross.” Peter grimaced. “I mean I could still come? I haven’t gotten sick since the bite, well like a little cold, but I’m pretty sure I’m immune to everything, I could come help look after you all.”

“Pete, as much as I would love to see you try to do that even though you can’t look after yourself, I don’t want to risk you getting sick too.”

“But I’m-“

“And if you get sick it means you’d probably pass it onto your whole family, then I’ll be in deep shit with May.”

Peter opened his mouth to protest again but Tony had a point, on the other side of the phone he could hear Tony trying to stop Morgan from copying the word ‘shit’.

“Oh fuck, Petey-Pie I gotta go, have a good day at school!” Tony’s rushed voice was loud in Peter’s ears. “C’mon Maguna, let’s get you to a bucket-“

The weekend had been unbearable, he had ended up with a black eye which was that lovely shade of green by Monday; luckily it was easy for teachers and his peers to believe that someone had picked on him on the street thanks to his…. well everything about him, and Ned had been easily talked into a fantastical story about stopping people from breaking into a children’s homes while dressed in Santa costumes.

May hadn’t touched him since the week before, in fact she could’t seem to stand being in the same room as him, though she did sporadically lock him out. Charles had told him that she knew it was hid fault Ben had died, that Peter had his powers, that he was out late at night messing about, thinking about only himself, Ben had died thanks to him. May hated both Spiderman and Peter Parker, she had taken him back in because no one else wanted him, that she quickly moved past the nostalgia of him being with her, and remembered her anger in finding that he risked his and her life by being Spiderman, and that he was as guilty as Ben’s murderer.

His week dragged, he didn’t pay attention in classes, hadn’t completed any homework, and had been avoiding Ned and MJ, he had let them down by losing his spot on the team and Ned kept asking him questions and telling him that he was worried, he was making him worried when he shouldn’t be, Peter wasn’t worth it.

“We could use you in practice, Flash sucks at the physics questions.”

Peter held onto the straps of his backpack, school was closing early due to some event for local elementary schools, he honestly didn’t know, all he knew was he was planning on finding somewhere to sleep for a couple of hours before Happy picked him up to take him to the tower. There was just a hint of eagerness in MJ’s eyes, and suspicion, silent but relentless.

“Yeah, come on, you know all of this stuff, you’re not on the team anymore but it doesn’t mean you’re not on the team.”

He sent a small smile back at MJ and Ned, despite everything they were still trying, going as far to invite him to all of the academic decathlon practice sessions, just so he wasn’t alone. They had both been staring at him recently, looking worried, hushed conversations between the two which stopped when he appeared, Ned asking him if he was okay and ensuring Peter knew that he could trust him.

“Thanks guys, but I really gotta go.”

“To your uncle’s?” MJ had raised one eyebrow, her voice dripping with doubt.

“I- y-yeah, yeah, my er, my uncle Tony- Antony, Antony’s.” He grimaced, he needed sleep, just some sleep and some food. He shook his head. “I gotta go, I’ll cya on Monday.”

He left before they could protest anymore, Peter kept his eyes on the floor as he walked, most everyone had already left but there was still a chance that some of Flash’s cronies could be hanging around to bother him.

“Peter!”

No, no, no, just keep your head down, the voice in his head whispered, don’t give someone a reason to call May and Charles.

“Peter! Kid?”

Wait. That wasn’t Flash, and it wasn’t his friends, Peter froze, turning around to see Pepper Potts stood in a smart pantsuit, smiling at him as though he had just saved her from something.

“I thought that was you.” She pulled Peter into a hug and after a second Peter allowed himself to relax into the hold.

He only reluctantly moved away when she did. He restrained a flinch when she raised her hand, only to have her brush his hair from his face, he gave her a small lopsided grin to cover.

“Remind me to get Tony to take you for a haircut.”

“I can cut it myself.”

“Honey, I’ve seen photographs of the haircuts Tony gave himself when he was your age… trust me, my idea is best.”

“Only if you show me the photos.” Peter let out a laugh, how long had it been since he had laughed like this, loosely, carelessly, a week? Longer?

“Of course.” Pepper smiled down at him as though she was trying to see underneath his skin, not maliciously, but searching for… something just below the surface. Her brows quirked inwards ever so slightly for a half second in a sort of hidden frown when she could not or did not find her answer. “Come on, I’m driving you home today.” She led the way, Peter a step behind her.

Peter’s blood froze.

“I told Tony that you and I are going to have lunch out, then you two can have your lab night, he was pouting when I told him it was just going to be us too.” She laughed and looked back at Peter, there was a weird smile on his face, something which had it not confused her she would have called relief. 

Peter had been quiet the whole ride from the school, watching out the window, still feeling the relief at not having to go back to the apartment.

“Look,” Pepper used her no nonsense tone on whichever board member she had on speaker phone, “none of the things you want to discuss are urgent, so it can wait until Monday, I spend weekends with my family, I’m with my kid right now, so if that’s all.”

Peter’s frown was hidden by him staring out of the door window, her kid? Was she lying to make them think Morgan was there? Yeah, probably, that made sense. It made Peter feel a little bad,

She didn’t give them time to answer before hanging up, she looked across at Peter as she drove, “Sorry about that, I swear board members have nothing to contribute but demand everything.”

“It’s fine, it’s actually quite nice to just chill, y’know? Happy gets suspicious if I’m quiet for too long, he think’s I’m up to something illegal, or that’s what he says anyway.”

Pepper let out a snort of laughter. “Yeah, Hap’s had to spend too much time with Tony, I don’t blame him being suspicious.” But there were pride in her voice.

“Erm, Ms- I, I mean Pepper,” he corrected quickly, “I… where exactly are we going?”

“Out for lunch,” she answered him simply, pulling down a side street and parking in front of a quiet buffet place.

They were seated as soon as an older waiter saw them.

“I thought that a buffet would be fun, I haven’t gone to one in… I don’t even know, I think we went to one when I was pregnant, we didn’t come into the city often.”

“Where were you living?”

Pepper couldn’t help but smile at the kid, he was so adorable, his head tilting to the side, Tony was right, he was like a puppy. “A cabin at a lake, if you can imagine Tony being out in nature, he screamed the first time he saw a woodlouse, I have video. Next time we visit there you’re coming too, we’ll sort it out with your aunt.”

“I… woah, that’s, that’s so nice, thanks Pepper.”

“I thought a buffet could be a good idea… but there is a secret agenda here…”

Fear returned to Peter, if it ever left him, he knew there must have been a reason Pepper was there, had Tony found out about his grades? He didn’t know why Pepper would be there for him for that, and why-

“-I am incredibly talented at eating at buffets, Tony’s always been rich so he’s never understood the joy of trying absolutely everything at the buffet.”

“Are… we’re going to try everything here?” Peter clarified slowly.

“If you’re up for it… they have a lot of variety here, I know that you have your high metabolism, I figured that could give us a head start.”

Peter took a second to check that he hadn’t misunderstood, but this was Pepper, she wouldn’t do this to be mean, she was the woman who had worried about him even as Tony was lying in a hospital bed with machines doing all the heavy lifting for him.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

“How’d you find this place? I mean, it doesn’t really seem like Tony’s sort of place.”

“He found it actually.” Pepper said through a laugh, she dabbed at her face wiping the sauce from the spare ribs away from her mouth. “We started dating and he realised that I had a bigger appetite than the food at the fancy places he found served, we came here and we both fell in love, there’s anonymity here, no ones ever cared we’re here or come up to us, you’d be surprised how rare it is to find something like that.”

Peter nodded his head, he could understand wanting anonymity, he wanted it and no one knew who he was. He followed Pepper to the starters and they began to load their plates.

“Though Tony was surprised when he was told that it was only $15 each,” Pepper laughed, “he gave them about a $100 as a tip to feel better.”

“Woah, that’s… no wonder they like you here.” He found himself laughing with Pepper, he filled up his glass with Raspberry Pepsi from the fountain.

The two seated, with two of each of the starters on their two plates, and two glasses full to the brim of soda, the two fell into easy conversation, mostly talking about Stark Industries, and the Stark Relief Foundation Peter had helped out with while he was staying at the tower.

“We’re hoping to do another Stark Exposition in the summer, it’s going to be a lot of work, and we’re going to have to make sure people want to come, the last one was kind of a disaster, but you’re probably too young to remember that.”

“It wasn’t that much of a disaster,” Peter prodded something covered in filo pastry on his plate trying to tell what it was full of. “I mean there was the whole, y’know fire thing, and those drone things trying to kill everyone, but before that it was so cool, people from all over the world trying to make things for the future, that’s important.”

Pepper eyed him carefully. “You were there? I mean, it was held in Queens, I guess I never put two and two together.” A frown on her face, she reached over and gently touched his arm as though making sure that he was there and he was whole. “Did you get hurt?”

Peter found that he felt like crying, it was so weird to have someone, an adult, in front of him, caring that he was hurt, like May used to, he thought for a second about telling her that he was hurt just not from the Expo.

He shook his head. “No. I saw it though, the drones, I… there were some in front of me, I was trying to stop them, I was just a little kid, I thought I stopped them.” He gave an awkward chuckle but was cut off by Pepper’s gasp.

“You’re the kid, aren’t you? The kid who was there, in the Iron Man mask, you tried to stop them.”

“I… How did you…?”

“Tony, after everything, when we finally talked, when we saw the footage from his suit, on the news, that you stood up to them, he was, we both were… Tony pointed out that you were the sort of kid the Expo was for, for the future, for people who would stand up for what was right, who would continue the legacy of heroes.” She smiled at him, feeling fear that he might have been hurt even if it hadn’t happened. “You were always going to be a hero, weren’t you?”

Peter’s cheeks heated up, he ducked his head, a wide smile on his face. “I can’t believe you saw that.”

“It was adorable.” Pepper teased laughing when he let out an embarrassed groan.

“Please don’t tell Tony.”

“He’d find it adorable.”

“He would never stop teasing me.”

Pepper laughed, that was true. “He would, but it was cute, and brave, an-and incredibly dangerous, you could have been hurt! I mean…”

“Pep, I’m okay, I promise.” Peter gave her an encouraging smile. “Uncle Ben and Aunt-… I got a lecture from them about wondering off, and an Iron Man teddy bear.” He watched her face flood with joy. “Don’t tell Tony about that either!”

Pepper agreed with a laugh, even if it was adorable, she’d find a way for Tony to find out, for Peter to tell him. “He meant to send you some toys, you know? He tried to find you, I guess he didn’t manage to, but he always meant to.”

Peter shrugged. “That would have been cool, but…. Captain America was kind of my favourite, just by a little bit, he was from Brooklyn, that’s where Uncle Ben was from, and Uncle Ben had loads of collectors stuff from when he was young, we had to sell it when he died, but… yeah. I mean Iron Man was so cool, when I got older to understand science he became my favourite, and Bruce Banner, of course.” A worried look appeared on his face again. “Please don’t-“

“-Tell Tony because he would become insufferable? Okay, but only because he would be insufferable.”

They got up again, filling their plates with the various main courses, there were probably a little too much their selection as they mix together on their plates, but that was part of the experience.

“Uh, Pepper?” He had her attention. “Can I ask, uh, why were you at my school? It’s okay if you can’t tell me, I understand, I don’t mean to like-“

“- Peter, it’s okay, you can ask. You’d be finding out soon anyway. Stark Industries has chosen Midtown School of Science and Technology to be the first school to resume tours since the snap. We want to inspire your generation to be interested in science, particularly renewable energy and ways of recycling, something which we started working on a couple of years ago - though, you know that from when you were at the tower.”

“We’re gonna be the first?” Peter suddenly hoped that his current school performance wouldn’t make him miss out, maybe he could beg Mr Harrington. His face winced into anticipation, dread, “It’s not because-“

“Your school is the best science and tech school in the country, kid, it would have been chosen even without the clear nepotism.”

Peter allowed himself to smile, ducking his head, nepotism, he knew she was joking but it was nice to be part of the joke, to be close enough to them to be joked about. “Can I ask a favour?”

“Anything.”

“Can you… I mean if he’s there, not that he necessarily will, but can you maybe make sure Tony doesn’t try and embarrass me… I mean no one knows that I know you guys, or that, well I’ve said that I’m an intern, y’know as cover, Mr- I mean Tony, and Happy said I should, no one really believes it though.”

Pepper frowned ever so slightly, that wasn’t right, even if they didn’t all love Peter he was more than good enough to become the youngest ever intern, she would make sure that people knew that he was good enough. “I’ll try my best, I know what he’s like, it might be best to keep the field trip quiet, he’s not usually involved in tours anyway, or aware of them.”

“Okay,” Peter let out a sigh with a smile. “Thanks, I mean it’s just…”

“I get it.” And she did, she remembered her father embarrassing her in front of people from school for fun, it was what dads did.

“How is school going?”

Peter took in the way she asked it, a little too casually, did she know how he was doing? “It’s okay.”

Pepper took in his soft voice, and the way he was focusing on his the rice on his plate. “You know I really struggled with high school when I was a little older than you, like really struggled with it, I was planning on dropping out and moving into a trailer in my boyfriend’s backyard, working in some diner, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m glad I didn’t end up doing that.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“My English teacher, she was kind, she realised that I was struggling, she arranged for tutors in all the subjects I was failing. And then my boyfriend ended getting kicked out of school, that’s unrelated but, we went onto different paths, I ended up working for Tony, and now we’re family.”

“…It’s… I’m struggling a little… it helps being at the tower, everyones an expert in everything, they all help me with stuff I missed, it’s just in class that I’m… I don’t know…”

“Would you like me to talk to your teachers? Or to May, I could arrange tutors, you don’t have to worry about the price, or if you’re struggling to concentrate we can figure that out, maybe someone you can talk to?” But Peter was shaking himself from the very beginning.

“Please, just… I’ll be okay, I just, I need time.”

Pepper took his hand gaining his eyes on her. “Can we make a deal? If in a month’s time you’re still feeling like this you let me and Tony help, and May, and Charles, you talk to us, or to a professional, your teachers, anyone. Please?”

Peter swallowed, he bit his lip, he felt her gently squeeze his hands, he stopped biting his lip. “Okay.” He agreed, internally a timer started, to tell, to stop it from happening, or to run, he couldn’t be everyones problem if he wasn’t there anymore.

“Kid?”

Peter let out a loud groan, it echoed down the toilet bowl, he needed to push himself up, but if he moved he was definitely going to throw up again.

He could hear the door to the bathroom being thrown open, Tony and Pepper both entering, Tony’s prosthetic hand on his back was soothing, despite the twinges of pain from the raw skin on his back.

“Oh Peter, honey.” Pepper sighed, she moved to the sink, pouring a glass of water.

“How’re you feeling, Petey?” Tony’s voice was low, calm and sympathetic.

“I told Friday not to call you.” Peter groaned again, he moved closer to the bowl but lucky only wretched.

“Fri’s set to call me or Pep when you or Morgan are sick in the apartment, kid, no matter how many times you try to override her.” Tony admonished slightly, he rubbed circles onto her back. “Now, how you feeling, Petey?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders, Pepper’s hand was stroking his hair back from his forehead, he took a few seconds to deeply breathe, in and out, slow and steady, until he was certain that he was done.

He knew what was going on, he had eaten too much, his stomach wasn’t used to it anymore, not after nearly two weeks surviving on the minimum possible. He had eaten with Pepper, then Tony had forced him to eat some pasta, claiming if he didn’t he would be insulting Tony’s Italian heritage.

“I… I think I’m done.” He didn’t sound too certain, but he felt Tony’s hands under his arms, helping him stand up in the same way his dad used to pick him up.

“Honey rinse your mouth out.”

Peter took the water from Pepper, he swirls it around his mouth, spit, then repeated two more times. He turned back from the sink, careful not to lean his back against it.

Tony looked Peter over before placing his hand on the kid’s forehead.

The kid raised one of his brows “Seriously?”

“Yeah, shut up.” Tony told him with a small yet worried smile. “I can’t feel a temperature.” He told Pepper instead.

Pepper placed her hand on Peter’s head, giving him a sympathetic smile verging on guilt or pity, Peter didn’t protest her. “Me neither, maybe the thermometer?”

“Guys, guys, please,” Peter’s protest was verging on a whine, “I’m fine, I think it’s just food poisoning, or I ate too much or something, no, no, it’s my fault,” he said when Pepper opened her mouth and looked guilty. “I had a big lunch already, I probably shouldn’t have stuffed myself with lunch before school finished anyway.” He gave an awkward chuckle to hide his lie, he had eaten at lunch, but he had saved anything he could knowing that he wouldn’t get fed as soon as he was back at the Fisher’s.

Tony shared a look with Pepper before crossing his arms and levelling Peter with a look. “I still don’t like it. Maybe you’ve caught what we all had last week.”

Peter crossed his arms defensively, Tony prying could lead to him finding out the actual truth, he sent the man a look of his own. “I don’t get sick, not since the spider, remember?”

“Just ‘cause you haven’t gotten sick in like two years doesn’t mean you’re immune, smart ass.”

“Let’s err on the side of caution.” Pepper said, diplomatically. “We’ll get you into bed, you want some ginger ale or sprite?”

Peter could tell he didn’t really have much of a choice. “Sprite, please.”

“Okay.” Pepper gave Tony a look before leaving the bathroom.

Tony couldn’t help but reach other and run his hand through Peter’s somewhat sweaty hair. “Okay, Bucko, boss has spoken; let’s get you back into bed.”

“Can I just take a bath first?” Peter begged, moving so Tony couldn’t place his hand on Peter’s back to push him. “Please? I feel all gross, I’ll get into bed after, with like minimal complaining.”

Tony snorted. “I’d prefer no complaining.” He wouldn’t he loved it when Peter used his sass, it was rare these days. “Okay, but then you’re going to bed, some of us old people need our sleep, we can’t do that if we’re worried about you acting like you’re possessed or something.” He patted Peter’s head before leaving the room.

Peter allowed Friday to choose the ‘optimal bathing temperature’, he didn’t know exactly what that was, but Friday seemed to care deeply about it, Tony had brought him in a clean pair of pyjamas; some pants, a Captain America t-shirt which had somehow ended up in his belongings thanks to either Steve or Nat (the latter to mock the former), to his relief Tony had added a Stark Industries sweatshirt, Peter was always cold, and it was a good excuse to wear more layers, to both hide his body and to protect all of his injuries.

He stripped his clothes off before he caught sight of his body in the full length wall mirror.

He hadn’t seen the entirety of himself for a while, the Fisher’s home didn’t have a full length mirror, and Peter certainly didn’t have one in his room, maybe someone else had one in theirs but Peter wouldn’t know, he hadn’t been in the girls’ or May and Charles’ rooms, he doubted he ever would.

He was paler and skinnier than he had realised, he always had been slim, he had only gained muscles once the spider had bit him, now he had lost most of those, that wasn’t a huge surprise, he had been struggling even as Spiderman recently, too weak and too tired and in too much pain. His ribs were sticking out, as were the bones of his hips, his shoulders looked sharp because there were no longer fat protecting them.

The biggest change was no surprise:
his back had cuts running down them, some were bruises along his protruding spine, some were red welts, but there were bandages covering four long deep cuts running down his back, he had spent most of his saved money on a first aid box, he had stolen anything else he needed when he was in the tower.

“Uh, Friday?”

“Yes Mr Parker?”

“I can put something in the trash can in here and Tony won’t be told, right?” He had asked this before, several times.

“Correct, Mr Parker.”

“And he’s not going to empty the trash can, right?”

“That is correct, Mr Parker.”

“Okay,” He let out a heavy sigh, “thanks Friday.”

“Of course…”

She had sounded a little sad to him, if that was possible, since he had shouted at her for constantly bugging him about telling Tony, technically there was nothing in the protocol for him which told her to tell Tony if he was injured outside of the apartment.

Peter peeled off the bandages, the cuts were healing, just slowly, he had to keep them clean. That was easiest here in the tower, where he had a bath in his en suite, where he didn’t have to stand with the shower water hitting them like tiny droplet sized knives. He threw them in the trash, then climbed into the bath, he had some bandages in his bag, but that was in the other room, there was a first aid kit here, he just had to hope there were enough supplies for his back.

The rest of his body was littered with cuts and bruises.

He climbed into the bath, wincing as he sank in, in a few seconds it stopped hurting.

His phone rang.

Karen.

“Peter, you are injured, please allow me to tell Mr Stark.”

Peter sighed, he had been arguing about this to Karen every say. “The protocol only applies to injuries I sustain while in the suit, the loophole protocol, remember?”

“Hmm, I wonder who named that.”

“Karen… I’m fine.”

“I don’t believe that you are, Peter.” 

Peter bit his lip, he wasn’t sure that he was either. “I gotta go, Karen.”

Once Peter finished he dried himself off, redressed his wounds, then left the room, expecting to see his own dark bedroom, instead he found Pepper and Morgan sat against the pillows of his bed, and Tony was stood by the en suite door, presumably waiting for him.

“What’s… what’s going on?”

“Movie night.” Tony told him as though that explained everything. He steer Peter towards the bed, the boy climbed onto the bed beside Morgan, who wrapped him a tight hug.

“We didn’t get to have you here to watch movies when we were all sick because mommy and daddy were worried you were gonna get sick, but now you’re here we can watch movies!”

Peter melted, allowing himself to smile, he nearly believed that Pepper and Tony really hadn’t wanted him to get sick rather than them just not wanting him there. “But I… it’s late, you all need sleep-“

“Pfft, sleep’s for the weak,” Tony caught sight of both Pepper and Morgan who had very different expressions on their faces, “and by that I mean for people who want to grow to be above five feet talk,” he grinned at Pepper, “there, both the kids are covered now.”

“Hey!” Peter protested at Tony who was climbing into bed on the other side of him, leaving Morgan and Peter in the middle of Pepper and Tony. “I’m not that short.”

“Uh huh, sure, buddy the elf.”

“That doesn’t make sense, he’s human sized, like six foot.”

“Fine,” Tony smirked, “some other short elf then.”

“Drink your sprite, honey.” Pepper pressed an ice cold glass into Peter’s hands interrupting Tony’s attempts to wind Peter up. “Stop trying to annoy him, he’s sick.”

Peter stuck a tongue out at Tony, for a second, no a half second, no a millisecond, Peter imagined Tony reacting how Charles would, but the man just laughed and wrapped his arm around Peter pulling him into his side.

“What’re we watchin’?” Peter tried not to show how much he was enjoying the half hug.

“Stark wars!” Morgan announced.

“She means Star Wars.” Tony smiled as Peter’s face lit up. “We gotta educate her on it early, right? And we’re doing chronological order, which means we have to suffer with the prequels.” He gestured with his prosthetic and the windows tinted until the made a movie screen.

“Pete, let’s take your temperature.” Pepper reached over Morgan, pointed a thermometer at Peter’s head, read the screen. “No temperature, but we’re keeping an eye on it.

Peter smiled, he didn’t mind having to watch the prequels, or Pepper fussing over him, or Morgan still snuggled into his side, or Tony holding him, he didn’t mind them at all.

Chapter Text

Punkass Bitch <3 (5:09am) Hey Peter, if you’re awake would you like to come for a run with Bucky, Sam, and Me?
Punkass Bitch <3 (5:11am) Also do you know how I can get Friday to change my name, she’s started to call me ‘Punk*ss B*tch’ too, I think Bucky taught her.

Steve Rogers’ Restraint (5:42am): Do not let Friday change Stevie’s name.

MarioKartChampions :

Dysfunctional Adult (7:09am): Championship this weekend!!!

Pigeon (7:12am): Why are you awake this early in the morning

Dysfunctional Adult (7:14am): I’m a functional adult who is a spy, I’ve been getting up early to train several times over the years, soldier boy

Pigeon (7:21am): I was in the air force, dumbass.

Dysfunctional Adult (7:29am): That’s just the sky army, dipshit

Sabrina the teenage witch (8:01am): Clint is on his ninth pitcher of coffee, he claims he can see god and feels colours.

Pigeon (8:19am): That’s why he’s awake then. Any bets on how many he can drink before he ends up in the medbay or passes out?

Sabrina the teenage witch (8:22am): Yep. Hey, Peter will you be on my Mario team please? <3
Sabrina the teenage witch (8:23am): 13.

Dysfunctional Adult (7:49am): Hey guys, it’s normal to feel and hear colours, right?

Iron Mom (12:13pm): Hey honey, I hope your day’s going good, we’re having pizza tonight if you would like to join us?
Iron Mom (12:16pm) Do not text back if you’re not allowed to in school, do not be like Tony. Morgan sends her love.

7PHDS (2:53pm): Is saying dude still cool?
7PHDS (2:56pm): Still working on the meal supplements, might need some input from you in a couple of weeks.

Guy in the Chair (3:01pm): Have u got detention again? I’ve been waiting 4 u near chem
Guy in the Chair (3:03pm): May’s gonna go apeshit if u keep getting detentions dude.

Peter’s head slipped from his hand and hit the desk with a loud bang, shocking him awake enough to let out an unintelligible “Huh?”

“It’s thoroughly impressive that Coach Jackson can sleep through your loud ass snoring and that bang.”

Peter jumped out of his skin, scrambling almost out of his seat until he realised that it was Michelle next to him. “Sh-“

“Chill Peter, I was mostly joking about the snoring.”

A small smirk was on her face and Peter was suddenly certain that she could give Tony Stark a run for his money. He settled back into his chair, glanced forward at coach Jackson, who was indeed fast asleep with his head on the desk, snoring, and the old style wheeled in tv which was playing all the PSAs Captain America had made. He looked at the seat next to him at the two person table, MJ was looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes, not glaring, evaluating, somehow that was worse.

“We’re really not allowed to talk in here, Coach Jackson will just give us more detentions.”

“Oh I’m not here on detention.”

“Oh… Oh! You’re drawing more faces in ‘crisis’?”He was struck by how weird and how cool she was.

“Nah, that’s not my mission today. I thought I’d talk to you.”

Dread dripped down Peter’s spine. “What, ah, what’s up, M-M-MJ?”

MJ sent him a look which told them that he was incapable of looking or acting casual, it didn’t help that his stutter was more prominent since they had returned. “Nothing with me. I was just wondering if being Spiderman is why you’ve been so weird?”

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

“Wha- I, I wa-, I woul-, I’m no, I, I-!” Peter spluttered trying to form a protest or a denial, he just couldn’t find the words, or get them out.

“Smooth, Parker.” But there was a small smile on her lips, he was endearing, really, not that she would ever let on. “Hey, do you know him?”

Her head nodded towards the tv where Captain America was giving a PSA on… something, Peter honestly wasn’t too sure, the look in his eyes was the same ‘kill me’ look he had when they were into the fourth hour of playing monopoly.
“I… why would-“

“-You’re always around the big things which are happening but also disappear until its over and everyones been saved by Spiderman, you got swole like overnight, you disappeared from the field trip as aliens showed up, Ned was crying to me over the phone when we came back because he thought you had died in a way which he couldn’t explain because ‘it would be a betrayal to Peter’s respects’, all the boards say that Spiderman sounds like a young guy or a girl, you were brewing something which looked suspiciously like that web shit Spiderman uses in the bottom draw of one of the benches in the chemistry classroom, you happened to start working at Stark Industries when Iron Man and Spiderman teamed up but have no stories about working there and you never get on the subway there, I’ve seen you jump over the school gate like it was nothing; oh and you and Ned suck at whispering, I figured out what you guys were on about within like three days of Ned knowing.”

Peter’s mouth fell open as she went through her list.

“Also I saw all the bruises you have when you were taking your hoodie off, and I know that they’re not from Flash, so… unless it was someone else giving you them…?” She slowed her speech as she came to the end of her sentence, narrowing her eyes again ever so slightly, her eyes flickering to search for more bruises.

“I…” Peter used all of his brain power trying to choose between the better of two evils, the one which was less likely to get him hurt. He had a sudden image of MJ finding out about Charles, her challenging the army captain, him hurting her the same as he hurt Peter. “You’re right. I’m, I’m Spiderman, but you can’t tell anybody.”

“Who would I tell.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Peter continued as though MJ hadn’t spoken at all, “how could I be him, that I’m, I’m useless, that I’m weak, that, that I could never be a hero, and I know that, don’t you think that I know that? I know I could never… I’m just trying my best,” his voice broke, “I know it’s not good enough, I know that I, that I’m not the same as them, the actual heroes, I know that they could do a much better job than me, I know I’m just…I know I’m not enough, that Penis Parker shouldn’t be Spiderman, that if anyone else was bit they’d do a much better job… but I’m trying…”

MJ waited a minute, still staring at him, face unchanged but voice softened. “Did you know about fifty percent of mental health problems are established by fourteen, and seventy five percent will be established by twenty four?”

“Huh?”

“And approximately ten million males will be affected by an eating disorder in their life time?”

“Why are you telling me that?”

“Because I don’t think that you’re okay, and you need to talk to someone before whatever it is swallows you whole. I’m here, I’m your friend, and I’ve known you for enough years to know that you’re not acting like you, and there’s something more going on than just the Spiderman thing.”

“You don’t know anything!” Peter stood up so fast that his chair flew back and crashed against the way. Coach Jackson woke up. “You don’t know anything about me MJ, Jesus I’m so sick of people trying to, it’s just privacy, you all don’t need to know anything, don’t need to know everything about me, just, just,” he didn’t know, “just leave me alone, everyone just leave me alone!”

He grabbed his back and practically ran out of the room, MJ and Coach Jackson shouting his name behind him.

Iron Dad (3:30pm): Hey kid, hope you had a good day, I know that you’re not playing pack mule for a couple of weeks so I know you can text me back, aren’t you teenagers addicted to your phones? Why do you never text me back?
Iron Dad (3:30pm): You need any help with homework? I never did mine but I think I can figure out how to do high school calc.
Iron Dad (3:30pm): Do not copy me, do your homework, it’s important, presumably.
Iron Dad (3:31pm): I really need to stop telling you stupid shit I’ve done.
Iron Dad (3:31pm): Also don’t swear, eat your veggies, get 8 hours of sleep a night, most importantly: listen to you aunt, or presumably she’ll cut my balls off.
Iron Dad (3:33pm): Text me back.
Iron Dad (3:35pm): God, that sounded desperate.
Iron Dad (3:37pm): Do it anyway.

When Peter reached Ned’s door his anger had only dulled to a fiery background noise, why was MJ always watching, why did she seem to have to know everything?

He pounded on the door, so carried away in his action that he nearly punched Ned in the face when the door was flung open.

“Dude, I thought you were trying to break in, or you were a possessed ghost!”

Peter’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Why would either of those knock?”

Ned shrugged. “Maybe they’re just polite.”

Peter followed Ned into the house.

“Dude, are you okay? You look really pale, and you’re like really sweaty.”

“I ran here. I really wish people would stop asking me that.”

“You ran- wait weren’t you in detention? What the hell happened?”

“I- I left. MJ was in there and she was just, just constantly, argh!” He threw his arms up into the air before collapsing onto the couch.

“Peter,” Ned said slowly and softly, “are you okay?”

“Ned!” Peter snapped. “I swear I just- just stop asking me if I’m okay, I’m sick of everyone asking me, you, MJ, Mr Harrington, Pepper, Rhodey, Nat, Bruce, Steve, and I’ve always got Tony and Charles on my back and I’m just sick of it, cut it out-!”

Ned looked stonily at Peter, trying not to let any emotion sink into his tone, but failing at doing so. “Wow, Peter, it must be horrible having two father figures looking out for your well being, my heart goes out to you.”

Peter opened his mouth to continue his rant but immediately closed it when he remembered that Ned’s father had died while Ned had been disappeared. “Shi- Ned, I’m, I didn’t mean, I didn’t-“

“Peter you have two new dads, I know you lost your dad and your uncle but you have two-“

“Charles is not my dad!” Peter balled his fists ‘don’t punch Ned, don’t punch Ned, don’t punch Ned’. “He’s nothing like my- my dad wasn’t perfect but he wasn’t like-.” He shook his head and bit his lip.

“Peter, if something’s going on, if you have a problem, tell me, tell May, tell someone, if not quit complaining about having people who love and care about you when some of us only have one.”

Peter opened his mouth to speak, to say something, anything, but he couldn’t he couldn’t put this on Ned, Ned was right, he needed to be more grateful, or he could….  “There’s nothing to tell.” His voice sounded raw from the yelling.

Ned sighed loudly. “Then you need to leave. I have homework to do, some of us want to pass our classes, and you know, have futures.”

Uncle Rhodey (4:01pm): Hey kid, will you text Toes back? He’s bugging me and complaining that you’re ignoring him, think he’s about to jump in the car to make sure you’re not stuck in one of your own webs, again.
Uncle Rhodey (4:02pm): *Tones not toes lol.

Auntie Nat (4:07pm): I’m bored, you want me to beat that bully up for you?

Spider-Baby (4:09pm) ((sent to Iron Dad, Iron Mom, Uncle Rhodey, Auntie Nat, Uncle Grumpy, 7PH-see more)): Im good :) busy doin hw srry talk 2 u all tmrrw :)

He fired off the text while stood outside of Ned’s house. He looked back at it, he should go back in there, he should tell Ned all about Charles, about May, about not knowing what to do, about knowing that he’s not good enough, that he’s a burden, but hoping Ned would help anyway.

But Peter was Spiderman, he couldn’t even defend himself again Charles, not due to lack of strength (though he was doubting that now adays as he had lost a lot of strength) but lack of courage. He was a coward, Charles was right,

He sighed and turned away from the house, he began to walk back to the Fisher’s apartment, ignoring the buzzing of his phone, he could and probably should take the subway, but he wanted to waste as much time as possible, he didn’t want to be by himself, but he didn’t want to be with other people more.

Peter bounced his leg trying to remember how to figure out the math equation in front of him, he supposed he could google it, but he should know this, it was the work they had been doing in class that weak, but he hadn’t been able to pay attention, he had fallen asleep in the class, in fact that was why he had ended up with a detention.

His door burst open, he jumped, the wheeled desk chair rolling back towards the window in his attempt to move himself away from the situation. His heart was beating fast, he desperately wanted it to stop, scared Charles would hear it and count it as a sign of weakness.

But it wasn’t Charles in the doorway, it was Chloe, grinning at the sight of him. She had never been in his bedroom, she had barely looked at him if she could help it, he could see her taking in the mattress on the floor bed, the now tatty backpack by his side, the books on the shelves put back together with duct tape Peter had snatched from Tony’s lab, even the cheap clothes he was wearing were becoming thing and threadbare, the colours washed out by him hand washing them with hand soap in the bathroom sink after Charles had whipped him for daring to use the laundry room.

“Wow your room is like….” She widened her eyes unable to even lie. “Yeah… Look, I need help with my homework.”

It took Peter a minute to realise that she was asking him for help. “Oh, Oh. Yeah, yeah, I can totally help you.” This was it, the thing Peter was searching for to be able to be welcomed back as part of the family, May would remember what sort of boy he was.

“No,” She said the word in a way which made it clear that she thought he was an idiot, “I need you to do my homework.” She dumped the pile of books and paper onto his desk, they made a lout thud as she did. “It’s just some world hist, an English paper, some math or some shit, oh and you need to make a life a life cycle diorama for biology.”

Peter’s mouth dropped open. “Wha- I can’t do your homework for you, I won’t do your homework for you! If you need some help I can help, but I have loads of my own homework to do, I can’t do your homework.”

“It needs to get done, dad and mom won’t let me go to Chloe G’s sleepover or the halloween dance, or like anything!”

“Then do it. May wouldn’t like you cheating on your homework.”

“Then don’t cheat when you do it for me.”

“I’m not doing your homework Chloe.”

“What’s the point of you even being here then?”

Peter rolled his eyes and tried to focus on his homework again, hoping that she would lose interest and leave.

“You know that my dad and my mom didn’t even want you here, right? I think they were hoping they’d get some money from some insurance policy your dead parents had, that’s probably the only reason you’re still here.”

Peter clenched his teeth. Just look at the math, focus on the math, ignore Chloe.

“I asked mom to tell me about you, a while after we moved into this place, she was putting some photographs of you away, that you ruined her plans to travel the world, that she got stuck doing shit jobs and not being able to afford to do jack shit because she was stuck with you. She said you were her ex husbands nephew, that you lied to her for a year about something, and that you left her to go and be Tony Stark’s lapdog.”

“Shut up.” Peter told her dangerously quiet. “Get out.” He watched her narrow her eyes before her mouth twitched into a small smile she tried to suppress, she headed towards the door, Peter looked back at his homework trying to keep tears from his eyes.

The next thing he heard was a loud screen, he shot up to his feet, Chloe was stood with one hand holding her other, tears in her eyes, it was only when he got close to her that he realised that she had slammed her hand in the door, yet was smiling at him.

She had done it on purpose.

“Dad!” She cried.

Steps thundered down the hallway.

As soon as Peter met his eyes he could tell that he was dead. 

Peter was lying in bed, trying not to let the blankets touch any part of his body or his face, when May came into his room that night. She told him, spitting her words like venom, that if he ever hurt Chloe again that she would ensure that he was put in jail.

Peter didn’t wake up until late the next day, his left eye was mostly closed, and felt completely numb until he tried to move it. He checked his phone and found that it was ten in the morning, already hours late for school, not that he could have gone anyway, last night was the first time Charles crossed the line and marked his face.

He tried not to think about what Charles might do now that he finally gave him a black eye, at least the marks on his back were easily hidden, how was he supposed to go to school , maybe he should just drop out of school, he could find another job along with Mr Delmar’s, or he could leave the city, he didn’t have much money but he could probably rob a bank, then he could find somewhere to live and create something, then he could pay the money back.

He stayed perfectly still, listening for heartbeats, trying to place them  to people.
He never knew when Charles was working, he seemed to change his schedule in order to keep Peter on his toes, as was evident by the sick smile on his face whenever Peter saw him and quickly skittered back. But there was no sound of him now.

Just one heartbeat, May’s, a sign that perhaps she hadn’t changed completely, that maybe she was still the same May who had raised him, had loved him, maybe Chloe was lying, maybe he was still worthy of love.

She was sat alone at the table, cradling a steaming mug of coffee, no of tea, this new May drank tea not coffee.

“You’re not even bothering to go to school now?” She didn’t bother to raised her eyes up from her mug.

“I didn’t… I didn’t think I should go… I’ll go tomorrow, once I’ve found a way to…” He gestured towards his face but she wasn’t looking at him. “M-May? Can we talk? Please? It’s important…”

The sigh she let out seemed to last forever, but was probably only the usual length, but Peter, for the first time, had no idea how she would answer.

“Fine.”

Oh no. Suddenly Peter wished she had said no, he remembered his uncle Ben, that he trust May with Peter, and he would have wanted him to talk to her, to tell the the truth. “I… May I… I don’t want the teachers to see the bruises.”

“Why? You clearly have no problem lying to people, you can’t come up with a believable lie to hide that you’re Spiderboy?”

“I-… What?” Peter cleared his throat. “May… I…. May,” his voice cracked, “Ch- Mr Fisher, he-he’s been hurting me, I- I know I’m meant to be-be strong, an-and I-I… b-but I don’t… He punched me, I-.”

“No, he did not!” She shouted her anger building. “You snuck out last night, after Charles had told you you weren’t allowed to leave, he told me about how you picked a fight with some people, you got hurt because you’re a kid who decided to try and play Captain America.”

“That’s not, that’s not what happened! H-he punched me after Chloe hurt herself-“

“You hurt Chloe.” She glared at Peter across the table, the tips of her fingers were white against the mug, as though purposely trying to prevent herself from reenacting the last time she and Peter had argued, “you know if he had punched you after you tried to break a twelve year old’s hand I wouldn’t blame him. Maybe he’s right, maybe you do need some strong discipline, god knows Ben and I were too soft on you.”

Peter ducked his head down as she continued her rant so she didn’t see him crying, her words about him being selfish, weak, a burden, and so much more sank into his skin, his mind too tired to fight back.

“You know I always wanted kids, right? Ben never did, I gave up that dream for him. When your parents died I convinced him that we needed to accept what they wanted and care for you. It wasn’t easy, I mean you barely talked, and then you had that stutter, I was the one to make sure you were okay, I looked after you when you were sick, took you to school, held you after Ben-!” May shook her head. “I have my own kids now, Chloe’s not by blood but she’s as good as. Charles and I took you in out of the good of our hearts, all you’ve done since you’ve been here is act like a spoilt brat, you’re constantly giving Charles attitude as though he’s done something wrong, you’ve tried to attack him, you’re failing in school

Peter could only stand a few more minutes of her tirade before forcing out a choked apology. “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry you’re right I’m, I’m really, really sorry May, for everything, I know I keep messing up, I’m sorry, p-p-please give me another chance, please.”

“And if you think you can go around getting yourself beat up and try and blame it on Charles,” she continued as though he hadn’t spoken, but now she was cam, confident, she had won, “so you can go live with your superhero mentor know it wouldn’t work, no one would ever let you live with him, not him, not there, you’d be thrown in a kids home, or juvie, and if you think that Charles’ punishments have been hard… you just wait.”

Peter hugged his arms to his chest.

“I think you should think through your actions today.” She stood up and he followed suit, still looking skittish, he flinched as she raised her hand to scratch an imaginary itch on her own skin. “I’ll think about forgiving you, but you need to make it up to all of us, if you want to continue living with us, oh Peter,” her voice was full of sympathy, as though she was the old May, “we only want the best for you, me and Charles are the only ones who do. I would stay stop playing superhero but the news says that you’re never out there anymore anyway.”

Because I’m too weak to make it through school most days, because how can I fight bad guys when I can’t protect myself from a good man, a man who is probably pulling his punches?

“P-Please can I get some food first, I-I’m so hungry…”

“Peter you’re already eating us out of house and home, we really need to save money right now, you’re already eating so much that the girls are going without; just the other Sunday you had two helpings of meatloaf!”

“Y-you’re right, I’m-I’m sorry May.”

She smiled at him. “Good boy, now you should go and catch up on your school work, you’re very behind, according to all of the emails I’ve been getting. If you don’t improve we might have to figure out some other school for you to go to.”

Peter was too tired, too scared, too confused, his words wrapped around him trying to suffocate him as May warped them into new meanings.

Peter allowed May to lead him back to his bedroom, not that he had much of a choice, as soon as he stepped inside she closed the door, shutting him in alone.

He heard the key turn in the lock of the door, he waited a few seconds before turning the handle, it was locked.

Peter knew, abstractly, that he should be feeling scared, or hurt, or guilty, or mad, but he just felt numb.

Spider-Baby (2:03pm): Ned, im so sorry about yesterday, and about recently, ur right, i was being selfish and callous, and ungrateful, im sorry for everything, and that ive been a bad friend to you recently. I wouldnt blame u if u never forgive me, but i hope u do, cause ur my best friend.

Guy in the Chair (2:51pm): im sorry i shouted at u Peter, really sorry, mom and my therapist say im still working thru things :/ please dont shout at me for saying this, but i really want to no the real answer- is everything ok between u and may and her husband? ive not seen u like this before even when ben died :( i love u man no matter what well always b friends

Spider-Baby (3:14pm): Charles and me dont get along im working on it

Spider-Baby (3:17pm): i love u too man

He led face down on his bed until night fell, the Fishers were playing a board game, laughing and joking, May and Charles both babying Chloe due to her ‘traumatic’ injury, he couldn’t stand it.

He climbed out of his window into the night, grabbing only his web slingers and his mask.

Peter ended up at the tower, much to his surprise, he hadn’t realised where he was going, he kept his hood up and kept swinging then suddenly he was on the balcony of the tower, looking into the Stark’s penthouse apartment, he took the mask off.

Inside Tony, Pepper, and Morgan were all squished together, happily watching some animated Disney movie, Pepper and Tony looked so happy, lately when he had been around them all they had done was look older, more stressed, and sigh a lot.

He turned to leave.

“Hey, kid, wait up.”

Peter span around, almost shooting his webshooter at Tony who was stood there, having rushed out, presumably. Peter ducked his head. Why had he come here? Tony couldn’t see him like this, he couldn’t see the evidence of how weak Peter was, how pathetic, what a let down he was.

“Hey sorry, I just, I was in the neighbourhood- I didn’t mean to come I think I was swinging without thinking-“

“Hey, enough with the excuses, at least come in and say hi, you know what Mo’s like, and Pepper’s been complaining that you weren’t-“ Tony froze. “What the fuck is on your face.”

“Nothing. What? I don’t know what you’re on about.”

“Yeah smooth.” Tony said, his voice harsher than he had intended. “You know what the fuck I’m on about. Quit moving back, come here.”

“Mr Stark honestly I’m fine.” Peter protested but stopped moving.

Tony closed the gap, gently cupping Peter’s face with the prosthetic while the other gently touched the purple eye. “Quit it with the Mr Stark, I thought we moved past that, I thought you-…” He sighed, letting go of Peter’s face. “Will you come inside, please?”

Peter hesitated but eventually sighed. “Not like I have much choice.” He mumbled to himself letting Tony shepherd him in.

“Glad you understand that, at least.” Tony sent him a look telling him to stay where he was as Pepper and Morgan both looked over to them. “Hey lil miss, can you go get into your PJs, please?” Tony asked forcing himself to smile and keep his tone light.

“Go on, Morgan.” Pepper gave her the mom look before walking over to join the boys. She gasped when she saw Peter’s eye. “Oh honey, what happened?” She looked to Tony and demanded. “Who did this?”

“That’s kind of what I’m trying to figure out, honey.”

Peter looked down to avoid their eyes on him, Tony was holding onto his arm, keeping him in place. “It’s fine.”

“It is not fine, Peter!” Pepper’s voice grew loud.

“Oh yeah, sure, you’re right,” Tony snarked at the same time, “let’s just ignore that you look like a emo clown.”

“Tony, that’s really not helping.”

“It’s helping me.” Tony wiped a hand over his face trying not to shout at Peter, well, at least too much. “Pete, what- did this happen while you were in your suit, why did Karen not tell me, has she been working properly?”

“It didn’t happen in my suit-“

“Was it that asshole Flash?”

“-Someone, seriously, named their kid Flash?” Tony’s face lit up before looking at Pepper. “Right, yeah, sorry, serious. Did this little shit beat you up?”

“No-“

“I’m gonna go track down that fu-“ Pepper growled, already beginning to move.

“No!” This time Peter shouted, silencing both Pepper and Tony. “It wasn’t him and it wasn’t on patrol, it was just, just some guys from my old neighbourhood.”

“Some…” Tony raised an eyebrow. “Some random guys beat you up?”

“But… Peter you have super strength...?”

Peter could see both of their doubts, he opened his mouth to come up with yet another lie, but Tony’s sigh cut him off.

“He refuses to use it unless it’s fighting bike stealers.”

“It’s not fair if I use it against regular humans!”

“You know that them beating you up is a crime, right? That means they’re criminals, you could have punched them- hell you could had them arrested, or just maybe you could have used all the self defence Nat’s been teaching you?!”

“…It’s really not a big deal.”

“Of course it’s a big deal!”

“You got the shit beat out of you!”

“Mr-“

“Stop!” Tony shouted. He sighed, hid his face in his hands, then groaned. “Petey.”

The disappointment hung in the air. None of them spoke, Peter didn’t even breathe, there was a part of him screaming to run, and May’s voice in his head calling him weak, a burden, a disappointment. He couldn’t even argue with him, it was all true.

“…Right, let’s go to the medbay, we’ll get Fri to scan yo-“ Tony placed his hand on Peter’s back to guide him towards the elevator.

“No!” Peter shouted in a tone which stopped everyone in their tracks. He narrowed his eyes at Tony. “You promised not to invade my privacy.”

“Invade your- this isn’t invading-!”

“Why won’t you just trust me?!”

Tony threw his head back. “I do trust you kid!”

“Then trust me that this is everything, I don’t need to go to the medbay, and I don’t need to be scanned. Please Tony.”

Tony sighed, looked to Pepper, shared a silent conversation before looking back at Peter. “We’re choosing to trust you… Are you sure that’s all we need to know about?”

Peter swallowed then nodded. He chanced a look at Tony then Pepper, both looked disappointed, that wasn’t surprising, he was a disappointment to everyone.

“I’ll get you an ice pack, sit down, we’re going to watch a movie.” Pepper tried to smile but her eyes were sad when she looked at Peter. “You’re

“Mini Fury over here might have a hard time with that.” Tony mumbled as he led Peter to the couches.

Later on Peter was sat on the bed in the guest room he used all the time, so much that Pepper and Tony jokingly called it his. Ned would usually have been texting him but he hadn’t. With one hand he had the icepack pressed to his eye, the other hand was scrolling through apps on his phone.

Tony walked in, Peter went to take the icepack off of his eye but Tony pointed at him to keep it on, he walked over to stand next to him, worry on the older man’s face.

“Are you sure I should-?“

“You’re staying the night.” Tony told him firmly. “So call aunt May, or I will.”

“I’ll text her.” He mumbled, sounding small.

Tony nodded. He stared at him for a second then sighed, his firm look dropped. “Kid, Petey, you know that I’m, we’re, just worried about you? We’re not trying to, to over step, or to like ruin your life, or something.”

“I know.” Peter mumbled looking down at the bed.

“Pete, I know something’s going on with you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah… I did that whole ‘fine’ thing a few years back,” Tony took a seat on the bed beside Peter, forcing him to move his leg, “…I ended up with my house blown up, Pepper nearly died, I shacked up in this like twelve year olds garage trying to rebuild my suit, then save the world and Pep-“

“I know.” Peter mumbled. “I was watching on the news… I knew you weren’t dead… you couldn’t be.”

“Thanks Pete.” A small smile appeared on Tony’s face. “But I wouldn’t have had to go through all that if I had just talked to people - to Rhodey, to Pep, even Hap, I… I saw aliens, and I nearly died, which I mean now doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it shook me. I ended up going to a therapist, got some help, and a sweet PTSD diagnosis.”

“Tony…I…” Peter shook his head. “I’m okay, I promise, I’ll… I’m okay… Can I get some sleep, I’m pretty tired.”

“...Yeah.” Tony let out another sigh. “...You sure you don’t want me to talk to aunt May? Make sure she knows that you’re not in some sort of illegal fight club-“

“No!” Peter’s eyes were wide and his voice frantic. “Please, no, let me just,- I can handle aunt May, please don’t tell- please don’t talk to her.”

Tony hesitated, there was an uneasy feeling in his stomach, but he had been trying to turn over a new leaf since Pepper had Morgan, since he had died, since Peter had died. He drew in a deep breath, stood up, but then froze.

“You promise there’s nothing I need to worry about?”

Peter nodded his head. “I promise.”

The fingers on the hand holding the icepack were crossed.

When Peter fell asleep that night all he could think about was how disappointed May was going to be, how much he was going to be punished.

Chapter Text

Spider-Baby (4:00pm, 16th October): I’m sorry but I’m not going to be able to stay over this weekend, my family and I are having ‘family time’ this weekend. Sorry to tell you at such short notice.

Iron Dad (4:06pm, 16th October): Oh, that’s okay, have fun with the  Cleavers! You want to come around another time?

Iron Dad (10:32am 18th October): I guess you’re busy, I’m in the tower all week, you can come save me from physio on Wednesday afternoon, maybe? Give me a text kiddo, or swing by anytime.

Spider-Baby (4:23pm, 24th October): I can’t come to stay with you this weekend, I’m sick, I’ll be okay there’s no need to worry about me, I’m being well looked after.

Iron Dad (5:09pm, 24th October): Shit, are you okay? What’s wrong? Sick how? You want me to send you some soup or something?

Iron Dad (7:54pm 24th October): I’m guessing you’re asleep, you need anything?

Iron Dad (9:08am 25th October): How you feeling today, Underoos?

Iron Dad (11:18am 25th October): You want anything? A new lego set to cheer you up? Ice cream? You name it

Iron Dad (00:03am, 27th October): I know you haven’t been answering anyones texts or calls, May says that you’re okay just sick still, you need anything? We miss you around here, let me know if you want a change of scenery and I can be there in 23 minutes.

Peter flopped back on his mattress on the floor, waiting for his phone to buzz to life, he had been good enough to be allowed to use it, to be trusted to have it, until he inevitably messed up again.

There was a cacophony of buzzing and he was glad that he had made sure it would be on silent, it was hard enough trying to keep his spidey senses and hearing under control, he felt like he was walking close to the third rail at all times, desperate to just be able to be better than he clearly was, to be good enough for May and Charles.

His phone started to ring, Peter frowned, he saw Tony’s name and face on the screen, the call went through before Peter could do anything, and Tony’s voice calling his name came out of the speaker.

“H-Hey, sorry, I just got in from work.”

“He’s alive!” Tony gave a fake cheer.

Peter gave a small forced chuckle. “Yeah, sorry, schools been like, woah, y’know?”

“Sure, I’ve watched teen dramas, I know you’re probably out partying all the time, turning into a werewolf, the whole shebang.”

A ghost of a smile flickered onto Peter’s face for the first time in weeks, his face hurt, his lips, his eye, his cheekbone, it was all worth it to hear Tony joking with him. God, he missed him.

“Talking of werewolves-“

“-Wait, what? How do you connect anything to werewolves, y’know I don’t turn into a spider, right?” He knew he shouldn’t say that, he knew Tony was over the phone, and that Tony wasn’t like them, but he tensed waiting for the hit.

“Talking of werewolves,” Tony repeated, “get ready me and Grand Princess Maguna are coming to pick you up in like thirty.”

“I’m- Sir, what do you-?”

“I talked to May, she’s letting you come to the Halloween party, I can’t believe you didn’t already tell her about it, should I be offended that my parties are no longer talked about and people, namely you, don’t seem to do anything for a ticket.”

“I-I can’t, I have, I-“

“I already talked to your aunt, kid, she said you can come, so get up and dressed or whatever, or I’m dragging you out in your undies.”

“-Mr-” But Peter’s tangled protests were cut off as the phone made a beeping noise, he had been disconnected.

“Shhh-“ Peter cut off his own swear, running his hand through his ragged hair. He would have not realised that it was even halloween today had Ned not been trying to convince Peter to go to Abe’s party, and Flash hadn’t consistently scared him in order to gain his anxious flinches, entertainment for Flash.

He grabbed his thin grey towel he had gotten from goodwill, then he grabbed a little toiletry bag he had been given in Wakanda, and some clothes which had enough holes in to be able to pass as zombie clothes.

He crept into the shower, maybe he could get ready and get out before Charles came home, May could tell him and Peter wouldn’t be in trouble.

He showered in cold water, too worried about using up the hot to even make it warm, he leant back against the tile as the spray stung his wounds, he just needed to be presentable enough to go under the radar.

He showered, dried his hair, changed into his only somewhat cleaner clothes, then stared at the mirror, the black eye, the cut on his cheek where the skin had been punched open, the split lip.

He dug into the toiletry bag and found two tubes of what he was looking for, the foundation he had shoplifted from a drugstore, the shade he wore every day, and the lighter one, he hadn’t been sure which one would be his shade at first.

He covered his face in it, hiding his black eye, trying to avoid the cuts, knowing it would be obvious that he was even wearing makeup if he covered them. He looked in the mirror and gave a small laugh, “I’m a zombie.” because he really looked like one, maybe that was why Ned and MJ (who had barley forgiven him for his outbursts) kept looking at him weird, his teachers kept asking him if he was well, why Sophia seemed scared of him.

It was then that he realised there were several voiced in the living room, one of them Charles’, another Tony’s, shit.

“You’ve done a lot with the place, very homey, nice.”

fuck.

fuck.

fuck.

shit.

fuck.

Tony couldn’t be there with him, with Charles, he couldn’t.

Charles had held a gun to his head the week before, he warned him, in that cold dead voice he would use, that if Peter left, if he told Tony, Charles would shoot them both, and anyone else who knew.

He rushed out of the bathroom, he had to get Tony out of there fast, he literally fell into the living room.

“Woah. Bambi.” Tony chuckled, rushing over to help him out, “You okay?”

“Yeah sorry.” He was pulled into a hug by Tony, he wanted to stay in that moment forever, but soon it was moved to a side hug, he was able to see Charles, smiling with out any emotions, Morgan was chatting away to a very quiet Sophia, Morgan was dressed in a Spiderman costume, which would have struck him had he not been worried about her being in the apartment, but they were both far enough away from Charles, for the time being.

“Peter’s always clumsy.” Charles chuckled. His eyes narrowed in on the teen. “You didn’t tell me you were going to Mr Stark’s party, champ.”

“Sorry, sir, I forgot about it, I wasn’t gonna go.” Peter quickly mumbled looking down at his shoes.

“That’s okay.” Charles’ laugh ran like cold venom down his back. “You know that May and I just worry about you.”

“I had to talk him into it, May said it was okay.” Tony supplied, he cupped Peter’s cheek, turning him to look at him, Tony frowned taking in his face. “What happened to your face, Bambi?”

Peter’s eyes flickered down from Tony’s. “MJ did my halloween makeup.” He claimed at the same time Charles spoke.

“He got into another fight in school.”

“I, uh, I got into a fight, yeah, but the er, the bruise is makeup though… Halloween zombie and all that…” Peter pulled his face away and took a step back.

“Huh.” Tony hummed, clearly not happy.

“Peter!”

The four year old crashed into Peter, his whole body ached, down to his very bones, but he smiled, lifting Morgan into his arms, he would keep her safe from Charles at any cost.

“Look Petey, I’m Spiderman, cause Spiderman’s cooler than Iron Man, even daddy and auntie Nat agree.” Her head tilted to one side. “Why do you look like that?”

“I’m a zombie.” Peter smiled. “I’m gonna eat your brains.” He teased tickling Morgan’s ribs, he gave a horse chuckle, felt Tony ruffle his hair.

“Ready to go, spawn?” Tony had stepped between Peter and Morgan, and Charles.

Peter nearly took a step but looked back at Charles. “Is it- am I-?

“Of course you can go have fun!” Charles beamed as though there was nothing he’d rather do. “But come back tonight, okay champ, I’ll help you with your history homework, I know how behind you are… in that class.”

Peter felt the dig at his intelligence like a knife, but he wasn’t wrong, his teachers were talking about putting him in lower classes, Ned had offered to try and tutor him, he was so dumb. He nodded his head. “Yes sir.”

Tony held his hand out, wanting Peter and Morgan out of the apartment first.

Peter was finally in the corner of the elevator when he put Morgan down.

“Will you sit in the back with me, Peter? Mommy and daddy said it’s safer for kids, but I’m not allowed screen time ‘cause it’s only a short drive.”

“Sure Mo.” Peter gave her a small smile.

“Bambino, Peter, is everything okay? You were pretty quiet in there with Chuckie and…” He trailed off, unsure what the feeling was, other tha having wanted to get his kids out of there fast.

“‘m ‘kay.” Peter mumbled, looking at his worn sneakers.

He looked up, Tony was staring at him, Peter could tell him so easily… but Charles would kill him, would kill them, and even if he didn’t May was right, where could Peter live? No one would want him, he was basically just Tony’s pet project he’d soon get bored of him, he’d be shoved in some group home and be wishing to still live with some people as kind as May and Charles..

“Just tired, school’s overworking me, I’m fine.” He bit back the ‘sir’, knowing Tony wouldn’t like it, he sent him a smile, trying his best to mean it.

“….Kid, I,-“

The elevator opened and Tony was cut off, Peter heard the older sigh, but they all headed out to one of Tony’s more family friendly cars.

Peter had never seen the tower done up, he didn’t know what he had been expecting the tower to be like but it was beyond his wildest imaginations.

The whole place was decorated: fake spiders, ghosts, and ghouls were on every window, around every corner, cobwebs, witch statues, music playing all around, the large TV in the centre of the Avenger’s living area was split between some Peanuts Halloween cartoon he used to watch with his Aunt May, and a Super Mario game which Wanda and Vision were already arguing over.

There were halloween or fall themed throws, cushions, even some tiny bats being projected around the walls, it wasn’t like the clips he had seen of the old Tony Stark parties, this one was clearly very PG compared to the others, but he loved this one already.

There were people he knew and did not know all around, all of the Avengers, and Dr Cho, the others he knew, all happy to see him, all impressed with his ‘make up’ skills. Tony stayed by his side even while Morgan went off to play with some friends, Tony led him straight over to the tables which were packed with food.

Peter was about to pounce on the food but he remembered how sick he had got last time.

“Load up a plate or I’m letting Bruce feed you some healthy shh- stuff.” Tony smirked passing the kid a paper plate. “Or candy corn.”

Peter loaded it up with things; hotdogs, mini pizza, mini burgers, pigs in blankets, chips, fries, and more candy and chocolates than he could even name, the latter were with the help of Tony.

Tony grabbed a handful of mini burgers and sat with the kid at the table, trying to get him to talk but Tony found he was having to fill a lot of the silence, he managed to get him talking about some ideas to his prosthetic, most of Peter’s ideas centred around the defence, he argued even strongly for them than he had before.

Other came and talked to them too, Pepper in a wonder woman costume, something which Tony was trying not to think about too much because…. Woah…. Pepper hugged Peter, making sure he ate and drank as much as he could, commenting how thin he was.

Rhodey was there, and Nat, both forcing Peter to insist he got in a fight, that he hadn’t got jumped,

Other Avengers joined, Steve was quietly watching Peter, Clint and Sam’s joking had stopped when they saw Peter’s face.

“That bruise looks pretty life like, kid.” Clint eyed him carefully, breaking the silence which had struck when they had walked to say hi, he had seen injuries like that on his own face before. He absentmindedly touched one of his hearing aids.
He had already heard the lie from Nat, none of them believed it, Steve was the one who was certain it wasn’t, he had gained more than a few black eyes when he was younger, he was an expert on it.

Peter squirmed under his gaze.

“Why don’t we play a round of Mario?” Sam spoke carefully, diplomatically, gaining a small nod from Tony when he looked towards him with questioning eyes, when Peter looked back at him he smiled easily at Tony as though he’d never been worried about the kid. “Shouldn’t you be wearing a costume, Stark?”

“I’m dressed as two-armed Tony Stark.” He got laughs even from Peter. He ruffled the kid’s hair. “Go play kid, me and Pep will be around if you need us.”

That was all Peter needed to go and join the others playing on the heavily updated wii.

Tony and Pepper watched for a moment before he placed his hand on the small of Pepper’s back and directed her to the very edge of the room where they wouldn’t be

“I think Peter’s in a fight club.”

Pepper sighed. “He is not in a fight club.”

“How would you know, he wouldn’t talk to you about it, that’s the first rule.”

“You’re intolerable.” She told him fondly her face turned troubled again, Peter didn’t seem like himself, he seemed how he had in the Wakandan hospital room before Tony had woke up. “What was his excuse about his face?”

“He got beat up, and the bruise is makeup.” Her let out a sardonic snort.

“There’s no way that’s makeup.”

“Yeah, he claims the kid with the initials did it for him, to make him look like a zombie, only he didn’t even know about the party until I told him he was coming, there’s no way she could have done it.” He told her, with another bitter laugh. “Captain Chuckles said he got in a fight but…Pete agreed, he looked all embarrassed about it… I don’t know, I just get a bad feeling about…” He trailed off.

“We had him checked out, even his ex wife said that he’s a stand up guy, he suddenly meets Peter and that changes? I’m not saying it’s wrong

“My dad was beloved by the world, y’know other than the parts of the world where his weapons were used against everyone indiscriminately for oil, but he hated me.”

Pepper reached over and squeezed his hand. “Do you think that… I mean, May would never let him…”

“Pep I,” he let out a very tired sigh, “I don’t know. I really don’t. Maybe he’s being bullied, I mean we knew about it before, he’s said about it before, he didn’t give it as an excuse but it took us dragging it out of him… I just…” He shook his head, he felt Pepper’s hand on his face, directing him to look at her, she looked as tired as he felt, he pecked her on the lips, unable to stop himself.

“Peter’s here tomorrow on that school field slash nepotism trip.”

“The one I’m forbidden to go down and embarrass him at?”

“Yes. And you’re still forbidden to go and embarrass him, or I’m letting Rhodey show him your home haircut photos.”

Tony sighed. “Fine, but if Friday tells me that that fuckin’ bullying little shit messes with Pete I’m beatin’ the shit out of him, I don’t care if he’s fifteen.”

“You’ll have to stop me first.” She swore. “But as I was trying to say, it’s Friday and May said he can stay over this week we keep him after the trip, we invite May around and we talk to them both, we get the truth and we go from there.”

Another sigh but a nod. He rested his forehead against his wife’s. “I just wish we could do something now, like right this second.”

“Me too, but unless the kid tells us there’s nothing we can do, and we can’t have this conversation here and now, it wouldn’t be fair on Peter, and we might be interrupted.”

“I hate that you’re always right.”

“Yet you’ve had plenty of time to get used to it.” She teased him. “Let’s go and join in the gaming thing.”

“We’re gonna get crushed, or called old, crushed and called old.” Tony whined, but he pulled back, keeping hold of Pepper’s hand, leading her over to the couch, sitting either side of Peter. 

Peter had gotten a ride home from Happy, having quickly said bye to Tony and Pepper, not giving them time to grab their keys, he already had Happy waiting in the car for him, he needed to keep Tony and Pepper out of the vicinity of the apartment.

“You know, Tony and Pepper wouldn’t mind it if you wanted to stay at the tower.” Happy told him softly as they pulled up.

“W-Why would I need to?”

Happy shrugged. “Just thought you should know, whenever, as you seem to be avoiding the place these days.”

Peter hesitated. May must have seen the car because she was was walking out of the apartment building door, smiling and waving, her arms wrapped around her herself as though she was cold. “I’m good, thanks.”

Happy rolled the car window and started to talk to May, who was happily smiling and asking him all sort of questions, such as about his mom, and his cooking hobby.

Peter climbed out of the car when May gave him a look.

“I do’t need to pick him up from school tomorrow to take him to the tower tomorrow, do I? He’s got that field trip. Unless he’s not staying over this weekend, again, Tony never tells me anything.”

“Of course he can stay over, I know they love their boy time.” She ruffled Peter’s hair, ignoring his slight flinch.

“Hey kid,” Happy caught his attention, “I know Tony jokes, but I used to be a boxer, I’ve taught Tones, I can teach you too, if you like.”

“That’s very nice of you, Hap, I’m sure that Charles will teach him how to fight though.” May answered for Peter, ushering her ward into the building, and up to the apartment.

It was only when they got into the apartment that May’s smile dropped.

“Where the hell have you been?” May’s voice was dangerously quiet.

“I-I was a-at the p-party,” cold sweat ran down his scared and wrecked back, “T-Tony- M-Mr Stark, he said, said that you said I could, that, that I could g-go, he showed me t-texts.”

“We were so worried about you Peter!” May ignored his words and continued with her own. “We didn’t know what had happened to you! You could have been lying there, hurt, bloody, you could have been kidnapped, traffic, you could have been being held hostage there could have been bad guys knowing where we live, where the girls live, we could have been all in danger because of our connection to you!”

As May continued her rant tears fell from Peter’s eyes, he was shaking from fear, cold, flinching every time May moved.

“I’m sorry May, I’m so so sorry May, I didn’t mean-I shouldn’t have gone out, I’m sorry, I’m-“

His sobs were cut off by May’s calm and once again caring voice. “Charles is waiting for you in the bedroom that we provide for you, free of cost, go accept your punishment… he was so worried about you, and you’re lucky that I’m the one who got you from the car not him.”

Peter was crying and bleeding through his shirt by the time he came back to the living room where May was calmly reading a book, as though there had been no noise from Peter’s bedroom for the past hour and a half.

“Oh Peter.” May’s voice was full of sympathy, she pulled him into a hug, too tight, he let out a whimper, the t-shirt Charles had allowed him to slip on after the punishment was over got stuck on the sticky blood straight away. “This is why you need to follow our rules and be more considerate. Try to behave.”

“Y-Yeah, m-ma’am.” Peter sniffled.

“You can sleep on the fire escape tonight, you can think over how concerned we were about your wellbeing, maybe next time you’ll think twice, I’m sure you don’t want to go through this again.”

“Y-y-yes, m-Mrs Fish-Fisher, I-I’m s-sorry i-it won-won’t hap-happen ‘gain.”

Chapter Text

Peter was late to school, it was gone seven when he was let in from the fire apartment, he was half frozen, having been locked outside all night on the first night of November, he took a shower but all that came out was cold water, not daring to try the hot, he threw on he same clothes he had been wearing a few days ago, he hadn’t had a chance to wash them yet, he hope that spraying some axe would help.

He forgot his subcard or had lost it, or it had been confiscated by someone in the apartment, but apparently he looked so flustered that he was given a free day pass, and told the directions to the closest hospital.

He genuinely thought about going to one, his back hurt more than it ever had, everything did, he had a strong pain in his stomach, but that could just be from not eating regularly… but he couldn’t go to one, May had explained that to him oh so gently while Charles had fixed up his arm the other week, they would take him from them, they’d see his enhanced healing, not that it was really working, they’d take him and experiment on him, and everyone would assume Tony had given him the powers and he’d be in trouble.

Peter fell asleep, slumped across two seats, jumping when his station was called, rushing out, stumbling over his untied laces, but not falling, he counted that as a win.

The pain had gotten worse by the time he reached the school, the school which, he was just realising was shockingly quiet, shit, he was late, yet again. He was in so much trouble.

He was about to rush through the door, ready to come up with an excuse as to why he was late for homeroom when he heard Principal Morita say his name.

“Mr Parker.”

“I-Sorry, I’m late sir, I’m so sorry it won’t happen again!”

“Your class is already waiting to board the bus.”

Peter looked at the man blankly.

“The field trip to the grand opening of the Stark Industries tower? I would have thought you’d have been anticipating this trip, it seems right up your ally.”

“I- of course, sir, I just… I just forgot, I overslept this morning.”

The teacher looked him over carefully before nodding. “Are you feeling okay?”

Of course Peter could tell him he felt unwell and he could get sent home, or anywhere which wasn’t the tower, he couldn’t do this today. His hand was resting on the right side of his stomach, god it hurt.

“Perhaps you need to go to the nurse, or maybe the hospital, you look very pale, halloween was yesterday not today… the nurse can take you if your parents-ah guardians can’t?”

“No!” Peter shook his head, “No sir, sorry, no, I just… I’m fine, I just, I had candy for breakfast, then ran here, that’s why I -“

“Ah!” The principal nodded his head knowingly. “I envy you young boys metabolisms, though it would perhaps be best if you switched to cereal, Peter.”

Peter gave him the slightest hint of a smile and nodded his head.

“Peter, I know that recently you’ve been struggling in school, both the quality of your schoolwork and your behaviour, several of your teachers have gone to bat for you, telling me that this trip could reinvigorate your interest in science, and in education on the whole. I’m trusting them, trusting you, but if you cause trouble on this trip I will be forced to suspend you and have a very long talk with your guardians about your future at this school, is that understood, Mr Parker?”

Peter swallowed then nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Good,” the man smiled again, “you’re a good kid Peter, I don’t know what’s been going on with you, but you can always talk to any teacher.” He waited for Peter to nod his acknowledgement. “C’mon let’s get you onto that bus.”

“Peter, I’m glad to see you.” To his credit, Mr Harrington looked like he genuinely meant that. “Are you feeling okay? Do you need to go to the nurse?”

Peter shook his head trying his best to smile, he was just being sensitive, overreacting.

“Okay…if you’re sure.” Mr Harrington didn’t sound certain himself. “I’m going to need you to sit close to the front of the bus, I’m sure you understand.” He looked apologetic.

Peter felt bad for him all of a sudden, he really had been trying to be the best homeroom teacher possible, the best science teacher possible, and he had gotten stuck with Peter. 

“Mr Harrington can I sit next to Peter, please?”

“Sure, just sit the row behind me, okay.”

Peter swallowed down the lump in his throat as he looked at Ned. “Thanks man.”
They hadn’t gotten back to normal since their argument, Ned knew something was different about Peter, and Peter was refusing to talk about it. Peter and him no longer hung out after school, sometimes Ned would order some food from Mr Delmar’s just so they could talk for a while, and would make sure to order enough for Peter too. Peter wondered if he’d ever know that he’d probably saved Peter.

Peter collapsed into the seat, slanting himself between the window and the seat, trying his best to not wince when his back shot with pain. His eyes closed, trying to hide the pain, he could hear everyone getting on the bus, he could hear too much, he could hear Ned unzipping his backpack, Peter chose to focus on that, Tony had taught him that, focus on one thing, drown out the rest, let it ground you.

“Here,” Peter’s eyes snapped open, a banana had been thrust at him, “my mom gave me this, I’m not hungry.”

“Are you-“ Peter cut himself off, they’d been playing this game for weeks, for months, Peter wanting to accept, never quite able to, Ned insisting, telling him to stop acting like it was a big thing, “thanks man.”

“Hey, Parker!”

Peter grimaced trying to ignore the voice.

“Parker!”

He looked up wearily.

“Everyone’s finally gonna get to see that you’re just making this up, you ready to admit you don’t work for Stark?”

“I do.” Peter mumbled, barely audible.

“What was that, Penis?”

“Leave him alone, Flash, you’re just jealous that you’re never gonna get a job there, they chose Peter to work there, that’s how smart he is.”

Flash let out a snort. “Yeah? Then why’s he about to be moved out of every AP class?”

Peter ducked his head, biting his lip, it hurt even without biting the part where the cut was, tears stung his eyes, but Flash’s words hurt more. If he wasn’t in the AP classes he could, no he would lose his scholarship. He heard a teacher moving Flash along, he opened the banana took a few bites before feeling like he would throw up, he folded the skin over and placed it in the side pocket of his backpack.

Every bounce in the road stabbed through his stomach and his back, all his body really, but those were the worst parts.

“Are the Avengers gonna be there?”

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know,” He mumbled, keeping his voice as quiet as Ned was, “none of them said about it yesterday.”

“You were with them yesterday?”

“Yeah, uh a halloween party thing, I only stayed a few hours, we mostly played games, Steve,”

“Captain America” Ned gasped.

Peter smiled ever so slightly at Ned’s enthusiasm. “Yeah, he was telling ghost stories, so was Bucky.”

“Your life is so fuckin’ cool.” Ned shook his head in awe.

Peter couldn’t help but smile, he wished he could share Ned’s enthusiasm, all he felt was dread, he was sure they’d have some tour guide he didn’t know him, they wouldn’t run into anyone he knew, they definitely wouldn’t see any Avengers, why would they come down to see a quiet, run of the mill, high school tour. 

“We’re here today live in New York at the Stark Tower where in just under an hour we’ll be hearing from CEO Pepper Potts at the grand opening. Stark Industries, who was just twenty years ago infamous for producing weapons for the armed forces, has been focusing on energy and tech since the kidnapping of the previous CEO and husband of Pepper Potts, Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man.”

“There will be a press conference after the cutting of the ribbon open between the media and Ms Potts, we speculate that this will be talking about where Stark Industries will go in the future. During the Blip years the Stark Industry was heavily involved in charity efforts around the world, as well as keeping their place as the number one technology company in the world. The new StarkPhone is ready to be released later this month, just in time for the Holidays-“

Peter had seen the cameras outside of the building as they had been directed around the side to one of the private guest garages, but inside of the building there were so many more, it seemed that nearly everyone they passed was holding a camera, a microphone, a notepad and paper.

He shouldn’t have come.

He should have skipped school.

He should have gone to the nurse instead.

“This is so cool.” Ned hissed, he was bubbling, fizzing with excitement   

Peter had to admit that it was, it had been a while since he had gone through the main building, he had spend some time around the lower levels of the tower while Tony was still healing, firstly at Bruce’s side, but as soon as he had talked to the scientists in charge he didn’t need Bruce by his side, the scientists were happy to answer his questions, or ask him their own.

Everything was glass, shiny metal, lights, and greenery. Peter remembered a year ago, six years ago he supposed, seeing photographs in magazines about what they thought the future of building would be like, only this was better, because it was Tony and Pepper’s.
There were holograms asking visitors to sign in, holograms of Tony and of his father, old ones of both of them, welcoming them to Stark Towers. There was one of Pepper too, a newer one, it must have been sometime since Tony came back

“All of the windows are solar powered.” Peter whispered to his friend. “They run on even the tiniest amount of sunlight, they also can collect energy from the artificial lights inside and outside of the building, it means they don’t use any nonrenewable energy for the lights and heating. Pep said they’re wanting to help refurbish some building around the city and put these sort of windows in, especially in places where it’s hard to pay for electricity.”

“So. Fucking. Cool.” Ned whispered breathless with his enthusiasm.

“Midtown, everyone stay together, we’re going to be talking to Mr Hogan here to get our badges.”

Oh shit, Peter thought, he was screwed. He heard Happy’s booming voice welcoming them in a brash tone, before drilling down into them the importance of their cards.

That was something else Peter had forgotten. His badge. The one he never used, the one which Happy insisted on him having, the one Tony teased him about every time Happy was around, the one Peter had last been using to see if he could try and unlock a closed door.

He tried to search for it in his backpack as Happy continued to talk, not a sign of it.

“What’s up?” Ned whispered as quietly as he could, both boys were aware that Mrs Warren was giving them a look, mostly Peter, he allowed his backpack to drop back over his shoulder.

“I’m about to be killed live on TV.” He whispered back as quiet as Ned had been.

Eventually they were told to line up to collect their visitors badges, Peter stepped back so he was at the back of the queue, ready to be reamed out by Happy. When he eventually reached the front of the queue he held his hand out for Happy’s helper to hand him a badge.

Happy snatched the badge mid air. “Don’t even say it…”

He watched Happy narrow his eyes. “I think I lost mine.”

“…Did Tony pay you to tell me that?”

Peter fidgeted, his eyes flicked back to his class, he didn’t want anyone to know how connected he was. “I think I left it upstairs a few weeks ago.”

Happy rolled his eyes. “I’m still blaming Tone.” He passed him the badge.  “Next time I’m making you wait til I get him down here to confirm you’re allowed in.”

“Seriously?”

“Do I look like I crack jokes about security risks?”

Peter gave him a look back, one which clearly told him that if he wanted to be a security risk he could do that without an access card.

They were led into a media room, it was modern, the Stark logo was around everywhere, cameras and reporters were at the back of the room, at the front there was a small stage, a podium with a microphone, and a few pedestals with holographic disks on the top. Peter smiled, he knew that there would be some tech premiering, otherwise Pepper wouldn’t have them there.

Peter had never gone been in the room before, he had never had a reason to, the school was directed into the seats at the front, Peter car with Ned on one side, an empty chair on the other, he hoped he could be able to hide behind some of the older kids, just in case Pepper hadn’t managed to keep Tony away. Peter continued to look around, then he felt someone in the seat beside him, in the split second before looking down he wondered if Tony was there, he grimaced, then saw it was Flash. He didn’t know which was worse, Flash or Tony, the smile on Flash’s face said it was probably worse that it was him.

“What’s up Parker? You worried that you’re going to get found out?”

“I do work here.” Peter mumbled.

“Yeah? Where’s your badge if you work here?”

“I…I lost it.” He could hear how fake his own words sounded even without Flash’s laugh.

“Why are you even sat with us?” Ned glared.

“I was told to. Mrs Warren didn’t want me and Antonio sitting together, but now I guess I can watch as your lies all fall down around you and everyone realises what an absolute loser you are.”

Peter was going to respond but pain shot through him, it was getting worse, all he could think about was the bedroom upstairs, the soft bed, he could pass out in it, maybe he would never wake up, he didn’t really care anymore.

He squeezed his eyes shut, ignoring Flash trying to bug him, ignoring Ned’s excited whispering.

The room was soon full of noise and energy, reporters starting their live or recorded broadcasts, Peter opened his eyes again, just in time to see Pepper take to the stage.

Pepper looked over the crowd, the cameras, the kids on the chairs, she searched for the mousy brown curls she knew as well as she knew Morgan’s dark hair. Peter kept his head down but at least she knew he was there.

“Thank you for coming to the grand reopening of Stark Industries. I know that this is a very different opening, or reopening, than we are used to here, don’t worry there will be a party before our opening to the public.”

Laughter from reporters and the teachers, and a few students, Peter’s hand pressed on his side, leaning forward in his chair so his back did’t touch the chair.

“We have worked hard in the past year to get the entirety of Stark Tower to be completely run on renewable energy, we at SI have always been focused on a continuing legacy for the future, for our children, for our earth. As part of that we have invited the AP classes of Midtown School of Science and Technology to be our special guests at this occasion. Today they will be the first to see our new labs, to talk to our leading scientists, to engage in experiments to get a feel for what we do here, and will later today have a question and answer session with myself and some other members of the team, perhaps one day some of them will be working here with us, developing the tech our future needs. They’ll also be touring our Avengers museum, which will be opening in December, perhaps one day some of them will be designing things for the Avengers team, or will be on it themselves”

“Not you Penis, you’ll have failed out by then, probably be living on the street.”

Peter clenched his teeth trying to ignore Flash’s sneering hiss.

“We have not only invited Midtown to join us because they are the leading school in the country, but because an impressive forty two percent of their student body is made up of scholarship students, they are investing in their students for the future, and from today Stark Industries’ charity The Stark Relief Foundation will be setting up scholarships in STEM schools around the country, Midtown being the first.”

Pepper continued to talk for a while, Peter kept his teeth clenched trying to shut out Flash, trying to goad him, trying to shut out the pain.

He tried to focus on Pepper without crying out for her help, tried to focus on the questions the reporters were asking, tried to focus on the talks he had heard months ago, charities, internships, renewable, self sustaining, the words melting into one.

“Scholarships are not the only thing we’ll be investing in,” Pepper told them smiling proudly. “Our links with the Avengers have always been clear, and their injuries and setbacks have always been shown in the media, what’s been less documented is the aids which even superheroes need.”

Holograms of braces appeared, the same as the ones Rhodey wore, hearing aids, tiny then zoomed in, sunglasses for blind people, prosthetic legs, prosthetic arms, more and more. Peter wanted to be excited but instead he was just trying to breathe through the pain he was in.

“If you can, please join me in standing to greet some special guests.”

They stood, Peter gripping the chair in front of him in pain, denting the wood, as he heard everyone clap. He fell back into his chair as soon as he could.

Rhodey was on the stage, looking like he hated everything about being up there, next to him was Bucky, looking just as pleased as the colonel, Clint was at least trying to smile, a huge mug of coffee glued to his hand.

And last but not least Tony Stark strolled onto the stage in a sharp suit, his prosthetic on show, as though in front of the cameras was where he had always belonged.

He gave a speech, about wanting to make a better future for the world, for his kids, because they had seen what the world was like broken and were determined to never let it get back to that again, he cracked jokes, his eyes searching the crowd for Peter, only just seeing him at the very end of his speech.

“Now,” Tony smiled graciously, “it’s time for you lot with the cameras to pack up, it’s not offence, it’s just the kiddos time to have a quick Avengers rejects Q and A, and I don’t like you.”

He said it with a smile so charming that the members of the media section laughed, thanked him, then began to pack up.

He looked back at the kids. “We’ll just wait for them leave then we can have some questions and answers, I mean maybe not to Clint cause he’s still pretty much asleep.”

“I don’t even know why you bothered to come, Parker.” Flash hissed seeming genuinely bothered by the lack of rebuttal Peter had been giving him. “You’re not even listening to Ms Potts. You’re so gonna get kicked out school, I doubt your new daddy will pay for you to go to a good one, you’ll be back in one of your poverty schools-“

“Piss. Off.” Peter managed to growl, the ‘daddy’ comment had struck a nerve, he couldn’t stand the idea of anyone thinking Charles was… that Charles could be….

The push caught him off guard, so off guard he nearly fell off of his seat, it caught him so unexpected that he let out a strangled noise of pain, drawing everyones attention to him.

Before Flash could defend himself to the glaring teachers around him Tony’s voice boomed out across the room. On the stage Pepper, Rhodey, Clint, and Bucky, all looked like they were ready to punch Flash.

“Excuse me, Mr Eugene Johnson, yeah I know your name, and that’s not a good thing, trust me. Would you like to explain to me why you think it’s okay to be messing with my kid?” Tony grimaced internally, he hadn’t meant for that to come out, sure he referred to Peter like that around the kid all the time, but not around the classmates he assured Pepper he wouldn’t be embarrassing him around. His eyes flew to Peter, but the kid was just sat there, the next thing he knew the kid was on the ground.

“I didn’t do anything!” Flash shouted but no one was listening to him, the teachers were heading over, the media’s camera’s were zoomed in, and everyone who was on the stage was running to the kid, Tony and Pepper getting there first. 

Tony crumbled to his knees, his hands on either side of Peter’s face, cupping it, when he saw that the kid was unresponsive he gently tapped it, nothing.

“Friday, tell me any injuries my kid has! Now!” He demanded possibly a little too loud.

He could hear Clint trying to move both the school kids and their teachers back, trying to explain to the worried teachers that Tony would help him, and that the kid was always in the tower that they were all just as worried about Peter.

He could hear Bucky growling at the reporters to stop filming and to get out or he’d break their cameras, strong words from a guy who literally fell over a banana skin that morning and now had a Captain America bandaid on the cut on his arm.

But Tony didn’t focus on that, he just moved the kid so he was propped up in his arms, and took in the very real bruise on his eye, the cuts were just as real, and Peter looked so small, so skinny, too skinny. “C’mon kid, time to wake up, there’s no nap time on the field trip’s agenda.” He gently shook him.

“It might be easier to list what injuries Peter has not suffered, Boss. Paging Dr Banner and Dr Cho, Peter appears to have suffered a ruptured appendix, med team are on their way.”

“Fuck-“ Tony murmured.

“Why didn’t he tell us he was in pain?” Pepper looked at Tony as if it was his fault that Peter was so stubborn, perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn’t, she send him a tight but apologetic smile. “Peter, honey, come on, wake up.”

“Tones, is he gonna be okay?” For once Rhodey looked a little scared, filling Tony with dread, Rhodey was Tony’s own personal superhero (not that he’d ever let him hear that of course), he didn’t like the look of James ‘I’ve seen it all’ Rhodes looking worried.

Tony looked across at Pepper who nodded, planted a quick kiss on Peter’s forehead before turning to Peter’s teachers.

“I’m going to carry him until I reach the med guys.” Tony said for all the people who weren’t Pepper, as he left he could hear Pepper telling the teachers that Peter was family, that one of them could wait with them until May got there, but otherwise they should get on with the field trip, Peter was in the best hands possible.

Tony hoped she was right, as he met the med team in the hallway and reluctantly allowed them to take Peter from his arms and put him on the gurney, he followed close behind he hadn’t felt so scared since the he had been just about to snap his fingers.

Chapter Text

Luckily Helen Cho had been close by, she had stayed in one of the guest  suites after having attended the party which felt as though it happened days ago, not hours.

Tony hadn’t taken his eyes off Peter the entire rush to the medbay, he kept his hand in his own, kept calling his name trying to wake him up, he felt like he was stuck in some bad low value nightmare, but the kid was still out of it.

He carried on rushing with them as they reached the medical wing, and as they rushed to the theatre, as Helen Cho and Bruce Banner appeared, both staring worriedly at the kid before putting on their professional masks.

Suddenly a nurse was in front of him, trying to pull his hand from Peter’s trying to push him back, he didn’t let it stop him, he simply battled him away as though he were a fly, thinking in the back of his mind that the nurse was lucky the kid was occupying his prosthetic, otherwise he probably would have been put through a wall.

“Tony, Tony,” Bruce was in front of him now, his hands on his chest pushing him back and away from Peter as he was rushed through the doors towards the surgery room. “Tony you can’t go through there, you need to stay in here-“

“Why’s he going through there? What the hell are you gonna do-!” Was he shouting, maybe? He couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter, his question was important, the louder the better.

“Tony, Friday told you, remember? She told you that his appendix has ruptured, he needs surgery to remove all the bacteria, he’s going to be on some strong antibiotics for a while, but the doctors and nurses need to focus on him, you can’t be in there for them to do it. Peter’ll be okay, you can wait for him.”

Tony looked breathless from Bruce towards the doors Peter had been taken through, then back at his friend. “You need to go in there.”

“Wha-what?”

“You need to go in there, you need- you’ve been training in this shit, you need to… Bruce,” one of the rare times he used Bruce’s proper name, “Bruce, you need, I need you to be in there, if I can’t I need you, I know Helen’s there, but…Bruce, this is my kid,” his voice broke. “Please.”

Bruce hesitated but eventually nodded still looking conflicted. “But you need to be here, you need to stay in the waiting room, we’ll keep you updated but please Tony, just let us focus on the kid.”

Tony tensed entirely before begrudgingly nodding in agreement.

Pepper skidded into the room in her heels seconds after Bruce left the waiting room. She almost fell over, and probably would have had Tony not swiftly steadied her. Normally they would have laughed about it, or Tony would have teased her, or they would have kissed until they could no longer breathe.

Instead they both continued to look lost in their own building.

“Where-?”

“Surgery.” Tony told her, both of their voices were quiet despite no one being in the med-wing. “To, uh, remove all the,” he shook his head, “it doesn’t matter, he’s just, he’s in surgery.” He worried his lip with his tooth, he felt Pepper tense under his hands, he looked back at her and saw her staring at the doors with the same desperation he had been. “Bruce is in there with him, he’s… he’s in safe hands.” He tried to sound sure but he looked worried nonetheless.

There was silence for a moment.

“…So… we’ve just got to wait?” Tony broke the silence, already sounding annoyed, already looking towards the door like he wanted to go in there and… and do something.

Tony Stark, in the most basic of terms, was a mechanic, his whole thing was fixing things, why couldn’t he fix his kid.

Pepper let out a puff of somewhat sad laughter. “Now you know how it feels.”

Tony frowned not sure what she meant, but suddenly realised, his frown stayed on is face. “This is what it was like?”

Pepper nodded. “Yeah.” She kept her voice soft. “Pete didn’t leave the waiting room, I think Rhodey had to stop him from marching into the surgery about five or six times.”

Tony shook his head. “I wish…” He hated the fact that his kid was sat there, had to go through all of this, the waiting.

“I know.”

And she did.

Tony let out a sardonic laugh, he shook his head. “He was right there, he was in the room with us, he had see Hap to get a badge, he was grumbling about it to me, he… he could have told us he was feeling sick, he could have… he could have told May…”

“We can’t think about it like that.” Pepper told him softly, though she had been thinking the exact same thing in her head.

“Pep-!”

“Tony! You’re not going to make it better by being mad at the kid, we… we have other problems.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying not think about.”

“Did he get injured while he was out as Spiderman?” Pepper already knew the answer, but anything to delay thinking about the truth.

“He’s not been out for ages, I thought he was struggling with school, that he was… I don’t know I thought he was adjusting still, that he was having fucking family time,” Tony let out a bitter laugh, “that’s what his texts said.”

In proper punctuation and everything, Tony thought, it hadn’t been Peter, Tony had know that already, he… he had been planning on bringing it up, but he hadn’t known how to.

“What injuries did he have?”

Tony opened to say he didn’t know, that Friday had given a somewhat sassy comment, that there were too many to count. He felt sick. “Fri, bring up the scan of Peter.”

“Unable to do that Boss.”

“What did you just say?” Tony glared up at the ceiling.

“I am unable to show you Mr Parker’s full body scans, Boss.”

“Why the fu-?”

“Doctor Cho has expressly forbidden me from showing you his scan, sir,  she would like you to know that Mr Parker is in good hands, that she will talk to you when Mr Parker is stable.”

Tony wanted to leave to go and find someone, to beat the shit out of someone, to go and demand Cho show him what she was hiding, he needed to go and…

But Peter was there, he couldn’t leave him, Pepper was there but Tony still couldn’t… not after seeing him unconscious on the floor. What he had said to Bruce had been true, it had been true for a long time now, Peter was his kid in every way but blood. He couldn’t leave Morgan, and he couldn’t leave Peter, he was willing to bet that Pepper felt the same.

So he began to pace, it was the only thing he could do, trying to breathe slowly, trying not to think too much at all.

Before long a nurse appeared. “Would one of you be able to fill out Mr Parker’s details? We ideally needed them before he was treated…”

“Before he was-? He was fuckin’ passed out and his internal organs had fucking exploded and you wanted us to-!”

“Tony.” Pepper snapped, silencing her husband who was still glaring at the nurse.
She gave the nurse, what she had named while in her teens, her retail smile. She pocketed the phone she had been on and took the forms. “Thank you, we’ll fill it out as well as we can.”

She waited for the nurse to leave them before looking at her husband again. “They’re doing their jobs and you know it. Save your anger for who deserves it.”

Tony sighed but collapsed into the seat beside Pepper. “…We know who did it right?” He received a simple nod from his wife who was filling the paperwork out like a pro. “I mean, another fifteen year old couldn’t…”

“Rhodey’s talked to Peter’s teachers,” Pepper interrupted, “one will be waiting for after the others finish the field trip, unless May’s here by then. He also called May’s work, she’s helping in surgery right now but they’re going to tell her once she’s done, she’ll be here once she’s told, probably breaking several speeding laws to get here."

“Or I could go down there and beat the shit out of Chuckles.” Tony growled.

“You think I don’t want to too?” Pepper raised her eyebrow. “Trust me, I want to, I want to hurt him exactly as much as he hurt our boy, but we need to put Peter first, and he needs us here when he wakes up, as soon as he wakes up.”

Helen Cho entered the waiting room nearly two hours later, both Pepper and Tony shot up, the latter of whom had only just sat down. She held one hand up to stop them before they started, in the other was one of the reinforced StarkPads all of the medical team owned, having just finished up her part of the surgery.

“Peter’s okay, he’s stable. Peter’s appendix ruptured, I presume while he was at the tower, which is good as it meant we could operate as soon as possible, he’s being sewn back up right now, he’ll be moved into a room after, and you can be with him.”

“Shouldn’t he be healed by now?” Tony fidgeted with his wedding ring, turning it around his finger. “He has enhanced healing he heals like that.” He snapped his finger making Pepper wince, he reached over and took his wife’s hand.

“Dr Banner, he, Bruce, he told me that Peter had mentioned that Peter told him that his healing has been slowed lately. Dr Banner had put it down to Peter losing weight, or rather not being able to keep up with his metabolism, his healing right now is about the same as any other human. It’ll come back, eventually.”

“What? Why didn’t he…?” Tony demanded, shooting daggers at the surgery door, how could his friend not… how could Peter not tell him. He could have helped. He should have noticed. He did notice, in fact, but he didn’t do anything about it. He looked down at his shoes.

“Injuries?”

Tony’s head shot up towards Pepper.

“Friday said Peter has injuries, but she wouldn’t show us the scan. I want to know what they are and I want to see the scans and anything else.”

Helen sighed gently she directed them to the chairs and didn’t start to speak until they sat down.

“Friday found injuries in her initial scan which would be impossible to have occurred accidentally, and I’m presuming that if these had occurred while he was out as Spiderman then I would have been seeing him a lot sooner.”

“What happened?” Tony’s voice was quiet and raw, so unlike Howard Stark’s troubled progeny, so unlike Iron Man: Saviour of the world.

“Judging from the scans both by Friday and by the medical table, and what I’ve been able to see on Peter’s person, Peter had undergone a lot of abuse. He has had fractured and broken ribs, a couple of which I managed to reset and fix with a bonding agent during surgery. He has bruises around his body which are conclusive with being punched and kicked, including one very clear and purple boot print. The scans and photos by the table show that Peter has marks on his back consistent with being whipped, some of them were open and required to be cleaned out, sewn, and redressed. He also has had a previously broken arm, which will need to be re-broken and reset at a later date. I think that Peter’s been doing his best to treat these injuries.”

“…Jesus.” Tony wiped his hand across his face, then rubbed his face with both hands harshly, hoping and preying he’d wake up from this nightmare.

“What do we do next?” For once Pepper Stark nee Potts looked like she had no idea what to do.

“I’ve already had to to notify the police, they’ll be coming to collect the photographs and scans from us, and will talk to Peter when he’s awake, as well as talking to myself, perhaps you too. I understand he lived with his aunt before the Snap?”

Pepper nodded her head numbly. “May, she got married during the Snap, he’s a uh, he’s a Captain and a doctor, they have two girls living with them too.”

Cho nodded her head. “Okay his aunt and her husband.” She nodded as she wrote a note on the pad in front of her.

“May couldn’t know.” Tony told her suddenly, dread dripped down his spine, a feeling worse than any torture he had experienced in that cave. “She wouldn’t.”

“…It’s possible…” she did not sound like she believed it, “but I think these sorts of injuries would be hard to be hidden when living with someone.” She passed them the pad, the scan stood upright by means of a hologram, the injuries lighting up red against the green body, it switched to a slide show showing the bruises of every colour, the cuts, and the scars littering Peter’s body.

“I’m gonna be sick.”

Tony was aware of Pepper rushing to the bathroom.

He couldn’t breathe he couldn’t…

In.

And out.

In.

And out.

Just like he told Pete every time he had a nightmare.

He had stopped talking about what filled the nightmares, he had tried to get him to tell him, but he had assumed that they were the same as the old ones. He wondered if Charles’ face filled those nightmares.

“I’m going to kill that fucking weasel.”

“Mr Stark-“

Tony ignored her instead he threw the tablet onto the coffee table in front of him and got to his feet.

“Tony!”

It was so rare to see the small doctor shout that it actually stopped him in his tracks.

“You need to focus on Peter and let the police and social serviced do their jobs.”

“And if they don’t?” His voice was harsh, harsher than she deserved, but he didn’t care right then. “I’ve read the news Cho, these sort of thing get ignored all the time, I lived that! I’m not letting my kid go through that shit!”

“If they can’t or don’t,” Pepper had emerged from the small bathroom, her voice cold and steel, “then accidents happen.” She locked eyes with Tony and for a moment even he looked surprised.

Tony eventually nodded his head, not promising to not pay him a visit, but he would wait, just a little while.

Dr Cho gave them a small smile, a smile which told them that should something happen to him that she wouldn’t be reporting it, she checked her old fashioned style pager.

“What now?”

“What do-“

“We just what, let him go back to that, to the… he’s not he-“

“It’s up to the police and child protective services, but in my experience they like to remove the children from the situation until they’re able to ascertain exactly what is going on. If I were you I’d talk to your lawyers about becoming Peter’s temporary guardians, once Peter is removed from the care of his aunt.”

Neither Pepper nor Tony looked at each other.

“Can we see him now?” Pepper asked.

“Yes, he’s just being moved into his room now, would you like me to take you to him now? Or I can have you fetched when he’s awake-” Their nods were pointless, she didn’t need them, but they gave them anyway before she had even offered to give them more time.

They reached the room as Peter was being wheeled in on a hospital bed.

They both stood to the side of the room scared to even breathe. He was so small, now that he wasn’t covered by the layers of sweatshirts and hoodies he insisted that he wore purely because he was always cold, and he was as pale as the the sheets surrounding him.

They watched with bated breath as Peter was connected to machines, I.V’s, and the nurses took note of a series of things on the electronic chart on a hologram at the side of Peter’s bed.

Sometimes, when talking to Peter, particularly about tech or science or superhero-ing Tony forgot how young Peter really was. That it had been about a year for the kid, since he had met him, that he was fifteen.

He had been through too much for any fifteen year old.

“He’s just a kid.” Tony said, but his voice was too quiet for anyone to hear him, Peter would have heard him, had he been awake.

Dr Cho explained that they had used a lot of anaesthesia due to Peter’s metabolism, that he’d probably be asleep for a while, and would be pretty groggy thanks to the meds, her and her team left, with the promise to come back when Peter was awake, and that in the mean time they’d make sure that no-one disturbed the three of them.

The only sound was the sound of the door closing behind them and the beeping of the machines.

Pepper moved first, adjusting the sheets around Peter, the same as she did when Morgan was sick.

Tony watched them for a moment before walking to the other side of the bed.

The kid looked worse up close, and the cut on his lip and his cheek stood out like blood in the snow, while the bruise on his eye was now the colour of constellations; Tony didn’t blame Pepper for throwing up, he was feeling pretty damn nauseous himself.

He wanted the kid to wake up, he wanted to demand answered, to know what happened when where why how and most importantly by who. He also didn’t want him to wake up, how was he meant to explain everything to him? How was he meant to deal with the kid’s world shattering?

“How could May know?” Tony asked Pepper quietly. He thought back to the woman who he had first met, so devoted and in love with her nephew, the woman who had broken when Peter had died… The woman who had been so angry when she had found out that he was Spiderman, that he had gone to space out of choice, that he had left the earth without a second thought. “She had to, right? There’s no way she couldn’t… Do you think she…?”

“I don’t know Tony,” she looked as exhausted as he felt, “I really don’t know.”

Tony stared down at the kid, brushing some of the brown curls away from his face, then continuing to stroke his hair because the kid had been hurt and there was no one there but Pepper to judge him.

“Do you want me to talk to the lawyers?”

“Huh?”

“Tony, there’s no way we’re letting him get placed with some strangers, there’s no way he’s leaving here again, we never should have…” She swallowed down a sob, wishing she had insisted that he stay after they returned from Wakanda, after it was clear May wasn’t in a rush to pick Peter up.

“Yeah.” Tony said softly, managing to tear his eyes away from Peter for a half second. “Can you, can you just text them? Stay here with us, with me?”

Pepper gave him a smile across Peter’s bed, she hadn’t exactly wanted to leave, nor did she want to deal with everything which had already been on her messages and emails. “I’ll call, but in here,” she stood up, cellphone in her hand, “it might be a little hard to explain over text.”

Tony let out a small laugh. “Yeah you got that right.” He mumbled dropping into the armchair beside the head of the bed, he stared at Peter, wondering everything: from the details of what exactly had happened, to why he hadn’t told any of them, hadn’t told him, to wondering how the kid would react to being taken from an abusive father figure to an incompetent one.

Chapter Text

May Parker (11:03am): Can you have Happy drive Peter home, once he’s out of surgery, I’m sure he’ll heal within the hour and he’ll be more comfortable at home. Thanks Tony :)

Captain Charles Fisher (11:29am): If you say anything I will kill you and the Tin Man.

May (11:34am): Honey, tell Tony you want Happy to drive you home.

Peter’s eyes fluttered open and shut, god he was tired, so tired, he could sleep, he probably should sleep, but there was something pressing against his brain, telling him to get up. His spidey senses had been on overdrive for weeks, for months, he knew he couldn’t listen to them, to rely on them, but he couldn’t help but force himself to keep his eyes open regardless.

He needed to wake up, he needed to get up, if he was caught having a lie in his ass would be grass.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Sleeping Beauty.”

That wasn’t Charles. That wasn’t May. That was-

“Tell Cho Pete’s awake Fri, ask her to give us ten.”

Tony.

Peter tried to sit up, aware of his surroundings enough to know that this wasn’t his usual room in the tower, it wasn’t even one of the rooms in the compound. “She was called Aurora.” His tongued stumbled over the words slightly slurring them, he frowned ever so slightly in confusion, “Sleeping Beauty.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Tony’s face, his brows raised in amusement, a look of fondness on his face but weary apprehension in his eyes. “Good point, bambino, me and Morgan haven’t gotten to that one yet, we’ll have to watch it together.” There was a forced brightness in his tone, he was watching Peter like a hawk, taking in every single minuscule movement of his finger or his toes, watching him look around carefully, on guard, ready to fight or to protect. “How’re you feeling, kid?”

“I’m fine.” Peter answered before Tony even managed to get the question out.

Tony gave a snort of laughter, something he didn’t think he’d be able to do while his kid was in a hospital bed, but it was typical of him to say he was okay when he hadn’t even realised that he was in a hospital bed. “Yeah? D’you even remember what happened, Pete?”

“I uh….” Peter looked around the room, a hospital room, he realised now, I his floaty confusion… he scrunched up his face as he turned his attention back to Tony and Pepper, his face cleared and broke into smile as saw the two of them again. “Hey! You’re both here, what’s up?” Wait, wait, he had just… “Did I blow up the lab again?”

“You let him do what?”

Tony didn’t have to turn to know that Pepper was glaring at him, still he turned, holding up his hands as though in surrender. “Hey this was ages ago! And I already grounded him.”

Pepper’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, she couldn’t quite believe that Tony would do anything to upset Peter. “… You did…?” She spoke slowly, still trying to figure out whether to believe him or not.

“Yup, from coffee, so I was in the right on both the whole grounding and the being a good influence, honestly even I’m impressed with myself.”

Peter gave an untroubled laugh. “But I don’t even drink coffee.” He tried to trudge through the slurry which was his brain. “Hey, erm, Mr- uh, Tony, Pepper, am I floating? I feel like I’m floating.”

“No, honey, you’re just on a lot of strong medicine.” Pepper soothed while Tony hid a small laugh. She sent Tony a look, though she was relieved that he was somewhat more himself, compared to the man who had already had two panic attacks since entering the room, not that she blamed him.

Peter had narrowed his eyes trying to understand why he was there, trying to remember whatever it was Tony and Pepper were trying to prompt, at the same time the back of his mind ticked, knowing that someone was going to be mad at him, apparently not Pepper and Tony, they didn’t seem to look mad, just yet at least…. “I was… I was on a field trip… did… was it aliens, again?” He knew he shouldn’t be annoyed or tired about that, but he was, proving yet again that he wasn’t Avengers material, not really.

“Sure, it was aliens if you think of whatever’s inside of your appendix as aliens, and it exploding as us being royally fu-forked, by them, again” he adjusted his swear the same as he did when he was around Morgan without realising it. He was trying to sound his usual snarky, sassy, self, but he couldn’t do it, his voice was soft as his words broke through Peter’s drug induced haze and the kid bit his lip looking worried again.

He had once denied having a heart, but it softened now, watching Pepper place her thumb under his bottom lip forcing Peter to stop himself biting his lip, then she passed him a tissue to wipe the blood from where it had sprung from his lip. “That’s got to have hurt, kid, why didn’t you tell us you were feeling sick? You were here, you saw Happy to get your badge, you saw us on stage, any of us would have stopped the press conference for you, Pete, hell you could have text us, or got Karen to alert me.”

Peter began to realise what had happened, to remember the pain he had felt all morning, to realise how sick he had felt, and to remember that he couldn’t distinguish it from the other pain, to realise that this was what he was missing now, the pain kept at bay by whatever he was on; and that the thing he’d been trying to remember were the threats from Charles about what would happen if Tony found out about his punishments, that Tony would hate him, and Peter would be in even more trouble than he already was, so he had tried to not put himself in situations when he was alone with his mentor. 

“Karen’s not really my friend at the moment…” He mumbled, keeping his eyes down as he tried to figure out the quickest way to get out of the bed and to get home before May and Charles got mad with him.

Tony’s head tilted to the side. “Not… is she malfunctioning?” It would make sense about why she hadn’t contacted Tony about Peter.

Peter shook his head. “N-no. I… she’s just mad at me, it’s nothing. Can I go now, I feel good.” He sat himself up and grimaced at the nausea and the vertigo.

“Peter, honey, Dr Cho needs to see you first, she needs to check you over, and,” she looked to Tony then back, “

“No but it’s getting late, and I have a curfew, an-and Mr-my erm, Ch-Charles is a doctor so he can check me over, but I- I really feel good, so good, thank you but-“

“Kid.” Tony cut him off stern yet sympathetic. “Peter, we know.”

“I…I, I,” Peter shook his head, the colour left in his face, “I don’t know what you’re, what you’re t-talking about. You-you’ve got it wrong, I-“

“When you passed out Fri scanned you, you were scanned again when they were operating, the doc had to,” he swallowed down some raising bile, “had to sew some of them up… she took photographs, we’ve seen them.”

“We’ve seen the signs for a month or so,” Pepper’s voice was soft, as though he was a breakable thing, which he was, not just breakable but already broken, “even if we hadn’t we would have been able to see how… the state you’re in now is enough.”

“N-no, no, no you don’t understand, I… I, I didn’t,” Peter was shaking his head, trying desperate to reach for an answer, any answer really. “I, I got them as Spiderman, I hacked Karen so she wouldn’t tell you, I’m really so, so sorry I didn’t tell you or Happy or anyone, I really am it won’t happen again-“

“No, you didn’t” Pepper’s voice was still soft.

“I-I mean I went out without the suit, I was just… I just, I’m sorry okay, I just wanted to, to-“

“That’s bullshit.”

“Peter, you’ve not been out with or without your suit,” Pepper elaborated, “I have a news alert set up for any sightings of you,” she and her husband had different ways of tracking him, she had thought that hers was a little more ethical, but now she was debating getting one imbedded in him. “You haven’t been seen anywhere for weeks, there’s been no far off sighting of people swinging, no new stories about teenage boys rescuing people from being run over.”

“I was, it was, look, look you-you don’t understand, it’s not, I’ve n-not, he, they would never, I- I don’t know what you mean, I don’t-“ he tried his best to figure out what to say, but he wasn’t good at thinking on his toes unless it was academic or in a fight, not that he had been good at either of those recently, “Mr Fisher would never hurt me, he- he wouldn’t’, it wasn’t him, it wasn’t-!”

“Why are you protecting him?”
Tony’s voice rose in anger, not at the kid, but at the protection for the bastard. At any person who would hit a kid, at his own father, at his mother for knowing, at May for not knowing or not saying, at himself for not notice Peter was being hurt, at himself for not telling someone that his dad hit him, or telling but nothing happening.

The next thing he knew Peter had got out of the bed, pulled his IV out, blood going everywhere as he tried to stay upright and leave. Tony shook his shock and grabbed hold of the kid, who tried to fight him the best he could, but was so weak Tony was certain Morgan’s punches hurt more. He pulled the kid into a hug, not letting him leave it no matter how much he fought.

The fight soon left the kid and was replaced with sobs. “I shoulda, I shoulda been able to take it, I, I was okay, I was… May loves him, he made her happy, she-she’s,” his voice grew too quiet for Tony to hear him, “she didn’t mean to…”

“I’m going to go get the doctor, he’s going to need his arm redressed.” Pepper told Tony in a quiet voice, wiping a tear of her own from her eye.

For a couple of minutes the only noise was Pepper’s heels then the door shutting behind her, Peter’s sobs, and Tony’s hushes as he tried to stop the kid from crying, because frankly it felt like he had just shot finding Nemo’s mom or whatever happened in that movie.

“You promised.” Peter’s voice was muffled against Tony’s expensive shirt but louder than it had been a few seconds previously.. “You promise you wouldn’t scan me, you broke the promise, you-you said you trusted me… you promised”

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, pulling his head closer to him, stroking his hair, rocking him like he still did with Morgan. I…I know kid, it’s okay, it’s going to be okay, I promise, it’ll…” He shook his head, cringing at the idea of breaking another promise, he felt lost himself god knows how Peter felt For some reason he felt guilty over breaking the promise, as well as which that he had broke it weeks ago, as soon as it happened, sooner, that he had never let Peter leave the Tower in the first place.

“Y-you d-don’t, get-get it, they’re all I-I have.” Peter’s words were broken and he stuttered over his sobs to force them out, to try and force Tony to understand.

That stung more than Tony wanted to admit, he was glad that his face was hidden, but he held Peter close. “That’s not true, you have us, all of us here at the tower, all of the Avengers, you’ve got your friends from school, everyone at the tower who’s ever met you and fell in love with you straight away: most of all you have Pep, Morgan, you have Rhodey and Happy, and you have me. You’re never losing us, kid, I swear to god. I mean, death didn’t even stop me, yours or mine. You have so many people who love you, who care about you.”

He wondered if watching all of the Avengers and everyone else who loved him beating the shit out of Charles would be enough to prove the strength of their love, then immediately decided that he didn’t want anyone else but himself have the pleasure of killing that prick.

He remembered Peter in his arms, that he needed to focus on him, at least for now…he had to focus on that very hard to stop himself from leaving and sorting this all out in a few punches then and there. “You’re gonna stay with us, the lawyers are sorting it out, they need, they’re gonna talk to some people, you’re probably going to have to talk to someone from CPS, and the cops,” he felt Peter’s head shaking against him. “Kid, please, the cops already have the photos, they know somethings happened they just need you to tell them who, I… Helen says they probably won’t let me be in there with you, me or Pep, ‘cause they’ll need to make sure we’re not pressuring you into saying that it’s,” he couldn’t bring himself to say that ‘man’’s name, “him, that it wasn’t one of us, you just need to tell them the truth, bambino. You’ll have someone there with you, a responsible adult, Helen told us that she’ll sit in, if you’re comfortable, and she’ll make sure they don’t know about you being Spidey.”

Peter felt himself slump against Tony, the fight which had been internalised all these weeks had left him in the short burst, and he hadn’t even gotten to use it against Charles. He wouldn’t admit to anyone, okay maybe to Ned… one day… in the distant, distant future, but he was scared… so scared… Charles had been so certain, so insistent he could hurt Tony… but the idea of the cops seeing what happened to him and assuming Tony had… that Tony would…. Jesus, that scared him more, knowing his luck they’d assume it, unless he told them otherwise.

He must have been quiet for some time because he felt Tony moving under him, and softly saying his name, Peter reluctantly looked up, realising only now that Dr Cho and Pepper were back in the room, the former presumably to reinsert the needle into his arm, the latter was looking at him worriedly, but he just felt numb, too numb to care.

“I thought you might have fallen asleep there, Petey.” Tony’s voice was soft and he was still stroking Peter’s hair. “You ready to get back into the bed? You don’t have to, but you need the I.V reattached, you can stay like this-” But Peter was already pulling away, and climbing back onto the bed. Tony was almost tempted to pull him back into his arms, at least then he’d be sure he was safe, but knowing that Tony Stark Luck™ he’d probably just accidentally strangle him.

“I really am okay.” Peter told them quietly, he didn’t look at them, worried they really were mad at him, knowing once they heard May and Charles’ side, about what a nuisance, no, a burden he was, they’d agree with Charles. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Tony let out a strangled sound and would have begun shouting had Pepper not squeezed his hand harder than Tony would care to admit.

“Honey,” Pepper said, managing (just about) to keep all of the anger she was feeling hidden from her words, “the police are outside, are you up to talking to them? If not they can wait until you’re ready.”

Peter shook his head. “I… I’ll talk to them, they shouldn’t have to wait when there are real-… it’s late.”

Tony’s head tilted to the side. “Kid, it’s only one in the afternoon, you were only out of it for a few hours- even if it was one in the morning they could wait if you weren’t ready, it’s literally part of their jobs. And, what happened to you was a real crime, one of the worst crimes.” He clenched and unclenched the hand of his prosthetic hand, hiding it, probably badly, by shoving it into the pocket of his dress pants.

“I’ll stay with you, Peter, as soon as you’re done you don’t have to say another word.” Helen locked eyes with Peter until he looked up and nodded his head. She sent Tony and Pepper a tight smile, assuring them that Peter would be safe in her hands, and subtly hinting they should go now.

“You sure you’re ready for this kiddo?” He watched Peter nod but the kid was looking nervous. “They can seriously wait, we’ve got like super comfortable chairs out in the waiting room, seriously they’re probably the best ones invented.”

“I-I’m, it-it’s okay, ‘m fine…”

Tony opened his mouth to call the whole thing off, to force Peter to get some more sleep, to refuse to leave the room or Peter’s side until he was eighteen, at least.

“Peter,” Pepper said, interrupting Tony’s interruption, and looking just as intent on staying, “they’ll be okay with you needing a little more time?” She  held in a sigh when he shook his head, she didn’t want to leave him either, but she knew that at least one of them had to respect his decision, and she wanted to ring to check on how the lawyers were progressing. “Okay, you tell Helen if you want to stop, anytime.” It was only once he nodded that she dragged Tony out of the room.

The meeting, it turned out, was a lot longer than any of them had expected.

In the time that the cops had been waiting a social worker, who had been assigned to Peter’s case, had turned up and had gone into the room with them, staying even after the cops had left Peter and interviewed both Pepper and Tony.

Tony entered the second the social worker had left the room, Pepper could deal with the small talk, if ‘Peter says that you are hoping to take him in’ counted as small talk.

Peter was fast asleep, his eyes rimmed with red, his face pale, he had clearly been crying during one or both of the meetings. Tony was struck, yet again, by how small Peter was, he had never been the biggest of guys, in fact he could probably have passed for a year or two younger than he was, now Tony was certain he would need an adult to get into a fifteen rated movie.

“He fell asleep a few minutes ago,” Helen Cho told him, her voice low and soft so not to wake the child in the bed, she walked over to stand next to Tony, and joined him in staring at Peter.

“How’d the kid do?”

“Good. He didn’t give them a lot, he was pretty closed off, but he answered the questions, it was hard for him.”

Tony smiled sadly. “You know, he once got stabbed on patrol, well more than once but this one he actually came to me about, I was stitching him up and he refused to even entertain badmouthing the dick. It was all ‘Oh Mr Stark what if he was only robbing that computer store because he was in need’” Tony put on a high pitched imitation of Peter’s voice, “‘what if he didn’t mean to stab me, what if he’s got a medical condition?’, then he went off on a ten minute monologue about what he had learned about spasms at school or from tv, I’m not sure all the facts were right to be honest.” He shook his head fondly. “He’s blaming himself for this, all of it, he’s acting like he deserved it… I swear to god if the police don’t lock him up I’m going to kill the… that fucking asshole who did this to my kid: I mean Jesus, he’s the human version of a puppy, who could… why would he think he deserved it?”

There was silence for several minutes, they both knew why: the kid had been abused, completely, Charles had done what he wanted- he had created a punching bag which wouldn’t tell.

“Let him sleep for a while, he needs all the rest he can, when he wakes I think he can try to eat - I’m giving him what he needs through the IV, but it’ll be better if he eats.”

Tony nodded and walked numbly to the chair he had been sat in earlier, he threw himself into it, and watched the kid.

Once he was sure he was asleep Tony began to get bored, he wanted to do something, he reached for his cellphone before remembering Pepper had confiscated it before the press conference; gods that felt like it was years ago, not several hours.
He’d have to ask Pepper to ask Happy to made sure that the cops or the social worker had talked to the teacher, the last thing he wanted was some nerdy science teacher hanging around, probably ogling at him instead of caring about the kid; or there’d be some field trip health and safety bullshit which meant they’d insist on Tony not being with his kid which would cause Tony to punch them because there was no way he was leaving his side again.

Instead he took off his prosthetic arm to fiddle with, there were still some kinks to work out, he had been waiting for the kid to hang out at the tower again to fix it.

“Tony?”

Tony’s head shot up, he took in Pepper’s creased brows, which didn’t make sense because Peter was fast asleep, then he realised her eyes were on him. He followed her gaze to where his left hand was fingering the stub of his right arm, running up and down the scars which spread from it across his chest and up his neck, but for once he wasn’t thinking about the battle, or the previous one where he lost Peter, he was thinking about the fact that he nearly lost him while he was just several tens of blocks away.

“Are you okay?” Pepper walked over to her husband and rubbed his back, but her eyes were on Peter, taking in all the bags on the IV and the machines, she knew all of their jobs without having to be told, she had gotten used to seeing them the (several) handful(s) of times Tony had ended up in a hospital bed.

Tony nodded his head. “The doc says he told the cops what happened, not all of it, but enough.”

Pepper nodded, deciding not to press, she could figure out what was worrying him without needing to, as the worries were echoed in her own head. “His social worker, Sara, she says he’s clearly gone through a lot, she’s petitioning the court to have him officially removed, she’s doing a visit on our apartment now to make sure it’ll be okay, which it will be, then they’re going to rush through our application to be foster carers.”

“What? I don’t want any other- I mean, this is just so we get Pete, right?”

“They have to do this,” she reminded him gently as she had to whenever they spoke to anyone Tony didn’t understand, “so we can officially foster him, they’re not going to drop off some other kid on our doorstep, don’t worry.”

Tony let out a breath as he reattached his prosthetic, feeling vulnerable without it in this semi-public setting.

“She also warned me about contacting or paying a ‘visit’ to May or Charles, if anyone were to Peter could be removed from our care and put in a group home halfway across the city.”

“So you can’t-“

“You can’t either.” She told him firmly, keeping up the look she was giving him when he opened his mouth to protest she shook her head. “For Peter.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do, Helen said the kid barely said anything, that he blames himself, what’s the point of being a superhero with more firepower than the US armed forces if I can use it for this?”

“That is the point.”

Tony clenched his fist, not at Pepper, but knowing that she was right. “If he doesn’t end up in prison Pep…”

“Then I’ll suit up with you.”

There was silence for a minute, for five, for ten, for twenty.

Tony could hear Pepper’s phone buzzing as she sat on the other side of the bed, he looked up but she was ignoring it, instead she was staring at Peter’s horrendous blue eye.

“What’s going to happen to the other kids?”

Pepper’s head snapped to Tony, confusion clearly on her face.

“May, she’s got kids, other than, than our boy, girls right?” He waited for Pepper to nod before speaking again. “What’s going to happen to them?

“I don’t…” Pepper shook her head clearing her confusion. “May and her husband are both going to be questioned by the cops… I think May has some family she reconnected with during the Snap, they’ll probably go to stay with them if…”

Tony nodded his head as she trailed off but didn’t say anything.

When Peter woke it was just him and Tony in the room, immediately the older man when in to mother-hen territory, checking his head for a temperature despite the bed constantly taking it, looking over the screens as though he understood them, and asking how he was feeling about eight times all of which Peter ignored and tried to divert the conversation.

Tony watched as Peter slowly sipped the water he had just handed the kid, he hadn’t missed Peter trying to distract him. He took the plastic cup from Peter once the kid was finished then waited for the kid to actually make eye contact with him. “How you feeling, Petey-pie?”

“…Okay…”

“…Kid…” There was just a hint of a warning Tony’s voice.

Peter waited for a few moments hoping Tony would drop it. “My… everything, hurts…” He admitted finally.

Tony sent him a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, you’re pretty banged up, kid, you’re gonna be feelin’ pretty rough for a while. Luckily you get one of these bad boys,” he held up a small remote with a button, “trust me this is going to feel like your best friend for a little while, you just press it when you need it.” He pressed it for the kid, a little uncertain if Peter would press it himself without prompting even now, he placed it on the side table within reach of Peter, then sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Pep’s just dealing with some boring office thing which couldn’t wait, she was looking so mad when she had to leave I think she’s about to to fire everyone for dragging her away from here.” He told Peter who hadn’t been subtle about looking around the room. “Friday told her you’ve woken up-.”

“Oh, I mean, if it’s importantly Friday shouldn’t interrupt her-“ Peter sank down as best he could under the sheets, which wasn’t easy, truth be told after being surrounded by so many strangers in the past hour he wanted Tony and Pepper, he knew that May would say it was childish acting so needy, he shouldn’t be-

“Pepper told her to tell her, she wants to see you kid, she wouldn’t have even gone if you had been awake, I think I was bugging her little, which is ludicrous because I’m a delight to be around” Tony told him casually. “You hungry? I mean I know you normally are, but you did just have your stomach taken out or something.”

Normally the kid would have laughed at Tony pretending not to have no idea what was going on, or at the very least rolled his eyes; but he simply sat there and shook his head.

“Okay… Maybe later… Are you in pain?” Another shake of the head. “You sure? Doctor Cho can probably find something? Or maybe something’s wrong-I mean nothing you need to worry about, but, y’know maybe she should…I’mma shut up now…” He trailed off when it was clear that the kid wasn’t about to say anything or even look at him.

Tony sighed, god he wished Pepper was here. Sure, between Peter dying, five years of personal growth, his own death and reanimation (as he had taken to calling it purely to annoy his wife), he had grown as a man, as a person, he was better at talking about feelings, his own and other peoples… but in this case he was so wildly out of his depth, there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to mess this up, but the kid was in front of him in a fucking hospital bed and was looking as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders: Tony would be an absolute jackass if he didn’t even attempt to try.

“I know that whole thing telling them, was hard, but it’s the for best, trust me.”

“How the heck would you know?”

Tony raised one single eyebrow, the kid being sassy was good, but he wasn’t used to the kid being mad at him, it didn’t feel great. He tried not to let that show, he was at least three percent sure that he wasn’t actually mad at him, but the kid saying ‘heck’ was the equivalent of all the swear words Tony knew, and he knew a lot, in several languages.

He made sure to slowly raise his hand, but he could see Peter tracking it wearily, expectantly, Jesus, Tony felt sick. He held up just one finger and placed it just below his left eyebrow.

“This was about eighty five, Howard, my father, infamous inventor of weapons of war, known asshole, he got drunk, as usual, came into my room, started shouting at me to get out of his mansion, the usual shit, I was about fifteen, I was home from MIT for Christmas, anyway he gestured a little too ‘enthusiastically’, as he claimed, except he didn’t… he threw the glass at my head… Luckily Rhodeybear had been visiting, he heard it all, he tackled him, giving him a concussion…. Rhodey took me to the ER, got me treated, luckily Pops missed my eye, I had Rhodey take me to my godmother’s home, I told her it was from a lab explosion but that me and the folks were arguing… it was probably one of the best Christmas’ I’ve ever had.”

“Y-You, he- your dad threw a glass at you?!”

Tony cold’t help but feel touched at the way the kid’s eyes had gone wide and he looked like he was about to cry for Tony, he reached out and ruffled his head, Peter didn’t flinch this time. “Yeah, kiddo. I never told my aunt Peg because I knew she’d kill him, I did tell my mom though… I waited a while, she never saw the signs, or chose to ignore them, I’m not sure… She told me that we’d deal with it in the family, of course we never did…” He shook his head trying not to let the memories get lodged in his brain and turn the world into his own personal hell scape. “So, I really do know how hard it is to tell, I think that you’re braver than me.”

Peter shook his head. “N-no, no, he’s, he was your dad, he shouldn’t have, what he did was wrong!”

“It took me years and several million on therapists and alcohol to realise that, but what happened to you was wrong too, I know how hard it is to realise that, but it’s true, and I’m going to keep telling you that until one day you believe me, got it Parker?”

Peter gave Tony a small smile before ducking his head to hide the worry returning to his face.

“Ha-has Mis-mi-May…? Have you told May, that I- I’m…?”

“She knows you had the surgery, kid…” Tony sighed and talked slowly as he tried to figure out what to say, maybe it was best to just rip the bandaid off, “the cops need to talk to Charles and May, before you’re allowed to speak-“

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Peter shook his head and tried to climb out of the bed, only to be gently pushed back, and held there when he tried to move again. If he had been eating and sleeping right then he would have had his spidey strength, he could have pushed Tony away from him, he could have ran as fast as he could to May, he could have made it right.

“Pete, Peter, you need to calm down, I know that’s a shitty thing to say, but you do, you’ve just had major surgery, and you’re not well, you need to stay in bed, and-“

“No, Mr- Tony!” Tears sprung up in his hazel eyes “Please, please just let me go, let me explain to them, I need to make it right, they’re gonna be so so mad, and so disappointed, I’m gonna be in so much- I just need to, she’s, she-“

“Kid, kid,” he shook Peter out of his rambling, and living up to that one time Tony had called him Bambi by looking like a deer in headlights, “did May ever, did she hit you?” His voice broke and he let out an audible breath of relief when Peter shook his head.

“No! No she would never! She didn’t, she would never,” Peter was shaking his head, because that one time she had didn’t count, because he had deserved it, and she had been right, and she had looked like she regretted it, and she had never done it again… sure she had nearly, but she hadn’t, and that was different, that was….

“Because, if she did, you have to tell us, understand?” He watched the kid sniffle and nod his head, there was still that part of his brain nagging him that there was something not quite right, maybe that was just his own past, he had met May, he hadn’t seen her recently, but she had adored Peter, did her finding out that he was Spiderman and then dying really change her that much?

Tony let out a gentle sigh, but allow the matter to drop for at least the time being, be brushed tears from Peter’s cheeks. “Okay, bambino, c’mon, dont cry, please? What can I do to make you smile? I’ll let you list all the inaccuracies in Star Trek?”

“There’s not many.” Peter sniffled and tried to wipe his tears away but Tony was beating him to it, “I’m really sorry that you had to… that your dad was mean to you, Tony.”

Tony stared the kid for a second, sucked in a breath, shook his head, then pulled him into a hug, stroking his hair as he did. “You’re breaking my heart, kid.”

Peter was asleep again by the time Pepper made it back, she look a little relieved as she nodded her head towards the door hinting at Tony to follow her, and when he didn’t she physically dragged him out of the room into the corridor outside of the door. In her hand she held a cellphone, the screen on ready to show him something, her brows were strung together with the kind of worry or concern she had whenever she thought he was going to do something dumb… which was nearly always….

“I’m starting to become worried that the only way I’m ever going to be able to get him to go to sleep is to make him cry until he passes out, are we gonna be marked on that? What do they grade us on? I mean we’ve kept Morgan alive, and Gerald, and together they’re the equivalent to a spider-kid, right?”
Tony could see that Pepper was looking stressed but they already had enough to deal with, why should another thing go wrong?
“Or are they gonna mark us down ‘cause I keep making him cry?”

“I didn’t think you would, make him cry I mean, he let himself with you, that’s a good thing Tony.” She told him looking him directly in the eyes, with no sarcasm or hint of a lie. “Look, Tony, stay calm… but we might have a problem.”

Chapter Text

“We come to you from outside of Stark Industries’ New York tower where in shocking news today that Tony Stark, otherwise known as Iron Man, has a secret love child.

The child was part of a school trip chosen to be there for the first official tour at the newly rebuilt Stark Tower, Midtown School of Science and Technology was chosen due to being the top STEM school in the country, and one of the leading STEM focused high schools in the world. The school was congratulated by Pepper Stark for their wife scholarship program, however it is now believed to have been chosen because of the personal link to the Starks.

The rumours were sparked after Tony Stark rushed to a boy who collapsed at the press conference  after Tony Stark questioned another boy for, and I’m quoting here, ‘messing with my kid’”

[A clip plays showing Tony Stark dressed in an expensive suit glares at a member of the audience.
“Would you like to explain to me why you think it’s okay to be messing with my kid?”
The clip cuts to Tony Stark running over to said boy who had collapsed, the camera zooms in on the scene, the boy’s face is pixelated.
“Friday, tell me any injuries my kid has! Now!” ]

“Tony Stark is known for his playboy past which he turned  a round after he was kidnapped in 2008. He had been married to Stark Industries CEO Pepper Stark nee Potts since 2020, the pair have a four year old daughter, Morgan Maria Stark who is four years old, the Starks have rarely shared photographs of their daughter on their social medias, there has been rare photographs of Tony Stark with children old  enough to have been the one in the video: one of these is Mr Stark with a now twenty one year old named Harley Keener, sources have confirmed that he is not Tony Stark's son including  Mr Keener who tweeted earlier ‘lmao not me, god can you imagine’. Mr Keener is said to have met Tony Stark when Stark’s Malibu mansion was blown up in 2012.”

“There is not yet any information about how long Mr Stark has kept this child hidden, nor who the mother is, there is no information nor confirmation from Tony or Pepper Stark, nor any representatives of them or of Stark Industries.”

“Today’s your lucky day.”

Tony’s voice was the first thing Peter heard when he woke up, two days since that disastrous field trip, since his world had been turned upside down. It felt a lot less time than that because he had been sleeping on and off the entire time, according to Doctor Helen Cho that was normal, Peter hadn’t asked but Tony and Pepper had, along with a whole ton of other questions between fussing and worrying about Peter.

“Huh?” Peter responded, as eloquent as he ever was when he woke up, however the closest Tony came to his usual laugh and snarky comment was the corner of his lip twitching up, everything had changed.

“I’m breaking you out, kid, no need to thank me.” He tried to add some of his usual swagger, but his eyes fell on Peter’s injured face, then flickered to his shoulder as though he could see the injuries on his back.

“There really is no need to thank him,” Pepper told Peter, her fake version of her self was at least more believable than Tony’s version, “Dr Cho is the one who said you can move up to the apartment, Tony really didn’t do anything.”

Tony turned to her looking all offended and betrayed but turned back to his kid when he heard Peter let out a breath of laughter, that was progress, at least.
“I saved the world, that includes the doc, so in a way I caused all of this.”
He winced as he heard the other possible meaning to that, that he had also saved Chuck, that Peter had suffered because of that, but Peter let out another laugh so he stopped himself from apologising.

A pair of pyjamas were placed on Peter, he wasn’t against pyjamas on the whole, in fact it was probably his favourite outfit, but he still grimaced. “Can’t I wear some normal clothes? I feel like I’m an, an invalid in pyjamas all day.”

“I had to wear pyjamas for months,” Tony pointed out, “you didn’t hear me complaining.”

Pepper gave a snort of laughter while Peter frowned. “Yeah you did, you complained every day!”

“That’s where he learnt the phrase ‘invalid’.”

Tony rolled his eyes but was smiling when he looked at Peter. “Your betrayal stings,” he then looked to Pepper, “I’m used to yours.”

Pepper couldn’t help but lean forward and give him a peck on the cheek. “Get dressed, honey,” she pushed Peter’s hair from his face, “I’m going to get your medicine from Helen.”

“To-.” Peter started to protest as soon he heard the door close behind Pepper.

“-Nuh, uh, uh.” Tony shook his head. “Dressed. Now… C’mon, you’re not going to see anyone you know, and you’re not moving off the couch, with us as your loyal servants-“

“But-“

“Buh-buh-buh.” Tony held his hand up stopping him. “Now, d’you need any help?”

Peter’s cheeks turned bright red and he shook his head. He stood up, relieved to finally be free from the machines and I.V, he headed towards the en-suite.

“Pete.”

Peter turned back to face him.

“PJ’s?” He tried not to look as amused as he felt when Peter looked confused before realising that he had left them, Tony held up the ones Pepper had brought with her from the apartment that morning. “I still can’t believe you’ve kept these.”

Peter shrugged, “They’re like super comfy” holding his hands out for the man to throw them to him.

Tony smiled still holding them. “I’m shocked you left them here last time you stayed, I thought they were your favourite, I’m hurt, Parker.” He teased but regretted it as soon as he saw Peter looking nervous, nice one Stark.

“I-I couldn’t wear them at their, the apartment…” He moved his foot around on the floor.

Tony opened his mouth to ask why, he looked down at them and saw the pink Hello Kitty pants, he still didn’t understand until he imagined his father’s reaction if he had seen them. Tony wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to wherever Charles was and beat the shit out of him, or if he wanted to go back in time, again, and beat the shit out of his father.

Instead he threw the pyjamas to the teenager. “I’m out here if you need me, okay? Don’t open up any stitches by being stubborn, just shout for me, buddy.”

Luckily, for Peter at the very least, he didn’t fall while changing, nor did he tear anything open, that one was especially lucky as Friday confirmed that if she detected a single droplet of blood or a possibility that he tore his stitches open then she would notify Mr Stark and Dr Cho who would both burst in on him half naked.

He found that he was exhausted as soon as he was finished getting dressed, it was a feeling that he was used to, but it was a little demoralising.

He opened the door to see Tony, looking stressed - that was a little unsurprising considering that Peter had heard Pepper stopping him from storming into the room when he had decided Peter had been taking too long. Pepper looked relieved, Peter didn’t know if it was that he was okay, or because Tony hadn’t stormed into the room, just to the side of the two of them was a wheelchair.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not going in that wheelchair, I can walk.” Peter whined leaning against the wall for support.

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah, sure Underoos, that before or after you keel over?”

“I’m not going to pass out. I can walk to the elevator.” Peter ground out, feeling very much like he would like to sit down, or perhaps take a nap.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

“I’m not stubborn, why are you?”

“Mostly entitlement and the genuine belief that I am always right, which I am, which is also how I know that you’re being stubborn and that you’re either going to sit in it now or you’re going to pass out into it in five minutes time, and then when you wake up I’ll be there to say I told you so, and you’ll be stuck in here because you’ll have torn open every stitch holdin’ you together.”

“I am no-!” Peter began, but jumped when he felt a hand on his upper arm, it took all he had to keep his jump small, Pepper looked apologetic and Tony looked concerned.

“Sorry, honey,” Pepper kept the apology short knowing full well that Peter didn’t want it being brought attention to. “You’ve got to ride, it’s part of the policy, trust me we all hate it but it’s there for a reason, and if the people living here don’t follow that rule then anyone injured here won’t, leading to lawsuits, and me being bored out of my mind by insurance companies.”

That last part might not have technically been true, it wouldn’t have made it anywhere near her level, she’d only hear about it if there was a media frenzy, which really was the least of her media frenzy concerns. But it was enough to have Peter sigh then mumble agreement, and Tony, for his part, didn’t say something snarky to kick off another argument.

Pepper went to get behind the chair to push it but was beaten by Tony, a smile on his face. “Tony-“ She sighed, Peter twisting in the chair to see what was going on.

“Trust me.” He told her with a twinkle in his eye which told her that she one hundred percent should not trust him.

“What are you-?”

“I’m just pushing you home, I have no idea why no one seems to trust me, I know how to push something like this, I pushed Morgan’s stroller at least once."

“Hey!” Peter protested with a whine.

“You nearly pushed her into the lake the first time you used it.”

“I didn’t realise that the breaks needed to be on, but that’s not going to be a problem with this one, because these don’t have breaks.”

“Pepper-!” Peter begged but his voice was drown out by Tony’s.

“Fri, lockdown the corridor between here and the, uh, 16th elevator.”

“There is a closer elevator, boss.”

Tony rolled his eyes, why did he keep programming sass into all of his creations, hell even his kids, biological or otherwise, had enough sass to at least match him. “What would be the point of me designing crazy any which way Willy Wonka elevators to simply take ones which you and Pep tell me I can?”

“Tony, what are you doing?”

Tony ignored his better half, instead he pushed Peter out of the medwing, coming to the end of a long corridor, locked down between where they were and halfway down. “Kid, you shout my name if you need to stop, okay? As loud as you can, and a code word like ‘Stop’, okay? Good.”

“Mi-Tony, what’s goin’ on?”

But Tony didn’t answer him, instead he stared running down the slight hill the corridor was on, as fast as he could, while trying to be as careful with his kid as he could.

Within seconds Peter had let out the first completely carefree laugh he had in months, all his worries forgotten, soon he was laughing and whooping, and Tony was beaming as he pushed him.

They went straight up to the Starks’ apartment, without the usual stop to say hi to whichever Avengers were currently hanging around, Peter was in the wheelchair the entire time and even he didn’t protest it, all the cheering and laughing had tired him out.

“I’ve sorted the couch out for you honey,” Pepper told him, her hand stroking his hair as Tony pushed the wheelchair into private living room, then as close to the couch as he could get.

Peter could see that, along with the many pillows and blankets there was a quilt which he knew was the same one in the room he usual stayed on, the one which was a weighted blanket, designed with tiny ballbearings which changed their weight depending on who was underneath it and how much pressure was needed, the fabric was soft, much softer than the scratchy throw May had given him, and the colour was a dark blue with tiny white stars, a custom-made Star Wars throw.

“A-Are you sure? I mean I know you’re both probably busy,” and they had just wasted the past couple of days at his bedside, Pepper had only gone up to stay with Morgan the night before because Peter had begged them to, Tony had stayed and made some ‘sharing is caring’ joke. “I can just g-go down to the other floor, go to whatever room I’m…”

Tony frowned tilting his head to the side in confusion, he looked to Pepper who looked just as confused.

Peter stood from the wheelchair and started to walk back toward the elevator but didn’t make it passed Tony who had his arm up like a barrier, he turned him around by his shoulders, and pointed to the couch.

“Sit, Roo, now.”

Peter reluctantly sat down on the edge of the chair, Pepper sat to his left side, while Tony perched on the table, for once Pepper didn’t give him a ‘seriously’ look.

“Okay, first of all there’s no way you could just ‘go down’ to the other floor by yourself without at the very least falling over. Secondly, what do you mean ‘whatever room’ you’re in?” He waited but Peter didn’t say anything he just shrugged. “Kid, I’m not a psychic, use your words.”

Peter shrugged again.

“Peter, honey, you have a room here, why would you need to stay on a different floor?”

“I…I do? I guess I thought it was like a, a guest room…?”

“A guest room? Peter, it’s your room, you stay over in it all the time.” Pepper thought it had been pretty obvious, it was one of the only rooms o their floor, there were two actual guest rooms, but those were used by Rhodey and Harley nearly exclusively.

“Pete, we always call it your room?” Tony was looking just as confused as he had looked before. “I mean, it’s yours, it has been since…” he shook his head, he wasn’t sure the moment when he had started think of the room as Peter’s, maybe around the time that Peter had shifted from ‘the kid’ to ‘my’ or ‘our kid’.

Peter shrugged again, “I guess I… I know I’ve not been allowed to… I’ve not slept there for a while…”  he looked down biting his lip, he stopped biting it knowing that Pepper and Tony always told him not to, he felt Pepper’s hand on his back rubbing circles into it.

Tony tensed, he had known that Peter hadn’t sent him those text messages, even on the shortest messages Peter would never use punctuation, and he would nearly always text back, he had been planning on bringing it up in person with the kid, but hadn’t found the time at the halloween party.
“But-“

“How about this,” Pepper interrupted Tony’s confused rambling with her ‘shut up Tony and stop talking let me deal with this’ voice, “from now on you know that it’s your room, and we can start to add some more things to make you feel at home, if you like?”

“Yeah, we will.” Tony answered for the kid knowing that Peter wouldn’t ask for it, they could order online, maybe go into a store if they paid enough money to ensure it was locked down and that their privacy would be kept, especially at the moment. Peter opened his mouth looking at Tony, clearly about to protest. “Nuh-uh, if you don’t agree to at least help then I’m deciding and I’m turning everything red and gold, all the official Iron Man merch I can find will find its way into your room.”

“Urgh.” Peter rolled his eyes, then squeezed them up and threw his head back until the top of it was resting against the back of the couch, he tried to hide his smile hearing Tony and Pepper laugh but he didn’t do a good job. He felt a hand through his hair, Tony ruffling it, Peter’s mind went back to the Iron Man teddybear stuffed into the very bottom of his backpack, hidden by the couple of MIT things he had gotten from Tony.

“My backpack…” a few scenarios flashed through his head, the best was that Ned had taken it home for safekeeping after Peter had collapsed, the meh one was Tony and Pepper had found it, that one was only meh due to the tiny possibility to Tony had found and seen the Iron Man teddy bear he had saved up his allowance for, but he was pretty sure Tony would’t have been able to stop himself from teasing Peter… then there was the option which was causing the poisonous dread tear a hole in his stomach… the Flash option…

“It’s in your bedroom, Peter, is there something you want from it?”

“No!” Peter’s eyes went wide with panic, when he saw the panic reflected on his foster parents’ (god that was so weird to think of them as) faces. He fidgeted a little, scooting back to sit more comfortably on the couch. “Sorry, no, I just, I just wasn’t sure where it was, I have my stuff in it, homework, an’ like my phone.”

“You want your phone, kid? I know that what’s his name, Ted, has been blowing up Happy’s phone.”

Peter shook his head. “He’ll be in class anyway, if he gets caught with his cellphone he might get a detention.”

Tony was about to say something but reconsidered, even he wasn’t sure what he had been planning on saying, it was either going to be some bad parenting in the form of encouraging him to use his cellphone in class, or it was going to ask him if May had been texting him.
They were still waiting, rather anxiously, to hear how the interviews with Charles and May went, the last he heard Charles was being held in police custody while May had been having several interviews with the cops, but was back at the apartment.
Peter knew that he couldn’t be talking to either May or Charles, that he and Pepper, and Sara, Peter’s social worker, along with some cops, had told him that if either got in contact with him he had to tell them…. That didn’t make Tony any less nervous that Peter might not tell them, it was like he had been hypnotised…

Tony smiled at Peter instead, “Settle back,” Tony stood up from where he was perched, he pushed the seat of the couch Peter was sat in back so the kid was reclining, then settled onto the couch himself, Peter nestled between him and Pepper.

Pepper pulled the quilt around Peter before wrapping her arm around his shoulders, she felt him tense, but Tony drooped his prosthetic arm over the back of the couch, the hand resting on Pepper’s shoulder. “Morgan’s having a day with her aunts and uncles,” she told him, “so that means we’re not stuck watching the fifth Frozen movie again, what do you want to watch?”

Peter blinked a few times, he was used to asking Morgan what she wanted to watch then agreeing, at the apartment he was always too exhausted to watch a movie freely, and he didn’t have a laptop, his phone was nearly always confiscated so he couldn’t watch them even if he wanted to. He felt bad again, it was clear that Morgan had been sent away on his behalf, and Tony and Pepper had wasted the past couple of days by his side, instead of having family time, or even working.
“I er, it’s, you guys don’t have to watch anything with me, I know you’re both busy, and Mo- Morgan she needs to-“

“Peter,” Pepper cut him off, “we want to spend time with you, we’re never too busy for you or Morgan, and Morgan is more than happy with the others, she loves them, not as much as she loves spending time with you, but we can give you a break from her for a little while.”

Peter watched her speak, took in her body language, her eyes, her tone; it occurred to him how sickly sweet May was to him, in words only, while Pepper just sounded… genuine. He realised he had been staring at her for a few seconds too long, he gave her a small closed mouth smile and got pulled closer into her side in return.

“You heard the boss, Parker. So, Star Wars?” Tony suggested knowingly.

“I thought you hated it because it’s nerdy?”

“You did know that Tony’s gone to every Star Wars premiere he’s been alive for?”

Peter’s mouth fell open and his head snapped towards Tony who had never looked so betrayed.

“Pep!” Tony whined, his eyes wide, his dace like a kicked puppy’s. “He still thinks I’m cool, I have a reputation!”

“I think you’re cooler now, I didn’t think you were that cool before.” Peter sniggered, as Tony sent him an overdramatic glare before ruffling his hair.

“You’re grounded for being mean to me.”

“…wouldn’t that just give me more opportunities to be mean to you?”

“Pep, how’d we end up with smart ass kids?” Tony kept his tone light and kept the smile on his face clear, knowing that Peter needed that, sure enough he felt Peter’s eyes scanning him to be sure, Tony pretended not to notice.

“Yeah, I wonder.” Pepper told him dryly.

“Fri, play the Phantom Menace. I’m going to mock this entire movie, just so you both know.” Pepper gave him a look which told him that she was used to that, and Peter’s shrug with a smile told him that he was going to do the same.

Friday dimmed the lights and the movie began to play.

Peter was being shaken awake, his eyes shot open, and he looked around searching for signs of danger, or of trouble, but all he found was Tony perched on the side of the couch Peter was led on, stroking his hair with one hand, the other one on his shoulder, having just used it to wake him.

“There you are, Bambi.” Tony’s voice was soft enough to be classed as a coo, he couldn’t help it, Peter was looking around all dumb from sleep, and the tips of his hair curled ever so slightly, Tony continued to stroke his hair. “Sorry, kid, you were having a nightmare.”

Peter used one of his hands to rub his eyes, trying to acclimatise himself. He remembered sitting with Pepper and Tony, they all ate soup, because Peter was on a soft diet following surgery, and Tony and Pepper claimed they also wanted some but he knew that they just didn’t want to eat proper food in front of him, he had made it through the first two prequels before and during lunch, before…. Oh god, he had fallen asleep on Tony, oh god he was never going to live that down.

“Sorry.” He mumbled.

“You don’t apologise for having a nightmare, Pete.” Tony told him with a small chuckle. “You been having nightmares about Toomes again?”

“Huh? No?” Peter’s face screwed up. “Did I say something about him?”

For possibly the first time Tony believed Peter’s denial about something. “Yeah, I’m guessing you don’t remember what happened?” He smiled softly as the kid shook his head. “That’s okay. Sometimes, when you’re stressed, your mind can bring up other traumatic things.”

“How’d you know?” Peter asked genuinely through a yawn, Tony was still stroking his hair, it should, or could he guessed, have been weird but it wasn’t, it was however working with the blanket and all of the medication in his system to make him feel like he was about to fall asleep again.

“After I got back from space I had a lot of them, that I was stuck in that cave, and a few times that I was about to be kicked out of MIT.”

“Did that happen?”

Tony shrugged, “Rhodeybear took me on as his pet projects, I wasn’t quite so bad after that, I guess the Stark name helped too. Rhodey was probably the only reason why I wanted to stay.”

Peter nodded slowly and was quiet for a moment.

“You want to get some more sleep?”

Peter shook his head. “I think I was… I was at the apartment… but it was my old apartment, but they were all there still.”

Tony frowned ever so slightly. “What happened then?”

“Dunno.” Peter yawned forcing himself to sit up, he could hear voices coming from the common room, he stilled listening to hear.

“The team brought some takeout, even some things you can eat, and the little miss is forcing them all to watch Disney movies, you missed out on frozen, twice.”

“You watched Frozen, twice?” Pet couldn’t help but smirk, he knew that Tony was sick of Morgan’s latest obsession, it was his own fault for getting her obsessed in the opened that being ‘frozen’ would make a funny joke against Steve.

“Why’d you think I kept coming in here to check on you?” He smirked but it softened as Peter’s smirk dropped to a look of surprise. “You wanna come in, have some food? You need some more meds, and I’ve only just been able to keep Morgan from coming in from waking you up, she’s pretty excited that you’re here, but that’s no different from usual… If you don’t want to be around the team I can kick them out, it’s no hassle.”

“Do they…?” Peter trailed off.

“They know, but they won’t say anything,” he saw the look in Peter’s eyes, he reached out and gently squeezed the back of his neck, careful of the lesions on his back, “they really won’t say anything, Pete.” He watched the kid give a jerky nod. “They really won’t be offended if we kick them out, I can even tell them it’s because I don’t want them messing up our apartment.”

Peter shook his head. “I’m okay, really.” He heard a noise and turned his head in time to see a little head peeping past the doorway. “Hey Mor.” He smiled easily, the girl beamed back and rushed from the doorway to the couch, she was pulled onto Tony’s lap just before she could launch herself at Peter.

“Morgan,” Tony admonished gently, “me and your mommy already told you, you have to be careful with Petey, he’s been poorly, you can’t throw yourself at him right now, not until me or mommy say so, even if Peter says you can.”

Peter rolled his eyes, of course Tony would tag that on, it had been what Peter had been planning on doing the second he was away from Tony or Pepper’s ears. He carefully pulled Morgan into a hug while she was on Tony’s lap. “Hey Morg.” He whispered into her ear. “You been making your dad watch Frozen?”

The smile on Morgan’s face was enough to let Peter know that she had chosen that with the knowledge that Tony hated it, he grinned at him.

“Hey Petey-Pie,” her smile lit up her whole face, and Tony, for his part, didn’t complain that she stole his nickname for the kid, “Mommy and daddy said you’re gonna live with us now.”

“Yeah… I guess… for a little while.”

“At least.” Tony added, careful not to start an argument between himself and the teen, Peter wasn’t one to get into fights with him, but it was a touchy subject. “But that doesn’t mean that you get to bug him all the time, okay little miss?”

“I don’t bug Peter!”

“Uh huh.” Tony said standing with his daughter and waiting for Peter.

“You’re right, Mo, your dad bugs me more than you do.” Peter stood up, forcing a smirk onto his face though he felt a little sick… and a little like he wanted to just hide on the couch again, this time on purpose.

“He’s joking, Morgana, he adores me, real hero worship.”

When they walked into common area of the Starks’ apartment there was silence, and everyone looking at the three of them, or not looking at them in a way which made it clear they still were.

“Oi, Katniss, the kiddos are choosing the movie not you.” Tony called walking into the room, Morgan held on his hip with one arm, the other was wrapped around Peter’s shoulders keeping him so close that they were nearly bumping into each other.

He led them to the couch, sandwiching Peter between himself and Pepper, Rhodey nearby; Tony didn’t miss his best friend taking in everything about Peter, Tony always thought of his friend as a more responsible version of himself, but he was fairly certain he was a minute or two away from breaking into the jail and beating the living shit out of Charles.

Tony locked eyes with him and nodded his head, telling him it was okay, that they could talk later, that they could deal with it.

“Hey Pete, Tones annoying you yet?”

“Why does everyone think I annoy the kid? Tony whined, and just like that the tension in the air was broken, and everyone was laughing.

“Peter said you bug him just before, daddy.” Morgan added like he was stupid, or like he had forgotten.

“He was joking,” he threw his arm around Peter pulling him onto his side, “seriously, he loves me.”

“Sure Tony.” Peter’s tone was jokey, for the rest of the people gathered, but when he looked at Tony he sent him a small closed mouth smile which told him that he meant it.

The rest of the night Peter was rarely without Pepper or Tony at his side, Rhodey seemed to be the only exception, but even then he could feel Pepper and Tony watching him, however this time, unlike in the medbay room it was comforting rather than annoying… even when Tony shouted at Clint for putting down his glass on the counter a little too heavily, making Peter jump.

True to Tony’s word no single Avenger asked Peter about anything to do with May or Charles, or even about living with Tony, he wondered if Tony had been too ashamed to tell them, but he remembered that Rhodey had insinuated it, so they must. Morgan was attached to his side the whole time too, mostly talking a mile a minute, telling him about anything and everything, that made this place feel more homely, to repay her Peter let her choose all the movies, Tony and Pepper had tried to encourage him to choose some too, but Peter would scroll through movies and when Morgan would tap on her choice he would press play, which probably would have been more subtle with someone who wasn’t four years old.

Eventually it started to get close to Morgan’s bedtime, and Peter was starting to get tired himself, apparently the Avengers had notices as the more subtle of them had come up with an excuse for them all to leave, Tony, Pepper, and Morgan saw them off, Peter had stood to do the same but Pepper glared at him and told him to stay put.

He made use of being with just Rhodey to duck into his room, partially to avoid Rhodey deciding to talk to him without the Avengers around, and partially because he finally remembered that he hadn’t talked to Ned since he had passed out in the middle of the interview nearly three days before.

Peter didn’t bother to read Ned’s messages when he turned his cellphone on, there were too many of them along with more texts than he had ever received in his life, instead he sent him a quick ‘I’m fine, I’m alive, sorry for not texting you’ kind of text, he owed him an explanation in person.

Ned:) : dude! what the fucks happening?!?!

Peter: sorry man i meant to text but i didn’t have my phone i had my appendix out n had to stay in the medbay :/ will explain in person

Ned:) : mr stark’s security guy told me then asked me how he could change his cell number coz he didnt want me to have it

Ned:) : Peter… is mr stark ur dad?

Peter frowned blinking at his phone as he tried to figure out what was going on with Ned, he had known Peter for years, since they were younger, since Peter had moved in with his uncle. He slowly walked from his room to the living room as he watched the bubble appear and Ned begin typing.

Ned:) : i mean i know hes not u would have told me… but theres some things on the news well its been the only thing on the news how have u not seen

Ned:) : i mean i know hes not though that would be like so cool its just its been on the news and he basically acts like a dad to u and he gave u a like bazillion $$$ suit and ur at his home like all the time

Three links came through to video news sites and Peter pressed on them all opening them in different tabs.

‘We come to you from outside of Stark Industries’ New York tower…’

When the video finished playing Peter pressed the next one, reaching the common area without even having noticed it, he could hear Rhodey calling his name distantly but he couldn’t respond.

‘Tony Stark is known for his playboy past…’

When that one finished he switched to the last tab.

‘There is not yet any information about how long Mr Stark has kept this child hidden…’

“Pete.”

Peter’s phone was slipped from his hand, the screen turned off, silencing the video, his head snapped up, Tony was in front of him looking worried, come to think of it it was possible that it wasn’t the first time his name had been called by the man.

“Morgan, darling, go with your uncle Rhodey, me or daddy will be through to read you to sleep later.”

For once Morgan didn’t argue, and Peter didn’t argue as Tony directed him to sit on the couch.

“Peter, we’ve been meaning to talk to you about it, they’ve stopped showing it on tv constantly, but once it’s online it tends to stay going for a while.” Pepper told him gently. “We’ve got our lawyer on it, a few lawyers, we’re going to get the video taken down off of all of the official news sites.”

“We’re going to threaten to sue anyone else who posts it, even if it’s just on some twelve year old’s blog, they can’t just share around videos of a minor without your consent when it was clear that it was taken against your will.”

“‘m sorry,” Peter mumbled, “I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”

“Hey.” Pepper sounded genuinely offended. “You haven’t caused trouble, any trouble Peter, this isn’t on you.”

“I should be the one apologising anyway,” Tony added, “I should have seen that a camera was on me, I’ve been used to… I’m not used to you being near me and cameras, or you being someone who people don’t know I know, I shouldn’t have…” He shook his head, he really wouldn’t have done anything different, other than perhaps getting security to smash their cameras.

“It’s not on you either, it’s on them, the people who took the video, and everyone who’s sharing it: it’s neither of your faults, okay boys?”

Peter nodded but didn’t look that certain, and Tony nodded because he didn’t want to make it a thing.

“They won’t be bothering you again, there’s an injunction about them running any stories about you, the same as we have against them invading Morgan’s life, yours is a little extra because you’ve been taken into care, it’s for your protection, they won’t be bothering you again… But people have already seen this video so we’re going to have to wait a while for the rumours to die down.”

“W-What if they don’t?”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Tony told him.

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.” Pepper told him just as firmly. “You’re not going to be able to leave the apartment for at least a week while you heal, so we’ll discuss this again later this week, okay? We have a few options.”

Peter frowned, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being left out of his conversation regarding his own life, which he didn’t like in general… but at the moment he was fine with it, he didn’t even want to know what the options were, but he knew that if he wasn’t there there would be no problem, but he might be ‘home’ by the end of the week anyway… he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
That part of his brain which sounded a little too much like May told him that the reason they were threatening legal action was because they didn’t want anyone to think that he was Tony’s son, or related to any of them.
“‘kay.” He told them softly, to his surprise he was pulled into a hug with both Tony and Pepper.

“It’s gonna be okay, kid.” Tony promised him. “Trust me, all of it, it’ll all be okay.”

Peter wasn’t sure when exactly Tony had turned into an optimist.

Peter stayed with Pepper and Tony for another hour, watching whatever it was they had all been pretending to watch, for another hour before he turned in. He text Ned assuring him that he was okay, that he hadn’t given him a heart attack, that he was just talking to Tony and Pepper, who he was staying with for a while, without giving his best friend details as to why.

Peter’s phone buzzed as he was climbing under the soft bedsheets, he pulled the blankets tight over him before he looked down expecting it to be another text from Ned.

It was an unknown number.

Unknown: I larb you.

Chapter Text

Peter began to settle into his new life in the Stark tower, it was similar to  his time before school started up again, but different in a way he couldn’t explain.

He’d wake up, spend some time watching cartoons or building with her legos, they’d eat breakfast together, Morgan would get dressed for preschool while he was showering and changing into some of the new clothes Pepper had ordered him, he’d say goodbye to Morgan, and promise her that he’d be there when she got home, then he’d stay with either Tony or Pepper depending on who was doing the school run, he’d work on the school work he was still weeks behind on. Around lunch Pepper would go work in the company downstairs, while he and Tony would go down to the Avengers’ floor and hang out with them, Tony often working on upgrading or fixing components of their weapons or suits, while Peter spent his time hanging out with them, doing homework, or playing on the games consoles. Dinner was either on the Avengers’ floor, with Pepper and Morgan joining them, or on the Stark’s floor with the four of them, joined once by Rhodey, it was clear to Peter that he was a guest often, their nights were spent watching movies, or talking to Ned, or tinkering down in the lab, until about ten when he and Tony would go upstairs and Peter would go to bed, no one said it was a bedtime but Peter was pretty sure that was just to save his pride.

And every night Peter led in bed trying not to look at the messages May had sent him throughout the day, tried to bring himself to block the number, tried to keep himself from replying to the worried texts wanting, genuinely wanting, to know how he was feeling after the surgery.

Peter woke up on Wednesday morning, not obscenely early, but earlier than Pepper and Tony, as he did every morning.

“Peter!”

Peter grinned and walked over to the couch where Morgan was sat, with her blanket, Spongebob cartoons already on the television. “Hey, Morg, did you sleep well?” He continued to smile as she cuddled into his side and detailed her crazy dream about them all being at their lake house.

This was their usual morning routine, starting because he realised that Morgan was upset that Pepper and Tony had told her not to wake him up in the morning when she woke up, but he had grown to like these early mornings.

It was thirty minutes before Tony entered the room, a giant mug of coffee in one hand, yawning, still in a pair of pyjamas which probably cost more than Peter’s first apartment with his aunt.

“Mornin’ bambinos,” he dropped onto the couch beside Peter, draping his arm on the back of the couch behind Peter’s head, he took in the happy looking kids, the fact that Peter was starting to look more himself, less like a gaunt ghost in the shape of Peter Benjamin Parker. “Oh, great, Spongebob.”

Peter’s grin turned mischievous. “Yup, Morgan loves it, ‘cause she has taste.”

“Hmm, I think you might be just saying that, Parker, because you introduced her to them.”

“I think you secretly love Spongebob.” Peter smirked as Morgan climbed over him onto Tony’s lap to cuddle her dad. He watched Tony roll his eyes as he ruffled Peter’s hair, but he didn’t change the channel, he knew that Peter and Morgan enjoyed it too much.

“I think I’m gonna redecorate your room Spongebob themed and see how much longer you love it for.” Tony tried to put on a glare, but Peter laughed, and that noise broke it for him, it was a sign that the old Peter didn’t die. “You eaten yet?” He asked sipping his coffee, he was sure that he was starting to drink more coffee again, like he used to before he became an outdoorsman, but having two kids would do that to you.

“Nah,” Peter shook his head, getting distracted by something on the television, laughing, then realising Tony was giving him a Look™. “I wasn’t hungry yet.”

“You’re having your bones replaced with gelatine today, Petey-Pie, you need to eat while you can.”

“You’re going to have jello in your bones?!”

“I’m not having jello bones, Morg, your dad just thinks he’s funny,” Peter rolled his eyes at Tony, rather than at Morgan’s enthusiasm at the idea, he dropped his head back, and when he spoke there more of a whine in his than he wanted, or would acknowledge, “I wasn’t hungry, and I was watching Spongebob, with Mo.”

Tony heaved a sigh, “Okay, Mo, you go tell mommy that I’m feeding the animals.” He placed his daughter on the floor to stand in front of him.

Morgan didn’t move, squinting her eyes ever so slightly at him, “Waffles?”

“You get your negotiation skills from your mommy.” He tried not to sound as impressed as he was when she didn’t move still. “Yeah, sure, I’ll make you some waffles.”

Peter smiled as that was clearly enough for Morgan to do as her father requested. He stood up when Tony did, the man gave him a look, even if he hadn’t been getting as many glares from Pepper and Tony when he tried to do things as he had the first couple of days. “I wanna help.”

Tony debated it a second, he took in the way that Peter’s left hand was fidgeting, drumming it against his pyjama pant leg, the way he fidgeted when he was nervous. “Okay.”

“Really?”

“Sure, you’ve gotta learn to make pancakes one day, right bucko?” Tony walked off, certain that Peter would follow him, and sure enough he did.

“Didn’t you promise Morgan you’d make her pancakes?”

Tony would have ignored it but he saw Peter’s clearly troubled frown. “Okay, first of all I didn’t promise her, secondly, she’s getting her waffles, but you prefer pancakes.”

“How’d you…?” Peter trailed off because of course Tony knew, “Have we got-“

“There’s blueberries in the fridge, grab the eggs and milk too, kid.”

When Pepper came in to the kitchen, with Morgan skipping alongside her, Peter and Tony were laughing about something, she smiled at them, her boys. She walked over to her husband, her hand on Tony’s back letting him know she was there, she kissed him and mumbled a ‘good morning’ to him.

She kissed the top of Peter’s head. “Good morning, honey.”

“Mornin’ Pep, Tony let me cook breakfast with him, he taught me how to make pancakes.”

“I see that.” She smiled at him. “Did you…” She trailed off, eyeing the pan of pancake mix and the waffle maker with trepidation.

“Don’t worry, Tony threw away the first lot, I thought you had to just throw everything into the pan.” Peter chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Pepper had never been so grateful that Tony had survived. She looked at the coffee machine and saw that her coffee was ready, Friday having been programmed to make her one when she started to head into the kitchen. She picked it up and sipped it slowly, savouring it as she heard Morgan calling from the table that she was hungry, and asking if it was ready yet. She let Tony call an answer to her while she focused on Peter again.
“How are you feeling? Are you feeling nervous about today?”

Peter shrugged. “Tony said he’d gonna get doctor Cho to replace my bones with jello.”

“Tony.” Pepper admonished.

“He knew I was joking!” Tony’s mouth hung open in betrayal at his kid’s, well, his betrayal. “Hooligan.” He sent to the kid, without heat.

“Don’t listen to him, honey.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Go sit down, Judas.”

“I can carry some things-“

“No.” Pepper and Tony told him in one firm voice.

“But I’m nearly all healed, and it’s like a few plates, I can-“

“Huh.” Tony interrupted his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I guess I missed your medical school graduation, sorry kid, do I owe you a graduation gift?”

Now it was Peter’s turn to roll his eyes. “I don’t need to be a doctor to know if I’m okay or not.” He caught the matching ‘seriously’ looks on Pepper and Tony’s faces, he looked down, fidgeting.

“Go sit down, Petey.” This time Tony’s voice was soft, and Peter followed his instructions, taking his place next to Morgan. 

Peter sighed and leant back against the wall, his eyes were on Tony who was holding his cell sideways and using both thumbs to type something, and Pepper who was looking increasingly annoyed at whomever she was on the phone too, he could have used his super hearing, but he didn’t feel like being bored to death by whichever business person was on the other end, so he tuned it out.
His stomach was turning, he felt like he was going to throw up his blueberry pancakes, he glared down at his arm; he wanted the surgery over and done with, but at the same time he didn’t want it done at all… sure his arm had been set wrong, sure it was tender, and a little swollen, but he could live with that.
He looked back at Pepper and Tony, they both should have been working, now they were stressed because they were being annoyed by people complaining that they were both taking a personal day.
“…I really can just-“

“No.” Tony’s voice was flat, a worn out conversation that he was bored of, but level, he didn’t even look up from his cellphone, “You’re not going to have surgery without us being there, Pete, drop it.”

Peter sighed, then tipped his head back to stare up at the ceiling, his own cellphone buzzed against his leg, without thinking he fished it from his pocket.

May: Hey, honey, I don’t know if you’re even reading these messages, but I love you, and I miss you, more than you know, I want you to come home, please Peter, you’ve been gone for too long. I went to Mr Delmar’s today, he said he had been worried about you, I told him that you’ve been sick, that you’re staying with one of Ben’s relatives, that you’ll be home and back at work soon, that you didn’t mean to let him down. I got a number 5, extra squished, you’re right, it’s the best sandwich invented. I love you.

Peter stared at the message for a minute. He hadn’t replied to any of the others, the others which detailed how much May missed him, how much she loved him, how much she wanted him home… he wasn’t sure how to tell her that her modern fancy apartment could never been his home, and that he loved and missed her too, that he had been missing her since the second she learnt he was Spiderman.

He should put his cellphone away again, he should tell Tony that May’s been texting him, his eyes flickered to the man who was glaring at the screen in front of his eyes, Peter’s eyes returned to his own StarkPhone, before he knew it his thumbs were typing a reply.

Spider-Baby: please can you tell mr delmar that i said im so sorry for letting him down if u see him around

Spider-Baby: gotta have surgery for my arm :/

What the hell was he doing? He was being an idiot, he should just text  Ned, Ned who kept telling him to talk to an adult about some of the things May had said to him even while Peter didn’t want to talk about any of it at all… but it wasn’t a big deal, at all, but that meant Peter hadn’t stopped thinking about it…

May: Oh no, love! When? Would you like me to be there with you? I know that you don’t like needles<3

Peter chewed on his lip, he remembered all the hospital appointments he had been to when he was younger, May was there for all of them, cracking jokes to distract him, then grabbing danishes after whatever happened.

Spider-Baby: thnx bt abt to have it done now

He thought for a second, still chewing his lip, a good luck text came through from Ned but he ignored it in favour of staring at his and May’s chat.

Spider-Baby: i can let u know how it goes… if u want?

“You okay, Pete?”

Peter looked up to see Tony looking at him, a look of worry and concern on his face, Peter realised that he had been chewing his lip again, he opened his mouth, not sure what to tell his… well whatever Tony was to him now… His phone buzzed again.

May: Please baby <3 I owe you a danish next time I see you <3 I hope I can see you soon <3

May: Thank you for texting me. I love you.

May: I hope we can move on from this soon, I love you, I miss you, I want you home <3

May: Okay, I’ll stop being soppy and embarrassing now lol

May: I larb you.

Peter looked up at Tony again, “I’m good.” And he was.

Spider-Baby: i larb u 2

Peter’s leg bounced on the floor.

Tony was pacing in front of him, or rather trying not to seem like he was pacing, every time he caught Peter looking, or Pepper sent Tony a look, he stopped and tried to causally lean against the nearest wall.

He felt a hand on his knee, he knew it was Pepper, who was sat beside him in the waiting room, and that she was trying to comfort him, but he looked anyway. He sent her a small smile, trying to look like he actually wasn’t bothered, but it must have not worked because she pulled him into a side hug.

“It’ll be okay, it’ll be all fixed before you know it, then you get to lounge around for the next couple of days.”

Peter’s voice came out smaller than he wanted, “I really don’t need it done, I can get it done some other time, or I can just- it-it’ll be okay without it, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Pepper pressed a kiss to Peter’s crown, hugging him close to her, she didn’t know what to say, because both she and Peter knew that he needed it fixed, and that he wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of it.

She heard Tony walk over, stand on the other side of Peter, and stroke his hair; it was a testament to how he had grown and changed, even in the past past week, that he didn’t snark at the teenager in the moment.

“You know that you need it fixed, Petey, I know it’s scary, I mean I know I hate needles, but never tell anyone that, I’ll never live it down.”

Pepper smiled at Tony over Peter’s head, giving him a knowing look: Tony  Stark never had a fear of needles, but he would pretend to be, for Peter.

“Y-You are?” Peter’s voice was muffled, his face still hidden against Pepper.

“Big time.” Tony kept his voice soft as he continued to stroke his kid’s hair. “So, how about you squeeze my hand as hard as you need to?”

“I’ll break your hand.”

“But you won’t break my prosthetic.” Tony pointed out, smiling as Peter finally looked up at him. “There you are, Bambi.”

“I’m not Bambi.”

“Yup,” Tony popped the ‘p’, “you are, you’ve got those big ol’ Disney eyes.” He ruffled Peter’s hair, laughing as Peter stuck his tongue out at him, he saw Pepper open her mouth, probably to say something back to him to try and make Peter laugh, but the door behind him opened, and Helen Cho called them inside; Peter grabbed hold of his hand before they even reached the door.

“Hey there, Bambi, how’re you feelin’?”

Peter blinked a couple of times, Pepper and Tony were stood by the bed he was in, they had been there when Helen Cho had injected him with the strong anaesthetic she had invented for Cap and Bucky, which was beyond cool and he needed to tell Ned about… He was already reclined, so he looked down at his arm, finding it covered in a white cast, he blinked a few more times trying to keep his eyes from falling shut completely again.
“I…” he frowned trying to figure out how he was… he smiled slowly, “I feel good.”

He let out a snort of laughter and smirked “That’ll be the drugs.”

“Wha- N-no! No! I don’t do drugs! I would never!”

Tony’s eyes and face lit up, he was never going to let Peter live that down, ever. Pepper hit his chest with her hand, he didn’t have to look at her to know that she was giving him her ‘don’t be an asshole’ look, or as Rhodey had renamed it, her ‘don’t be a Tony, Tony”; so he bit his tongue.
“Why don’t you get some more sleep, bambino?”

“I like that,” Peter let out a yawn and settle back down without hesitation, his eyes fell shut but his mouth did not, “bambino… ’s’at Italian? D’ya think the ninja turtles,” Peter yawned, “Italian…?”

Pepper sucked her lips into her mouth as she tried not to laugh, she physically swallowed her laugh down. “We’ll be with you when you wake up, kiddo.”

She stroked his hair until he fell asleep, before she and Tony looked at each other… and burst into giggles.

When Peter woke up again he was once again being shaken awake, and he was once again on the couch in the den, Tony at his side, frowning so deep that his face had been turned into a map, one of his hands still stroking Peter’s hair.
He lifted his hand to rub the sleep from eyes, but his hand was caught by Tony before he could, he sent Tony a hurt look, before looking down at his bizarrely heavy arm and saw the cast… okay that made sense… Once Tony saw the realisation in his eyes he let it go, laying it down gently on Peter’s stomach.

“Did I have a nightmare?” He knew Tony’s answer before he even nodded.
This was their routine whenever Peter took an impromptu nap, or when he fell asleep at night: Peter would be woken by Tony, who was the only person who could calm the often afraid Peter, despite Rhodey and Pepper’s attempts; sometimes Peter would remember the nightmare, often he wouldn’t, sometimes he woke up by himself, sometimes Tony woke him, Peter would only ever tell him the ridiculous nightmares, Tony hadn’t failed to notice this, and Peter hadn’t failed to notice Tony not failing to notice.

Tony moved his hand from Peter’s hair and Peter tried not to miss the contact.

“Do you remember it?”

Peter thought for a second before shaking his head.

Tony’s eyes were narrowed on Peter, he wasn’t lying about not remembering, for once. “You were shouting at May to stop.”

Peter swallowed, then cleared his throat, in an attempt to hide the swallow “Maybe we were having a food fight, we used to, a lot, y’know, before everything…” Before he had messed up, before he had died, before he had abandoned her to play hero, before he had gotten bitten by a spider and ruined their family.

Tony was silent for a minute. “Yeah, maybe.”

Peter was happy that he hadn’t yet had his hair cut because he could feel his ears turning red under Tony’s watchful eyes. “Did doctor Cho really say I’m able to eat real food… or was that the nightmare?”

Tony rolled his eyes with a laugh “Of course, Spider-kids are always thinking with their stomachs,” he reached out and ruffled Peter’s curls. “Your ability to no longer eat like a choking prone toddler does call for a celebration… but before food… me and Pep need to talk to you.”

“O-okay.” Peter waited for the shoe to drop, for Tony and Pepper to tell him that now he was healed up it was time for him to move on, or they were sending him back to May, that he had been exaggerating everything.

“Jesus, kid, we’re not sending you to a firing squad.” Tony regretted how he had phrased it. “It’s a good surprise, I promise,” He held out his pinkie, making Peter smile again, the teen linked his pinkie and they shook. “C’mon,” Tony help him to his feet and made sure that he was balanced before taking his hands off of him, “it’s more of a show than a tell.”

Pepper was already inside of his room when he and Tony got there, she looked up from the StarkTab she was tapping on, and smiled at him. When Peter walked to stand at her side she placed her hand on his head, pulling him closer to her, then kissed the top of his head before letting him go. “How are you feeling, honey?”

“Good” Peter told her through a yawn. “I thought I’d say something stupid like in the videos on YouTube.”

Tony and Pepper shared a secret smile over Peter’s head, the sort of smile they did when Morgan said something accidentally funny, Peter didn’t need to know, Friday had the footage should they ever need to use it against him.

“You wanna know what your surprise is?” Tony asked him instead.

Peter narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, “You haven’t like… added another kill mode to my suit… have you?”

“If I remember rightly that came in handy during the battle,” Tony protested, “but no. Fri?”

The room filled with lasers, not the sort Peter used to watch in cartoons, but the sort which flickered over every surface, turning the room into a black, blank space, the furniture and dimensions outlined by blue lights. “Woah…” he let out without meaning to. “That’s so cool!”

Tony let out a snort of laughter, of course their kid was impressed by that, “Yeah, that’s not your surprise, that would be a really shitty surprise.”

Pepper sent Tony a ‘seriously stop swearing in front of our kids’ look, and Tony sent her a ‘aren’t you the reason Morgan knows the word shit’ look back. Pepper ignored her husband, as she was want to do, instead she held the pad out to Peter. “Me and Tony started on redesigning your room, we’ve got some things we know you’ll like, that we want to keep as a proper surprise, but this is your room, we want you to have input on the import things, the colour of the walls, any big changes like if you want the en-suite changing, or if you need a bigger wardrobe - which reminds me we need to order you more clothes, or if you want a new bed?”

Peter didn’t know what to say, he was so touched that they were trying so hard to make him feel at home, tears pricked his eyes and he tried to hide them. “O-Oh, I don’t need, I mean I don’t, like, need a new bed, this one’s great.”

“What if you want someone to stay over though?”

“What!?” Tony spluttered, his eyes were wide in alarm, like Peter Tony’s face turned bright red, “Pepper!”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “I meant a trundle bed or a day bed for Ned to sleepover.” She tried not to laugh at the looks on both of their faces.

“Ye-yeah, yeah that’s, that sounds good, like a very separate very distant bed which is not the same bed for a friend, who’s just a friend, to stay over.” Peter cleared his throat when he heard how high pitched his voice came out. He accepted the pad from Pepper and started to look over the options, starting with the en-suite, in the hopes that when he joined Pepper and Tony again his cheeks wouldn’t be bright red.

“You did that on purpose.” Tony muttered glaring at his wife.

Pepper rolled her eyes still smirking. “I did not.”

“I have a heart condition, you could have given me a heart attack, I could be having an attack of the heart right now.”

“I don’t have that kind of luck,” Pepper laughed and wrapped her arm around her husband’s waist, “it’s sweet to see you so protective over our kid though.”

“Maguna’s not dating until she’s forty two, Petey-Pie gets the same rules, because I am a feminist.”

Pepper rolled her eyes, pulled him in for a kiss, god, she was so glad that he hadn’t died.

Peter stood in the bathroom, not looking at the designs on the pad, instead he was stood wiping the tears from his eyes, he wondered if Tony and Pepper had forgotten that he had super hearing.

After the emotional rollercoaster Peter worked with Pepper and Tony to pick things for his room, Tony insisting on talking him through all the things he put in place in case Peter has a sensory overload, and all the best colours for sleep and studying Pepper had heavily researched, Peter was left in his room to look over the plans, to make small amendments, to chose duvet covers and posters, things like that.

Though Pepper and Tony had both offered to help Peter had decided to do it himself, feeling a little overwhelmed by the… well the love, because that’s what it was, wasn’t it? Pepper and Tony loved him… this was one of the many ways they were showing it, showing that they wanted him around for a long time, the same way they showed they cared about him by being there when he had nightmares, by helping him with his homework, by being able to tell when something was wrong, by trying to fix anything they could… Peter was loved.

His phone buzzed, May, a single heart emoji.

“Shoot.” Peter mumbled.

Spider-Baby: sorry only just slept off the meds :p it went good i got a cast on my arm i can draw on :)

May: It’s okay, Peter, I was just very worried… I don’t know if Tony Stark would let me know if anything happened to you, I didn’t even know that you were having surgery, thank you for telling me baby <3 We haven’t had a catch up in a while, has anything good been happening?

Peter stared at the design on the tablet, he wanted to tell May about it, just how he used to tell her about everything that excited him, but he felt that familiar… tingle… like a tiny bell from Santa’s sleigh, only able to be heard by the truest believers… telling him not to bring Tony and Pepper up, or to bring up the idea of him staying at the tower for any considerable amount of time… He could feel the phantom sting on his cheek from May’s hand…. The sound of his voice crying out for May as the belt whipped his back, biting into his flesh… 

Spider-Baby: nah….i can eat real food again?
Spider-Baby: + the doc said im nearly totally healed from the surgery

May: Oh baby! That’s great news! Hopefully you can come home soon, now that you’re healed <3
May: Or we could go and grab a hot dog, or something, whatever you want, I will even brave street tacos for you

Peter hesitated, his stomach turned, he suddenly wanted Tony and Pepper to be there with him still… or that he had never messaged May back… he was being ridiculous, May was being so nice, she was trying so, so hard, god he really was an ungrateful brat.

Spider-Baby: that sounds awesome
Spider-Baby: gtg gonna have dinner

May: Oh, okay honey, we’ll sort out meeting up, enjoy your fancy feast ;) <3
May: I larb you.
May: And I miss you around here
May: A lot.
May: I’m looking forward to you coming home
May:…. Who else will complain about the people on say yes to the dress with me?

Spider-Baby: miss u may
Peter sucked in a breath, his hands were shaking, why were his hands shaking?
Spider-Baby: larb u 2

Peter shot up from his bed, suddenly not wanting to be alone, he rushed out of his room, StarkPad in hand, crashing into Tony as soon as he walked out of his door, he nearly fell on his casted arm, but Tony caught and righted him.

“You okay, kiddo?”

“Y-yeah, yeah, sorry, just, I was just,” he shook his head, nothing was wrong, nothing… he was being stupid, May was being so nice, and he did miss her, if he told Tony he’d block her number or get her arrested or something, and it would be Peter’s fault… “I’m just hungry.”

Tony narrowed his eyes despite Peter’s smile. “You sure?” Peter nodded, Tony just about held in a sigh. “Okay… Pep just got back from picking up the little miss, we’re having dinner with the team tonight,” he eyed his kid carefully, “you sure you’re okay? You look like casper, and it’s past halloween, there’s such a things as unfashionably late, Pete. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Seriously.”

“You promise?”

Peter thought about how hurt he had been when Tony had scanned him after promising not to… “Yup, now let’s goooo, I’m hungry.”

That night, with the avengers throwing a “congratulations you’re finally healed” party - complete with a banner which apparently had been used often- with the take out pizza, with the gaming tournament where Peter had lost because he was letting Morgan help him, was one of the best nights… the team no longer felt like The Avengers™, or even like the individual superheroes and accomplish men, women, and in between they were, but like Peter’s family, and for once that word didn’t mean Richard and Mary Parker, or Ben and May Parker, or just May Parker, or even like Tony and Pepper and Morgan, they all were his family, surrogate aunts and uncles and cousins, and everything else…

But Peter hadn’t been able to completely shake that feeling in his stomach, the spider creeping up his spine, the monster under the bed, feeling from May texting him.

Peter was in a bad mood.

He had been awake half of the night, tossing and turning, tempted to go and confess all to Tony, to Pepper, but he just… he couldn’t, he couldn’t even sneak into the lounge because Friday informed him that if he did so at three in the morning Pepper and Tony would be alerted, called the “early bird gets sent back to bed Jesus it’s not morning”, clearly named by Tony in a sleep deprived state… so he led in bed, finding himself scrolling through his instagram page, not looking at the messages from people in his school who had heard rumours that he was Tony’s secret love child, and not because he was self-obsessed, but because he was staring at all the memories he shared with May: all the inside jokes, the birthdays, the pranks, the inedible food, the movie marathon nights, the baby photos where she was holding him…

When he finally did fall asleep it was a couple of hours before Morgan was knocking at his door, asking him if he was poorly because he hadn’t gotten up at their usual time, he followed her with minimal grumbles, he had been pouring himself a cup of half sugar half coffee when Tony had snatched it out of his hands and begun a lecture on drinking coffee when he was young, then on diabetes when he had sipped the coffee and it had basically been a solid… then he’d gotten the same lecture from Pepper when he had tried to pour himself one when Tony had gone to take Morgan to pre-school.

Once Tony got home Peter was sent down to the Avengers floor, this wasn’t a surprise, Pepper and Tony had told him his bedroom would be getting done up straight away, getting to spend the whole day with the Avengers wouldn’t usually be an unwelcome surprise, but he was too tired, he was too on edge, he was too annoyed… He had tried to protest, it could still be a surprise, he just wouldn’t look, but Tony pointed out that it was going to be loud and Tony didn’t want it to trigger a sensory overload, and although every workman was trusted (and up to the eyeballs in NDAs) Tony and Pepper wanted to protect his identity as much as possible.

Tony was splitting his time between supervising the renovation, and supervising Peter, Peter couldn’t help but feel like he was being babysat, or like Tony knew that he had been texting May.

He had technically been given the day off from home school by Pepper and Tony, due to the surgery the previous day, but he couldn’t properly play most games on the consoles (probably why Steve was trying to encourage him to play) and he couldn’t spar, or train, and Bruce was in a hospital so he couldn’t go and play around in the lab with him, and Tony was in and out so he couldn’t go to his lab, he claimed it was too dangerous for Peter, which was ridiculous but it wasn’t like he could sneak into it, thanks to his human and AI babysitters….. so he was left to stare at the homework on the laptop screen, trying to get his head around the AP chem work he had missed out on or fallen asleep during the introductory classes.

“You gaming?”

“Wha-?” Peter looked up, smiling when he saw Rhodey’s pretend serious look as he slid into a seat beside him, Peter sent him a tired smile, “Oh, hey Rhodey.”

“Hey kid, your sister already tagged you?”

“Huh?” Peter followed Rhodey’s nod of the head down to his cast, which he had drawn on and Morgan had coloured the night before, once the Starks and Peter had headed back to their floor, but it was Rhodey’s words which threw him off, “She’s not my… you know that I’m not really Tony’s secret love child don’t you?”

Rhodey opened his mouth to say something of his usual snark, but there was something about hoe Peter was looking, tired, cautious, that made him feel bad for the boy who he had considered his nephew since he figured out just how important Peter was to Tony, some time between him being crushed by a building undying in outer space.
“Trust me, I would have known before the world’s press if you were Tony’s kid,” he shrugged, “Tony’s my brother, family’s not about biology- I told Tony that when he was about your age, I know that Tony told you why,” he waited for Peter to nod, “Morgan’s your sister in all the ways that matter.”

Peter smiled, a small one still, but not quite as tired. “Yeah, yeah she is, she wanted me to draw on it, so I drew and let her colour it in.”

“Ah, so she wanted the Iron Man?”

“Yup, yeah, totally, that’s why the Spiderman’s there too.” That was only a half lie, Morgan had really wanted him to draw Spiderman, Peter had insisted on drawing Iron Man too, luckily Pepper was the only one who had heard him telling her that, and she was already holding onto one of his Iron Man related secrets.

Rhodey shoved an entire box of Sharpies across the table towards him. “Draw War Machine and I’ll colour it in.”

“I thought it was Iron Patriot?”

Rhodey glared at Peter. “You sure you’re not Tones’ biological son?”

Peter rolled his eyes but he was still grinning from his own joke, “I’ve got to do my chemistry work.”

“Except that you’ve not typed anything for over an hour…”

“You’ve been watching a teenage boy for over an hour?”

“I… Y’know what Junior, I’m giving an interview to teen vogue who whatever you teenagers read now adays and claiming you’re Tony’s bio kid.”

Peter might have usually felt uneasy about this, about what May would think about reading it, but Peter had been around Tony enough to know that this was Rhodey’s sense of humour, that he wouldn’t really. So he just said, mildly, “I read New Scientist.” He picked out a black marker and focused on his cast.

“That’ll be good proof, thanks, Pete.” Rhodey said with a snort of laughter.

Peter brought up a photo of War Machine from google on his phone then “No one ever called me Pete before I met Tony.” He said conversationally.

“Yeah? Did your aunt just call you other nicknames?”

“Nah, I was just Peter.”

“Tony is big on nicknames, always has been, I think he’d probably get his ass handed to him less if he stopped spending most of the time he’s fighting coming up with nicknames.”

Peter sniggered in agreement and continued to draw, making casual conversation with Rhodey as he did, Rhodey even told him a few small and PG rated stories about Tony. When Peter’s masterpiece was finished he let Rhodey pull his cast close to him, and the man began to colour in the character version of himself.

“It must be a big change being here, I know you were here a lot anyway, but being here full time is different. Do you miss your old apartment?”

Peter led his head down on his free arm which was resting on the table so that his chin was resting on. God he was tired… maybe that, or unanswered ‘good morning’ texts from May on his phone…. “It wasn’t my apartment.”

Rhodey forced himself to keep his eyes on the sharpies as he selected various shade of grey and silver, “You lived there for a few months.”

“It wasn’t really… I slept in the office… it wasn’t my… she got rid of my stuff… I had like… I had some photos, in a box, some, some random stuff, but that was… it wasn’t my apartment.”

Rhodey looked up but the kid wasn’t looking at him, he looked tired, he looked young, god he was only fifteen, he had been through too much… “Y’know, Tones, he, when we were kids, I was only a little older than him, we were the youngest in our classes at MIT, I was seventeen, he was your age, we shared a dorm, Tones technically had a whole house his mother bought for him to live in, but he liked the dorm; he had mess everywhere, posters, clothes, and these blueprints, genius inventions… it was him… the first time I stayed over at his family home, I was… his bedroom was empty; I mean he had his usual Tony mess, but it wasn’t him.”

He took a slow inhale, he could see the glint of tears in Peter’s eyes, “Sometimes we outgrow the homes, they stop being home, we find new ones… then there’s the ones like you had, like Tony had, they couldn’t be a home, a home is meant to make you feel safe, make you feel welcomed… so should the people in it.”

“Is this when you ask about him? Mr Fisher?” Peter asked him weakly.

“Tones said he was called Chucky, or Chip, or Charlie Chaplin.”

Peter smiled weakly which was the best Rhodey could have hoped for. “I… he said that I… I know I’m not the most, I’m difficult to live with.”

Rhodey clenched his jaw, “You are not difficult to live with-“

“-You don’t know that.”

“You think that Tony doesn’t talk about you literally all the time, bragging about his kid? The closest he even gets to complaining about you, which he doesn’t by the way, is saying that they have to stop you trying to act like a cleaner, to rest and recuperate, instead of trying to clean up after everyone. You are not difficult to live with. And even if you were, you didn’t deserve to be abused, to be attacked.”

“It wasn’t… I’m Spiderman, I, I was Spiderman,” Peter was mumbling against the stolen from Tony Stark Industries sweatshirt, it was too big on him, it was… it smelt like him, it was like home, “I wasn’t… I should have been strong enough to take it, I… I’m not worthy to be Spiderman, I’m not… I’m not strong enough.”

“Pete, look at me.” He used his colonel voice, the softer version of it, so Peter would know that he was wasn’t in trouble but would have to obey. “You’re the strongest kid I know, you’ve been through a lot, a lot I don’t even know, but Tony told me enough to know that you’re strong and brave; I mean you got these powers and used them to help people, most people would have used them to rob a bank, hell I know that I would have had some fun with it, Cap probably would have too, that makes you the best of us. It’s okay if you need to stop being Spiderman, or if you need to take a break, it doesn’t reflect on how strong you are… You’re a kid, and even if you weren’t you need to take a break, you’ve been through a lot, you need to accept that you need to take a break, or you will break.”

Peter was silent for a few moments, when he spoke again his voice was full of trepidation, his tempo slow. “I think I hate him, Mr Fisher… Charles. I… his family, his daughter, she knew, she pretended that I hurt her because I wouldn’t do her homework for her, he hurt me, punished me… I think I hate her too, she’s only thirteen… I didn’t even hate Mr Toomes and he dropped a building on me, but I think I hate them, the Fishers. That’s wrong, isn’t it? I… I didn’t think I could hate anyone…”

“Peter, did your aunt May know too?”

Peter was silent. “May loves me… She took me in, she kept me even after my uncle died, even though we weren’t like, we’re not biologically related, she wouldn’t know and not stop him.”

Rhodey opened his mouth but Peter was standing up, snatching his phone off the table, shoving it in his pocket… the elevator doors opening Tony sauntering into the common room.

“I think I’m gonna take a nap.”

“Peter-“

“What’s up, Pete?” Tony walked over to them frowning as he saw his kid looking…. Something.

“I’m tired, I’mma take a nap somewhere.”

Tony reached out his hand to stop Peter from wandering away “You feeling okay? You look a little pale, well you look like me on like two days without sleep, which I’m told is about halfway to me being a zombie.” He pressed the back of his hand to Peter’s forehead, still frowning. “You feel okay.”

“I just couldn’t sleep last night.” Peter managed to move away from the hand on his forehead, but Tony wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders and pulled him into his side.

Tony glanced at the table, Peter’s open laptop, the chemistry on the screen. “You’re making my kid do chem work while he’s recovering?” Tony gasped dramatically, pulling Peter even closer to him, “You’re a monster, you’re a bad uncle, all you’re getting for the next three Christmases is ties, ugly ties, with lights, and music.” Rhodey rolled his eyes half heartedly, he looked down at Peter who was not looking anywhere near him.

“Tony-“

“Okay, Bambi,” Tony ruffled his hair, “let’s find you somewhere for nap time.”

“Tony! Don’t call it that!” Peter whined, being led off by Tony to one of the empty guest rooms….

Rhodey watched them go… he needed to talk to Tony, someplace where Peter could not hear them.

Peter awoke from his second nap screaming for May.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Tony was on the bed facing him, holding onto him with a hand on either of his upper arm, holding tight as Peter tried to thrash out. “Petey, c’mon bud, it’s okay, you’re safe, you’re home.”

“T-Tony?”

“Yeah, Petey-Pie, it’s me, the one and only, I’m here.” One hand left Peter’s arm to push Peter’s hair back from his face, then he began to stroke it as Peter’s eyes darted around the room. “You’re in one of the guest rooms, kid, you came in to take another nap, remember?”

Peter did remember, he remembered that Nat and Clint had been colouring in the versions of themselves on his cast, that they’d been trying to talk to him about Charles, about May, just like Rhodey had, but he was still too tired for it, too annoyed at the Avengers, at Tony, at everyone, at Charles, at Chloe, at May, at the world, and Peter’s arm hurt; so he took some of the medicine Dr Cho had given him and fallen asleep in the guest room he had napped in earlier…

He took some shaky deep breaths and nodded. “Y-yeah, I… yeah, I remember.”

“You were shouting May’s name again…” Tony purposely kept his voice soft, still stroking Peter’s somewhat sweaty curls, trying not to presume anything, to say anything wrong. “Not in a good way… I think you were having a nightmare about her.”

Peter shrugged his shoulders trying not to look at Tony too closely. “I was talkin’ ‘bout her earlier, with Rhodey,” he shrugged again, “guess I just, with the medicine, y’know, and I get nightmares anyway… guess they got mixed up in my head.”

“Kid… you know if you ever need to tell me anything, about when happened, I mean about anything, but mostly about this, if you,” he scrubbed his hand against his forehead shaking his head, “jeez I’m bad at this… Peter, if, when, you’re ready to talk about it, to tell us what happened with May-“

“Nothing happened! Nothing, she didn’t- I, she wouldn’t-“

“Kid.” Tony gave him a hard look, a pitying look, a plea for the truth, Tony was so sick of feeling useless when it came to Peter, to not being able to go and demand answers from May, to demand if she knew, demand to know how much she knew, but knowing if he did Peter could be taken from him and dumped in a group home… he was sick of his own nightmares playing out what could have happened to Peter in that apartment, the one Tony had bought for May and her husband when he had figured out time travel, the one which had spare bedroom just for Peter, he was just so sick and tired. “I’m here. I’m not going away, no matter what you tell me, no matter if you tell me every detail, or if you try and push me away, I’m here, I’m… you’re important to me, I’m not going away.” He kept stroking Peter’s hair, the kid was staring down at his own legs under the covers now.

When it eventually became clear that Peter wasn’t going to say anything, that he wasn’t going to confess, that he wasn’t going to stop lying, or hiding the truth… Tony restrained from sighing, only because he knew that Peter would take it as something he had done to upset Tony. “How’s your arm feeling now?”

Peter stopped himself from sighing in relief when Tony changed the topic. He held up his casted arm looking at it, “S’okay,” he told him, “heavy, but that’s probably the cast.”

“Reasonable bet,” Tony snorted, he took hold of it and slowly and carefully turned the cast looking at the pictures on it, many more had been added through the day, now he had the complete extended Avengers team, including Pepper, who had been with them at lunch, he had even added a small purple Iron person, clearly Morgan to anyone who met her, Tony smiled, Iron Man, Rescue, Iron girl, and the Iron Spiderman were all grouped together flying, or swinging, down the cast. “Those are pretty good.”

Peter shrugged his eyes on the Iron Man, hoping Tony didn’t know that it was Peter’s choice to add that, that would be weird, “Me and Ned took a cartoon drawing extracurricular when we started at Midtown.”

Tony smiled… speaking of Ned…. “So… your room’s finished… you wanna go check it out?”

“Already?!” Peter’s eyes were wide in surprise and he was already trying to get out of the bed, nearly falling out of it, much to Tony’s amusement.

The bedroom renovation had been so quick, Tony explained as they walked to the elevator and rode in it, because of his technology helping to paint and put things together and to move or carry things, and the fact that the ‘Stark’ name made a lot of people want to hurry to get things delivered or done fast, though Tony had been quick to add that he had sorted out anything electronic and even put together a desk chair.

Pepper was sat at the table waiting for them, pretending to work on something, but Peter had caught sight of the solitaire game on the tablet screen as he and Tony had walked over to her, Tony’s arm around his shoulder.

“Hey honey, how are you feeling?”

Peter could see the crease between her eyebrows, great, that meant that she and Tony had been up here and Friday had announced to them that he had a nightmare, like a glorified baby monitor. It was so embarrassing…. But this is Pepper, which made it not as bad, the same as Tony seeing him like that, he thought about what Rhodey had said about family not being blood… but then he found himself thinking about May again.
He held his cast up, “I finished drawing everyone.”

Tony shared a look with Pepper, he was starting to think that she should have been paid more when she was his PA, if he was anything like how persistent Peter was at avoiding questions then she had deserved way more than she was paid… the look in her eyes told him that she had been thinking that for years. “He didn’t include Gerald, our alpaca is going to be crushed.”

“Your alpaca.”

“Our alpaca,” Tony smirked as she glared at him, “he’s going to try and eat the spider-kid when we go as his vengeance.”

Peter rolled his eyes, Tony was such a dad™ sometimes, he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, “Can I see my room now? Pleeeease?”

Tony and Pepper both grinned at how adorable Peter was, he was sounding so hopeful, and he was actually asking for something, which they never thought would be a thing having been raising Morgan, so for once Tony didn’t bother to tease him, instead he ruffled his hair, took hold of Pepper’s hand when she walked over to him, then nodded towards the corridor leading to the main bedrooms.

“Lead the way, Pete.”

Peter came to a stop in front of his closed door.

“You forgot how doors work?” Tony sniggered at his own joke but there was a genuine hint of confusion in his voice, he stared at the back of Peter’s head trying to see his face to be able to tell what was wrong.

Peter’s eyes were firmly on the dark wood door. It was the same as before, with the subtle gold paint lining the grooves, the gold handle, but now a plaque the sam colour as the door was just above eye level, like the door it was lined with gold, in the middle, in stylish gold lettering it read “Peter’s bedroom”, at the start and end of the words were what looked like crosses at first, but when he looked closer he realised they weren’t just lines, they were lightsabers, a blue and a red one, the same shades as the colours in his suit.

He could feel the tears pricking his eyes, but he still turned around to face them. “You put a name on my door.” Peter’s body moved without his permission, he threw his around around Pepper and Tony, within milliseconds their arms were also around him.

“Now you won’t doubt that it’s your room.”

“Yeah, now you will finally realise that you’re stuck with us,” Tony tried to joke to dry up the tears, but his voice was thick with emotion.

Peter used the henley Tony was wearing to dry his eyes. “I’m okay with that,” he mumbled, not sure if they’d be able to hear him, but as they tightened their arms around him he figured that they probably had.

The three of them stood like that for several minutes.

“So,” Tony cleared his throat but didn’t move away from them, “are we going to check out your awesome room I slaved over or are we going to stand out here like assholes all day?”

“You’re calling yourself an asshole?” Peter reluctantly pulled out of the hug, a smile played on his mouth as he tried to sound innocent.

“No swearing.” Tony admonished, only half joking, “….But yeah I am, I thought that was a well known fact? I’m gonna have to update my wikipedia so everyone knows.”

“Aaaand,” Pepper laughed, “moment ruined.”

Peter and Tony both let out a laugh, and Peter finally opened the door. 

The windows were obviously still the same, filling up half of the outer wall, showing the city as far as the eye could see…. but nearly everything else was different. 

The walls were a deep blue, the calming colour he had chosen from Pepper’s suggestions, and against the window in one corner, was a large corner desk, a desktop computer was on the table in front of the desk chair, to one side was a tall bookcase, going up high enough to that there was a ladder, the shelves were full of books, with some decorations on it, some framed photographs of various people, but most of them had Peter with Pepper and/or Tony, there was enough room for him to add some more, should he want to, above the un-windowed wall were some shelves, with a few more photographs and things, one large framed photo taken after Tony had woken up in Wakanda, before people went their separate ways while Tony, Pepper, Peter and Rhodey stayed in Wakanda, another was the fake evidence of the Stark Internship, Tony and Peter, bunny ears above each others heads and all. There were enough stationary and supplies to last him until grad school.

The other corner where the widows had stopped was now boxed in by half walls, a couch, thick enough for him to be certain it was a couch bed, was against one wall, a beanbag chair beside it, a large television was on one wall a selection of different gaming consoles on top of a modular unit which was full of boxes of lego sets, action figures, games, boxes of things he couldn’t even tell what, various games, and funko pops;
The whole area was lined with strips of lights: the ultimate gaming corner.

His bed was still huge, a king sized memory foam mattress, it was dressed with deep red bedcovers, complete with a deep blue quilt with red piping around the edges. Peter had to laugh when he saw that among the pillows and cushions there was an Iron Man face.

“Seriously?” He said still laughing.

“It was either me or Cap, Disney’s new range, and we both know that I’m your hero,” Tony winked.

For once Peter didn’t argue.

Pepper led him around, his walk in wardrobe was less empty now, complete with spare blankets and pillows, Egyptian cotton towels, new clothes, all his style, when he reached his hand out to touch one of the punny t-shirts he found that they were particularly soft, there were plaid shirt, skinny jeans, new pyjamas and joggers, a particularly cool looking bomber jacket with an illustrated pattern on the back, there were boxes of Van high-tops, his favourite type, some of the usual boxes, some were clearly the special ones with Toy Story style boxes, or Avengers boxes. There was a whole section full of Stark Industries clothing, the lounge wear, some t-shirts and sweatshirts, and some faded old band t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies, which smelled of motor oil and expensive cologne.

The ensuite bathroom had somehow been renovated too, Peter was starting to wonder if he had pulled a Steve and fallen asleep for like eighty years, it was impressive… if the whole Stark Industries thing didn’t work out they had a future in home renovations.
The bathroom now contained a bath large enough for him to lie down in if he wanted, nearly everything else was the same… except now the mosaic style tiles on the walls surrounding the wet room and the bath had pixelated looking Star Wars characters, the light above the mirror over the sink was a lit up lightsaber. There was an R2D2 shaped laundry basket, both Tony and Pepper pointed out the first aid kits (of which there were three) several times, and told him that if they needed to be replaced he had to tell them or Friday.

“This is just… woah, thank you, thank you so much. It’s a … there’s a lot, you’ve spent so much, and it’s just so amazing and I don’t-…” The next thing he knew he had thrown himself at them, pulling them into a hug. “This is… it’s so much, I don’t deserv-“

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” Pepper tole him firmly, she pressed a kiss onto the top of his head, “you deserve everything, we want you to feel at home here… is this okay?”

“It’s, it’s more than okay, it’s perfect, how did you, how did you know I’d like all this stuff?”

“We listen to you when you talk?” Tony was stroking his kid’s hair, really he hadn’t done as much as he could have in the room, knowing not to overdo it, he could sneak things like that in later, once Peter had been there for longer…

But still, how could they not know things about him? The kid talked… or at leas the used to talk, non-stop, he was getting more like that again now, but it wasn’t hard to know that he’d like a ‘the truth is out there’ poster, or a dinosaur shaped plant pot, or that he’d secretly like the touches of Iron man everywhere, or that the clothes which were Tony’s were what he wore instead of armour out into the world, that his bedroom had to be adapted so that he was less likely to have an overload in there, it was just something they knew, the way they knew Morgan, the way any parent knew their kid, because that’s what Peter was, really, their son, in all but blood and law.

Peter didn’t respond or explain other than to continue to hug them until any questions they had faded from their minds and they walked back out to the bedroom.

“No watching inappropriate things,” Pepper told him gently, “you can watch tv at night a little but if it’s on past two Friday will turn it off if you’re asleep, and if you’re not she’ll let us know that you’re awake, because we need to make sure that you’re okay, or if you’ve had a nightmare, that includes if you project the tv above your bed.”

Peter nodded his head, it sounded fair enough. “Okay.”

“And don’t game for too long,” Tony added, just as gently and serious, “especially on a school night, or I’ll put a lock on them.”

Peter nodded his head again, “Okay, I won’t, Ned’s parents, his mom I mean, they don’t let him on it all the time, I mostly play against him.”

Tony smiled at him, god he was such a good kid, especially compared to him at Peter’s age. “I know you haven’t been Spiderman recently, and we’re not trying to pressure you into going back to it-“

“-Or not going back to it-“

“-right, or not going back to it, but if you want decide you want to go back to it can you talk to us first, even so we don’t walk in here to talk to you at like midnight and you’re nowhere. Because Pepper will freak out,” Pepper cleared her throat giving him a look, Tony swallowed, “ Because I will freak out,” Tony amended.

Peter nodded his head, looking down, “D’ya think I should do it again, I mean I’m sure Queens is fine, but I… I feel bad.”

“Are you the one committing crimes?” Pepper asked him seriously, he quickly shook his head and she gave a firm nod, “Then it’s not on you. I’m serious Peter, it’s not on you; you can to it again if you want, but don’t do it out of guilt, because it’s not on you.”

“Pete, you need to heal first yours, and not just physically, trust me, I’m like the king of not letting myself heal, all it gave me was PTSD.”

Peter continued to look down, “I… I don’t think I can right now, I don’t know… I don’t think I know how to be Spiderman at the moment.”

“That’s okay, honey.” Pepper soothed, pulling him into a side hug.

“We didn’t mean to upset you, Pete,” Tony’s voice was just as soothing, “nothing matters more to us than your safety, that’s all, just talk to us if you change your mind, we just want to keep you safe.” He wrapped his arm around his wife and stroked his foster son’s hair, none of the saying another word, content to stand, huddled together.

In Peter’s mind he heard Uncle Ben saying “nothing matters more to us than your safety”, after Peter had been bitten, after he had started to act differently, after he had been sneaking out… for the first time he thought that perhaps his uncle would understand his choices, that he wouldn’t claim he was shirking off his responsibility…. And for the first time that didn’t matter to him more than Pepper and Tony’s soothing words, and their closeness to him.

When Peter was left alone to be able to check out his room while they went to collect Morgan from her after school playdate he wondered over to his new desk, smiling at the framed photograph of himself and the three Starks, he pulled out his cellphone and did a double take when he saw the at the screen.

May: Peter, please, we really need to talk, face to face, we need to fix this misunderstanding, we can be a family again. Please baby, do it for me… if doing it for me isn’t enough do it for Ben, you owe us, both of us.
May: Do not let the Starks know about this, baby, they wouldn’t understand, and don’t sneak out, they might see you.
May: When can we meet?
May: Peter?
May: I’m really trying here, it’s like you don’t even want to be a family anymore.
May: Don’t I at least deserve a text back?
Three (3) Missed calls: May.

Spider-Baby: im rlly rlly sorry may i didnt mean 2 miss ur call, can’t see u rn

His stomach turned, he forgot how to breathe, he wanted to tell Tony ad Pepper that he was getting texts from May, and he would have, he really would have this time, but they both went together to collect Morgan, he had decided not to go with them, still trying to avoid the press… he wished that he had gone now.

Spider-Baby: cn try meet in the week
Spider- Baby im rlly sorry 4 letting u down again can’t sneak out rn without Tony + Pep knowing

May: Thank you, Peter, you’re a good boy.
May: I’ll text you on Monday, we can see if you can go out without supervision from Tony Stark then, maybe the three of us
May: Me, you, and Charles, not Iron Man lol *crying with laughter emoji*

Peter felt his stomach turn and he raced to the bathroom, phone still in his hand, he fell to the floor in front of the toilet bowl, his brain played the sound, the feel, the pain of the belt own his back, of the punches, of the slap from May, the vomit from pain, the smell of the vomit lingering in his bedroom.

May: You can text me over the weekend, if you’re not too busy to talk, I’m sure you’re going to wild parties now.
May: I love you, we just want you and the girls home baby, we can sort this out as a family, instead of all this nonsense. I love you.

Chapter Text

By Wednesday the next week Peter was already exhausted and a beyond  stressed, every time his phone buzzed in his pocket, or someone spoke without him realising they were about to he jumped, he tried to leave his phone in his bedroom but that just left his insides eating themselves at the idea of someone wondering into his bedroom and coming across the cellphone and seeing whatever May was texting him.

Not that what she was saying was necessarily bad, or cruel, or… he didn’t know… he didn’t know why his skin crawled with each and every text, why in his nightmares May was right beside Charles… most of all he didn’t know why he didn’t tell May or Tony that May had been texting him… or that he had been texting her back.

That was what was currently stressing him out, still, the texts, he had been coming up with excuses all weekend, since that first text on the Thursday, every time lying about why he couldn’t meet up with her, even though he spent most of his time sleeping off the pain tablets he was still on (he might be able to heal, that didn’t mean it wasn’t very unpleasant), the rest of the time he was with either Pepper or Tony anyway, watching tv or doing homework, or trying to bug Tony by suggesting ridiculous improvements to his prosthetic.

Tony glanced over at Peter who was frowning at some question on a work booklet from his school, he looked from the boy to the elevator doors, to his Rolex on his wrist, back to his kid. “You need any help?”

Peter’s head shot up, he smiled after a second then smiled, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly, “D’you know when the clean water act was passed?”

Tony frowned, “No, I have clean water, why would I need to know?” He let out a laugh when Peter laughed. “So, you been thinking about inviting Nedward here? Or any other friends?”

“It’s just Ned,” Peter rolled his eyes playfully, Pepper and Tony had not so subtly been hinting at him inviting people around to the tower, mostly Ned as he was the one who he was closest to… and one of the very few true friends he had. “Yeah, maybe…”

“Kid, what’s up?”

“What? Nothing, wha-what d’ya mean?” Peter could hear his heart beating almost out of his chest.

Tony held up his hands in surrender, “Whoah, hey, I wasn’t accusing you of anything, Pete, I was just… you look… I don’t know, but something’s wrong, I know something’s wrong, my powers of deduction are impeccable.”

Peter rolled his eyes, looking away from Tony, instead doodle on the paper in front of him.

“C’mon Pete. What’s wrong?”

Peter stayed silent until the silence and the feel of Tony’s eyes on him became too much, “I just…” Peter shrugged, “it’s just weird, y’know, Ned, he… I told him about Charles…” He glanced a look at Tony and saw the surprise, “just like, parts of it, I didn’t, like, y’know tell him everything, but he knows… it’d just be…”

“You’re worried that he’d going to act differently to you now he knows?” Tony guessed, Peter nodded, looking like sad puppy, he reached over and ruffled his hair to try and comfort him. “He probably will,” he held his hand up to try and halt him, “he will but not in a bad way; things have changed now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing; I mean Rhodey changed when he found out about my dad, trust me it just makes it easier. You’ve known Ted a long time, right?”

Peter nodded, “Since I moved in with Ben,” and May he finished in his head, his cellphone felt like a weight trying to pull him under the water and drown him.

“He’s known you were Spiderman, he’s covered for you, he’s hacked Hap’s cell to get my number just to ask how you are-.”

“He did what?!” Peter demanded.

“To be fair his password was “password”, no caps.”

Peter was silent for a second, “Your head of security’s password is “password”?”

Tony let out a snort of laughter, “Yeah, you want his job?”

“Sure.”

“Sorry, no GED, you’ve gotta go to college first too.”

Peter shrugged, “I probably won’t go to college.”

“Excuse you?”

“I just mean, y’know it’s expensive, I guess I’ll never be head of security,” He shrugged trying to play it off.

“You’re going to college,” Tony half glared, “I paid your tuition the second I saw those web shooters, but going back to the actual point, Ned coming here won’t change anything, in fact he might think that you’re super cool because I’m your - … you live with me.”

“…You paid my tuition?”

Tony shrugged, “Your aunt needed other things to worry about than paying rent or for colleges,” he held his hands out in his ‘I’m Tony Stark’ gesture, “it was basically pocket change for me, so you’re still gonna go, and Fred is coming to visit.”

Peter opened his mouth to protest, then slowly closes it narrowing his eyes at the man, when he spoke again his voice was slow and full of suspicion, “When you say that Ned is coming to visit… you mean…?”

Tony, for his part, had the decency to look at least a little sheepish, “Pep and I wanted to surprise you with him, I know we’ve not been around much so you’ve been down with the team not really been able to invite him to your home home, but then I thought that maybe you might need some time to prepare yourself mentally, the kids like you in blowing up my phone with questions, I guess he’s going to be the same with this…”

Peter couldn’t help but smile, he had been gaming online with Ned, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t miss seeing him in person.

“There’s still time to call it off, I’ll tell Hap to tell him something came up, you could teach me that Animal Crossy Road thing?”

Peter winced at Tony’s guessing of Animal Crossing, and the idea of him trying to play it, but he couldn’t help but smiling at Tony and Pepper trying to cheer him up. “Nah, I wanna hang out with Ned, not that I- I mean I like hanging out with you and Pepper too I just-.”

“Kid,” Tony laughed, “it’s okay, I get it.” He ruffled Peter’s hair before putting on a wounded look and clutching his heart, “You don’t want to hang out with the ol’ man…”

Peter was about to apologise and protest, but saw the hint of a smile on Tony’s lips and rolled his eyes with a smile on his own face, “Yup,” he popped the ‘p’, “sorry, you stopped being cool when you retired due to old age.”

Tony let out a bark of laughter, then smiled as he watched Peter laugh, for the first time all week, Tony would be lying if he claimed not to be relieved by that noise. “Okay, Einstein, I’ll google that clean water thing so you can do your homework, and Pep can’t tell me off for distracting you.”

“Wait,” Peter was still smiling, now with a glint of mischief in his eyes, “you’ll be the one in trouble if I don’t do my homework?” 

Tony sent his kid, his son in everything but blood, a faux glare, knowing that he was trying to wind him up by the fake angelic voice and the glint in his eyes, “Yes, but if I’m gettin’ in trouble for that, you’re getting in trouble for not doing it too, the only difference is you’re gonna be grounded,” he smirked as Peter opened his mouth to presumably protest, but Tony held his hand up to stop him, still caught up in his entertainment of teasing Peter, “nope, sorry, dad rules, I get to ground you anytime you get me in trouble.”

The two were silent for a couple of seconds after they realised what Tony had said.

“…I, uh, I’ll google that for you, the uh, the water thing, I just…” His head ducked down as he typed away on his cellphone forcing a frown of faux concentration onto his face as he pretended to be concerned about it.

Peter quickly looked away, biting his cheek, he knew it was just a slip, he was used to talking to Morgan, or it was just like a turn of phrase… sure since Peter had been away Tony had become more of a dad, that seemed to have only increased since Peter had moved in, Peter found himself thinking about Tony as being his dad, not that he would admit that to anyone, especially Tony, that’d just make him want Peter gone.

“Remind me to tease ‘Cap that he didn’t even have regulated clean water, like at all.”

Peter opened his mouth but Friday was the one who answered.

“Yes Boss, this is item three hundred and forty two on the ‘Tease Steve’ list.”

Peter let out a loud laugh, “You really have a list of things to tease Steve about?”

Tony’s cheeks blushed a little, “I forget them otherwise, not that it really matters, no matter what I say he just asks me where the flying cars my dad promised are.”

Peter let out another snort of laughter, their previously tense atmosphere had completely faded, replaced with their easy camaraderie, there was a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes; Tony placed his phone in front of Peter, and Peter jotted down the dates and the important information he needed for his essay, “Why haven’t we got flying cars?”

Tony narrowed his eyes at the boy, “….You’re going to live downstairs, you’ve been corrupted by Rogers.”

Peter shrugged knowing that he was joking, “Okay, that means I can have gaming marathons with Clint.”

Tony narrowed his eyes even more, Peter was barely a sliver in his view, but it was worth it for the full effect of the glare, “No chance, Spider-Kids need their sleep, you’re here for life now, I made you sign a contract in your sleep.”

Peter rolled his eyes but he was beaming knowing that Tony wasn’t about to kick him out any time soon, “So we can’t make a flying car?”

Tony rolled his eyes and ruffled Peter’s hair, “Make it through sophomore year with good grades and we can talk about making one during the summer.”

“Seriously? I mean like, really? Pinkie promise me, you can’t break that-“ Peter came to the sudden realisation about how immature he was sounding, he was about to put his pinkie down when Tony hooked his pinkie though his, they shook and Peter was still beaming as Tony scooted closer to him and tapped one of his algebra questions and Peter pulled it back to rework it.

Peter looked up automatically as the elevator dinged for the second time, the first time had been Pepper and Morgan, coming back only to get Morgan changed from preschool for a playdate, Tony was still at his side helping him with various homework, and arguing that math had changed since he was at school; this time when he looked up he saw Happy first, the man as always looked a little irked, which Peter was beginning to realise really was the way the man showed that he cared… entering slowly behind him was a starstruck looking Ned.

Peter was forced to see the scene as Ned must be seeing it- an inside look at the most famous superhero in the world, the man who saved the world over and over again, who saved the universe, the man who brought both Ned and Peter home, Iron Man who they had both been obsessed with since they were kids… and here he was sat at the kitchen table with Peter, dedicatedly styled messy hair, glasses on his face, helping Peter with his homework.

Ned’s eyes met Peter’s and Peter could see the fact that his best friend was nervous, Peter didn’t hesitate in getting to his feet and rushing over to Ned, the boys immediately hugged, Peter grinned, his head dropped to rest on his best friend’s shoulder, “I’ve really missed you, man.”

The boys pulled out of their hug and Peter frowned seeing Ned’s nervous look, it must have been because of where Ned was, despite the clearly obvious reason Peter still asked, “Are you okay?”

At the same time Ned was frowning at Peter, “Is it okay that I’m here?” 

“What?”

“I mean,” Ned looked around, Happy and Tony had moved to the side to give the boys at least the semblance of privacy, then back at Peter, “I know we’ve been talking, but like not about this, and I know that… I want to make sure it’s okay that I’m here, if it’s not, I can go, I have my sub card and-.”

“-Ned?” Peter’s interruption silenced his friend, he smiled softly, locking eyes with him, his smile widened at the kindness always in Ned’s eyes, “I’m really, really glad you’re here, man.”

“Sure you don’t wanna stay? Rhodey’s comin’.”

“I have important work to do.” There was a glare in Happy’s voice, clearly at however Tony had been trying to wind him up. “Glad to see you finally smiling, kid,” Happy smiled as he walked past Peter, ruffling his hair, “you were starting to look as grumpy as Tony when he’s sulking.”

“I wasn’t grumpy!” Peter protested, at the same time, in nearly the exact same tone Tony protested likewise.

“Er, I never sulk? Maybe you’re thinking of someone else, definitely someone else, I’m Iron Man, I’ve never sulked in my life.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Happy rolled his eyes at the now very offended looking pair, “I’ll see you later, I’ll take the kid mark two home later,” Happy hesitated for a second before gracing Peter with a small yet genuine smile, “it’s good seeing you smile Peter.”

Peter ducked his head, his cheeks turned ever so slightly pink, the same way he did when Pepper or Tony praised him in front of any of the Avengers; the stirring of pride mixed in his stomach, and he almost completely forgot about everything going on May.

The elevator dinged, Happy got inside, and left them alone.

“Hey, Tony, can me and Ned go and play playstation in my room?”

“Ned and I.”

Peter rolled his eyes, Tony was always trying to correct his grammar now adays, even though he missed off letters purposely nearly constantly, a stark contrast to Charles’ robotic speech pattern, “Ned and I.”

“Sure, kiddo, grab some cones from the freezer or something,” as he spoke the man shoved his cell into his pocket, moved, grabbed four cones from the freezer, and passed them to Ned who was looking wide eyed at Tony, all in one fluid motion, “it won’t be a couple of hours ’til dinner, and Pete, take your homework off the ta-.”

“-Yeah, yeah, I am, I am.” Peter grabbed his workbooks, trying to pick everything up while standing in front of Tony blocking his way to the table, Tony nudged him to the side and picked up some of the pens, placing them into Peter’s waiting arms with a roll of his eyes at Peter’s stubbornness, Peter couldn’t help but pull his tongue at Tony, who tried to hide his smile.

“Teenagers,” Tony fake grumbled under his breath, “Hey, Ted,”

“Ned.”

Tony continued as though Peter hadn’t just talked, they both knew he had messed up Ned’s name purely to try and bug Peter, it had worked,
“-Pete said you’re into programming, after dinner maybe you can take a look in the workshop? I’ve got some pretty sweet coding in process on some of the sh- the machines.”

“I- Wow, I, Mr, Mr Iron Man, sir, I mean Mr Stark Man, Mr Iron Stark, I mean-!”

“Wow, that’s like every name I’ve ever had,” Tony smiled amused at the teenager, who despite blowing up his phone demanding to know how Peter was on the regular now seemed fairly starstruck, the world was back to being how it should be, “but you can call me Tony, any friend of Pete’s and all that,” he waved his hand dismissively, “go on, you young whippersnappers, go play on the Atari or whatever you youths do nowadays.”

“Oh hey, Cap, didn’t see you there, you look a lot like Tony today.”

Tony narrowed his eyes playfully, “Just for that I’m ordering veggie pizza with no cheese.”

Peter stuck his tongue out at him, before turning to look back at Ned, who was looking at Peter like he was going to explode with questions or exclamations in front of Tony if they didn’t get him out of there soon, he nodded his head towards the direction of the bedrooms and set off, Ned following him close behind.

Peter and Ned played on the playstation and over gaming systems, switching between different games, now Peter had more choice than he ever had, even more than Ned, with his wealthy family…

They talked for a bit, mostly about stuff at school, what had changed in the few of weeks he had been, not a lot, apparently, though Ned was begging him to rejoin debate, apparently all of them wanted him back on the team, Flash, unsurprisingly had been silent about it all.

“You just have to get your grades back up, but you can totally do that, like you’ve been doing work while you’ve been off, right?”

“I…I mean yeah, I have… d’you really think I’ll be allowed back on the team, I already messed up once…”

“Of course you’re going to be allowed back on the team, Peter! Are you kidding me! Mr Harrington asks me like every day how you are, he looks like he feels so guilty after… y’know…”

“My… May’s boyfriend beat the shit out of me, and my appendix tried to kill me?” Peter put on the sort of lofty tone that he had heard Tony use around other people, but Ned still winced, Peter didn’t know what he expected, people winced when Tony used it too.

“Yeah, after that…” Ned pressed a button and Peter’s character on the tv screen blew up, Peter let out a loud groan and Ned beamed as the screen announced Ned the winner.

“Urgh, stupid casted arm,” Peter stood up, he heard his phone fall to the floor, as it had been doing when he was in this old pair of jeans which he had been stubbornly wearing so he wouldn’t wear the new things Pepper and Tony had insisted on buying… he wasn’t sure why…, but the phone falling wasn’t a huge deal, he knew it wasn’t going to break, “I’mma beat you next time.”

He grabbed two of the several cans of soda he had found waiting in his room, (along with some other snacks which Peter had eaten off brand versions of like all his life), when he had brought Ned in there, obviously from Pepper or Tony; he turned, offering one to Ned, only to see Ned looking shocked, and pale, and holding Peter’s phone.

“I… It was there, I wanted to look at it, and it buzzed I thought it might be important, I was just going to pass it to you, I didn’t mean to see the text, I didn’t…”

Peter slowly sat back on the floor next to Ned, crossing his legs as he did, he could feel his own face pale, his hand was shaking as he accepted the phone from his best friend. He hadn’t looked at it since that morning, not wanting Tony to see any of the texts… and not wanting to see them himself…

All of the texts were from May, all of them asking him to set up a meeting with her, he had already text her to tell her that he wouldn’t be able to meet her that day, or any time that week, it wasn’t a lie he really couldn’t…. But May was getting more and more desperate…

May: Peter we need to meet up.

May: Stop blanking me.

May: Peter, please.

May: YOU need to fix this!

May: Please baby, I miss you <3

May: Peter you need to come home, let’s just meet, we can decide how to fix this

May: The girls don’t get to stay in a cushy tower like you are, they’re in some group home, you remember the week you spent in one when your parents died? The girls have been in one for longer than that, you’re the only one who can get them out

May: This is down to you

May: Please Peter

May: Stop ignoring me.

There were more, of course, a lot more, some mad, some sickly sweet, some begging, some demanding, some blaming… all blaming… Peter felt sick. He had thought if he didn’t read them, if he didn’t acknowledge them, that feeling would go away, they wouldn’t exist.

“Ha-has May been texting you? I thought she wasn’t allowed to? Does Mr Stark know? We should tell Mr Stark, he’ll know what to do!”

Ned shot to his feet but Peter threw himself between Ned and the door, “No! No we can’t, Ned you can’t tell him, please Ned, don’t tell him, please!”

Ned’s teeth worried his bottom lip, Peter looked close to crying, Ned hadn’t seen him like that for a long time, “Peter… May, she, she’s threatening you…”

“She’s not, she’s not she’s just… she’s stressed, and she’s not got her kids, her daughters-“

“-That’s not your fault though!” Peter looked down at the floor. “Peter… did May know… did she… did she hurt you?”

Peter stayed silent but finally shook his head, unconvincingly.

“I’ll only stay quiet if you tell me everything that happened.”

Peter locked eyes with his best friend, then reluctantly nodded his head, they sat on the floor across from each other, their knees nearly touching.

The two settled down on the floor and Peter told him everything; he told him how mad and disappointed and hurt May had been when she had discovered that he was Spiderman, how they had fought, more so than Peter had hinted to Ned before, how they were barely even talking, how it was only a week after that that Peter went to space, and the world ended…. He told Ned all about the battles in space, how scared he really was, but that he had wanted to try and save the world, because it was the right thing to do. He told him about coming back, being transported to Wakanda by Doctor Wizard, fighting, holding the gauntlet, being able to feel the power in it, how it made his skin crawl, how he had been terrified, how he had been saved by so many heroes, how he had seen Tony click his fingers, how he thought he had died….

Telling Ned about waiting to see if Tony would survive was hard, but not as hard as telling him what happened when he finally went to live with May, telling him about the small digs by both May and Charles, how May’s step-daughter hated him, how her actual daughter didn’t even know about him… the first time he was hit… the times he was threatened, the times he was hit, and demeaned, how he told May…. How he told May… how she didn’t believe him… no, not that she didn’t believe him, that she didn’t care… how bad it got, how he had to work to even be able to eat, how he avoided putting all of his problems onto the Starks, how his phone was eventually taken, how he wasn’t allowed to go to the Starks’, how he didn’t realise he was even sick until they got to the Tower for the field trip.

“Peter….” Was all Ned could say, he was looking horrified, his eyes flickering to Peter’s shoulders, as though trying to see the still healing whip lashes on his back.

“May’s not supposed to be texting me, I know Pepper and Tony, they keep telling me that and she, she’s not being… it’s not my May… but Ned she’s lost her kids.”

“You used to be one of them.”

Peter’s heart dropped, that was what Peter had been thinking for so long, since she had skipped the ice cream trip and brought Charles to collect him… “I… I know… I just… please Ned, I’ll… I’ll tell Tony and Pepper at the weekend if she’s still texting me; we’re going to their cabin, I can tell them there, I… I’ll tell them, if it’s… she’s just desperate Ned… her kids, her daughters…”

“That’s not on you,” Ned told him fiercely, “none of this is, if she had believe you, if she had been on your side not his then you’d all be living with her, blood didn’t matter all your life, she doesn’t get to suddenly decide you’re not her nephew because she’s got a new life with an asshole.”

Peter ran his hand through his hair and over his face with a sigh, he realised, after he had done the action, that the action was one which Tony often did.

“I won’t tell them Peter, I promise, but you need to, please… last time you didn’t tell anyone and…” he swallowed as he trailed off, they both thought back to the footage no longer allowed to be played on the news channels, Peter collapsed and unconscious.

Ned watched Peter shrink on on himself, he nodded, but he was hugging his knees to his chest, they were both silent for a minute, two minutes, five minutes, Peter looked tired, looked young, looked scared… like the Peter he had met when the pair was young… “D’ya wanna build some lego?”

Peter’s head popped up, like a hopeful puppy dog, he gave Ned a tentative smile, “I got some lego, there’s some Star Wars, and like some Avengers ones, Pepper said Tony wanted to buy out the store, but he bought loads, I was waiting to build them with you, well I did some little bits.”

The boys settled down with several boxes and sets of Lego, Peter telling him all about things at the tower, weird quirks different Avengers had, funny things said Ned complained about missing Peter at school, Peter assured him that he should be back soon, that they had a meeting at the school in a couple of days to hopefully get him back, and Peter added a superhero version of Ned to his casted arm. 

The fun of Wednesday only made Thursday harder; Peter’s social worker Sara, whom he had spoken to several times on the phone, was visiting him for the first time since he was in the medbay.

She had not so casually asked him to show her his bedroom, after a short talk with the three of them, Peter knew from her tone that it was her way of talking to him privately, but she also shared a look with Tony and Pepper, as though Peter was a five year old who didn’t see the look.

She wasn’t so bad, really, she was nice in fact, and she believed him when he told her that he liked it in the Tower, she asked him about school, who she had clearly already talked to, and seemed enthusiastic about his interests in science, and was encouraging him to try to get back into extra circulars.

“I think I might be able to get back into debate,” Peter smiled as she jotted down something in a notebook, “Tony and Pepper have been helping me with bits of my homework, Steve-,”

“-Captain America ‘Steve’?”

Peter nodded as though it wasn’t a big deal, because it didn’t seem like a big deal anymore, he had separated the people from the superheroes “Yeah, he tried to help me with my homework, I was doing an essay on the Spanish Flu, but he had no idea.” Peter laughed.

Sara smiled at him, taking in the boy who was completely different than the skeleton in the bed a few weeks previously, “It sounds like you’re thriving here, and you’re enjoying it, and your room is very impressive.”

Peter shrugged with a smile, agreeing with her, “Yeah, I’m only allowed to game for a couple of hours because Tony’s been reading loads of like neuroscience journals or something, but most of the time I don’t like spend all my time in my room, most of the time I’m in the living area with like Pepper or Tony and Morgan.”

“That sounds really good, Peter. I would like to ask you, do you miss anything about living with your aunt May?”

Peter’s smile disappeared, he scuffed his socked feet against the floor as he tried to think, “I… I dunno.”

“Were you close to the girls? Chloe and Sophia?”

“Not really,” Peter admitted, “I don’t think Chloe liked me that much.”

“Why do you think that?”

“She told me, a lot… and I think Sophia might have been scared of me, I don’t think May told her about me like Tony and Pepper told Morgan about me… she wasn’t so bad though, I’m sorry that they’re not, that they’re stuck in a foster home, is there no one else to… Or May could…?”

Sara’s face screwed up as she looked at Peter, “Peter, dear, the girls aren’t in a care home, Chloe is living with her biological mother, she had been fighting for custody of her for a while, and Sophia is living with May Fisher’s sister, I’ve visited them both, they’re both doing well. Why did you think they were in foster homes?”

Because May had told him, he thought, his phone was in his bedside table, but he was super aware that it was there, that Sara couldn’t know about May right then… and that Tony and Pepper had to be told by the end of the week.
“I just presumed, I guess.”

“I know you were in a care home for a little while, when you were younger, while they were sorting out guardianship for you to live with your uncle, is that why you assumed it?”

Peter could feel her staring at him as though trying to figure out what was going on in his mind, but he didn’t look at her, he just shrugged and was silent for a minute before answering her earlier question, “I miss our old apartment, mine and May’s, before the snap, it was home, it was… I miss that, not, not May’s new apartment, that wasn’t… I like here more, I like… I don’t know, I like living with Tony and Pepper.”

“I can see that, you seem to have settled here well, and I know that Pepper and Tony are overjoyed to have you here too, they’ve told me a lot about you- all good things, they’ve very proud of you” her voice was soft and Peter finally looked up at her eye and sent her a small and tentative smile back, “how about we go back out and speak to them?”

Back in the living room Peter sat on the couch next to Tony, Pepper was on Tony’s other side, Peter felt awkward, sat there, he could feel Tony move his arm to lie across the back of the couch behind him, he felt a little  relief flood over him.

They, mostly the adults, talked about the upcoming meeting at the school, how the media were blocked from posting or saying anything about Peter on account of him being a minor and in care, unless they chose to hold some press conference or something, not that Peter would ever do that, and about ‘home life’ something which made Peter want to cringe but he decided not to point that out.

Peter’s relief disappeared when the conversation lulled, and he saw his social worker’s cautious pause and look.

“What’s going on?” Pepper asked, not unkindly, but down to business, she was used to seeing that sort of look on the faces of people who worked for her, who didn’t want to tell her something as they weren’t sure what her reaction would be.

“Well, this morning the court officially awarded you both long term custody of Peter, meaning that you will now both be responsible for him until he is eighteen.”

“I thought they already were? Fostering me, I mean.” He directed his question to Sara but his head snapped from Pepper to Tony.

“We are kid, we were, you’re not going anywhere.” Tony’s arm moved from the back of the couch to around Peter’s shoulders, he squeezed Peter’s upper arm and pulled him into his side.

“We were your emergency foster parents while your case was being seen in court, they needed a little time to make sure you were okay and stable here, and that it was best for you to stay here and in care.” Pepper explained gently but Peter was still frowning slightly, clearly confused, “We knew it was upcoming, I didn’t realise it had been moved up.” The latter part of that was directed at the social worker.

“Sorry, I meant to call, but the judge looked over the case without any warning, we’re super booked at the moment, a lot of guardianships to sort out,” Sara apologised genuinely, her cheeks a little flushed.

“It’s okay.” Tony told her, a little too dismissively, and Pepper sent him a look, which he ignored because his kid was looking troubled, “What’s wrong then?”

“We received the court date today.”

“Oh.” Tony’s cocky smile fell and Pepper’s lips formed a thin line and she nodded.

“But you just had one?” Peter frowned, he looked from the social worker, to Tony and Pepper, then none of whom were maintaining eye contact with him.

“This is the court case for May, and… him,” Pepper’s voice was calm and gentle but clearly trying to restrain her feelings over Charles’ name, “the one we were talking about the other day.

“That you don’t have talk if you don’t want to,” Tony added, “but if you choose to you can, and you don’t even have to be in the same room if you do choose to talk.”

“No, not that,” Peter shook his head, “I mean I know, but I thought… you just said that you had it…?”

Everyone in the room was quiet, all of the adults looked a little lost, confused without wanting to say it, then Tony’s face fell, he thought that he understood why Peter was confused, “Petey… It’s…Pete, what do you think the court date we’re on about is for?”

Something in Peter’s stomach dropped, he felt like he was stuck in a bad dream, like in a second he was going to be in school naked on the day of a test he didn’t revise for, or something, “To, to see who I’m supposed to live with…?…May or you guys?” The moment after he knew that it was wrong, the adults all gave each other a look.

“Pete… it’s not custody hearing…”

“Honey,” Pepper’s voice was gentle as though afraid that he was going to break, “it’s a trial, as in for criminal charges, against Charles and against May.”

Peter shot to his feet, shaking his head, “Wh-what? Bu-but May can’t go to prison, please, she- she can’t-! Please-!” He pled, mostly to Tony who had stood up mere seconds after him, his hands went to Peter’s shoulders, holding him in place, “Tony, please.”

Tony wanted to tell him that May should go to prison, he and Pepper had talked to Rhodey, who had only affirmed his suspicions that everything with May was suspicious, and like them didn’t think that May didn’t know; he wanted to tell Peter that May deserved to go to prison and that she would deserve to and for Peter to believe him, to see that May hadn’t been the aunt he loved for a long time now, but he knew that wouldn’t happen, none of it would, so he pulled an unresisting Peter into a hug.

“It’s highly unlikely May will be given prison time for this,” Sara told Peter sadly, “she’ll be answering to charges for possible child neglect and child endangerment, based on witness reports, and the reports of your injuries from the doctor.”

“B-but… I didn’t say anything”

Peter’s voice sounded small that it broke Tony’s heart, he sounded so young, so innocent, it struck Tony again how young this kid was; he cupped the back of his head, stroking his hair at the same time, he felt Peter’s fingers clasp his expensive waistcoat, clinging onto him. “It’s not just down to what you’ve told the cops,” he explained gently, “it’s the cops who talked to you, who talked to them, who questioned them, compared their alibis and statements and things, your teachers, that sandwich guy- Mr Delmar, your friends, the neighbours, everyone: this isn’t just down to you buddy, and you’re not the one in the wrong anyway.”

Peter allowed Tony to just hug him in silence for a minute or two before quietly asking “When is it?”

Only Tony heard the kid, so he looked over at the social worker, while still stroking his kid’s hair and holding him close, “Pete wants to know when the court date is.”

“Two weeks time.”

“Hear that kid?” Tony asked quietly when Peter didn’t react, he felt a nod against his chest, but nothing else.
He sent a look over Peter’s head to Pepper, he felt lost in this situation, Pepper clearly did too, there wasn’t a parenting book for this, and he had not so secretly bought all of them, or nearly all of the parenting books ever written, he was still waiting for the post-Snap parenting advice book; Pepper sent him the look she did more often than he would probably ever admit, the one which told him to carry on doing what he was doing, that it was all he could do; he hated feeling this useless.

“Can I go to my room?”

Peter’s words and him pulling himself out of Tony’s hold, albeit slowly, pulled Tony out of his own head, he looked down at the kid, still holding onto Peter’s upper arms so he was there under his hands, where he could see him… far away from May and Charles, “Pete…”

“I’m, I’ll be okay,” Peter looked from Tony to Pepper, then back again, begging them, “really, I just, I need a minute… please?”

Tony bit his lip looking at Pepper, hoping that she’d say that Peter had to stay there, but she gave the ever so slight nod of her head, and it took all he had not to let out a whine at her not agreeing with him, and tried not to show any reaction in front of Peter and Sara, “Okay, okay, bud, we’ll come check on you in about an hour. If you need us come get us or let Fri know and she’ll let us know. And don’t leave the apartment, obviously.” He wasn’t sure if it was obvious to the kid or not, and he knew that if he left he’d go straight to May, and he didn’t know what would happen from there.

Luckily Peter got the ‘do no use your web slingers and go out of the window’ hint, as he nodded his agreement, and left to his room, only stopping to allow Pepper to give him a small hug and to press a kiss on the side of his head.

The rest of their day was quiet, Peter was quiet and didn’t want to talk about it, but he also didn’t leave the apartment nor did he hide away in his room, mostly as it was clear Tony and Pepper would not let him.

They managed to talk a little that night, after Morgan went to sleep, before Peter went to bed, he didn’t really talk, and all they did was tell him again that he didn’t even have to go to the trial, and he shouldn’t try to communicate with May, she knew that he wasn’t allowed to, so even if he wanted to it would have meant that she got in trouble, not him, he just nodded along, then asked if they could just forget it for now; or at least ignore it.

The drive to the school early on Friday afternoon had been shorter than Peter had liked; although realistically it had been maybe a couple of minutes more or less than he was used to, well not used to, but the few times Ned mom or dad had driven the boys to the school after a midweek sleepover. 

It had been just the three of them, Tony driving, Pepper in the passenger seat, talking about something Peter had long since lost track of, and in the back Peter, they could really have looked like any family in an expensive Audi, driving into a school which was made of people who also drove Audis and people who wished to one day be able to afford a car about half as expensive as the Audi… Peter had been one of those once, now he was… he didn’t know. 

He almost fell out of the car when Pepper opened his door, he quickly righted himself, undid his seatbelt, and climbed out of the car, all while Pepper was looking at him with a worried expression on her face. “Sorry,” he tried to explain and minimise, “I was in a world of my own.” 

“Honey, are you sure you’re okay? You could just stay in the car, Tony and I can handle this,” she frowned ever so slightly, “you look pale, are you okay? Do you need to see Helen?” 

Peter opened his mouth to say he was fine but Tony, disguised in a cap, a pair of expensive shades, and a t-shirt saying ‘I am Iron Man’, walked over to their side of the car and placed the back of his hand on Peter’s forehead, Peter shrugged out of it. 

“I’m fine,” Peter rolled his eyes, “seriously, I’m fine, I was just zoned out, and I’m like naturally pale.” He rolled his eyes again when he watched the pair narrow their eyes at him then share a look. “Seriously, it’s just a reaction to being at school… can we go in before people recognise us, like all here together?”

A smile played against both Pepper and Tony’s faces, they shared a look then looked back at Peter, as Pepper predicted Tony gasped dramatically, his hand went to his chest, his mouth fell open, a look of offence on his face.

“Are you embarrassed of us?”

“I’m not embarrassed of Pepper,” Peter’s words slipped out, and for a moment he panicked, about to apologise, but Pepper and Tony each let out a loud laugh and Pepper ruffled his hair.

“Let’s go in before we embarrass Peter for life.”

Tony slung his arm around Peter’s shoulder as the boys followed Pepper into the school, “So, are you actually okay, or is this a whole embarrassed thing, or is it like a thing?” He took in Peter carefully out of the side of his eyes, the kid had stuck pretty close to them that morning, he had talked to them enough about the trial to say that he wanted to be there, but nothing else; if it had been Tony he would have been self destructing, but he wasn’t going to let that happen to Peter.

Peter shrugged but Tony’s arm stayed led across his shoulders, his eyes darting around the corridors, he had long since trained himself to blank out all of the noises in all of the classrooms, but it was harder to do when he was stressed, or sick, or about three bad things away from a breakdown, he even blanked out the words from Pepper and the office assistant who was leading them to the principal’s office, he was glad that he had Tony’s arm around him, grounding him.
“It’s just… the news clip…”

“That’s stopped playing,” Tony frowned, “wait, did you see a website still showing it? Tell me which one I’ll sue their asses!”

“No, I,” Peter’s voice came out weakly, “people still saw it, on the news or websites before you got it taken down, or they were there, they saw everything, they heard everything, and there’ll be rumours, and if people see me, see us…” he trailed off with a shrug.

“It’s no one else’s business, unless you want to tell them the truth, or if you want to tell them that I’m your uncle, or your dad,” he heard his own voice get ever so slightly higher yet still as protective, “you don’t have to, of course, you don’t have to tell anyone anything, if anyone gives you shit tell me.”

“You can’t intimidate teenagers just because they’re like staring at me or something,”

“Wanna bet?”

Peter finally looked away from the doors he was staring at to Tony, he tried to hide his smile when he saw how serious the man was, “Okaaay… but I’d rather you didn’t.”

Tony sighed, “Fine, but if I ever see anything that promise is being broken faster than, than whatever is fast, that’s how fast it’s being broken,” he took in Peter’s smile and let out a sigh but smiled back at him, “if you want we could home school you? I’m pretty smart, Pepper’s smarter of course, but we could get someone in for you, make them sign NDA’s up to their eyeballs?”

It was tempting, so tempting, “Thanks, but I think… I think I wanna try this first, it’ll be normal soon, I just want… I think I wanna be here, I love living at the tower, but this is, this is normal, I think I need a little normality.”

Tony nodded, “God, kid, how are you always so… you?” He moved his hand up from his shoulder and ruffled his hair before returning it to his shoulders. 

Unsurprisingly they didn’t have to wait more than a few seconds to be invited into Principal Morita office, three chairs were laid out in front of the desk, and the principal smiled at Peter and told him he was looking better, it felt like a lifetime since Peter had seen him; but it was only the morning of the field trip- Peter remembered that the man had been nice, even when he was warning Peter about being on his best behaviour; Peter took the seat in the middle between Pepper and Tony again; he couldn’t help but feel like a little kid set to the principal because he was in trouble, which wasn’t completely incorrect.

Peter looked down, just wanting this to be done with, he felt Tony’s arm drape over the back of his chair again, Peter was aware that he often sat like that, but he only did it behind someone if that someone was Peter, Peter didn’t mind that at all.

“I want to apologise to you, Peter,”

Peter’s head shot up and the principal politely ignored his look of shock.

“we should have quizzed your grades and absences more, I want you to know that we all regret it, and will be more vigilant in the future.”

Peter ducked his head, when the room was quiet he looked up again, realising he was expected to say something, his mouth fell open as he tried to find some words.

“Thank you, Principal Morita,” Pepper interrupted politely, “I know that we wish we had picked up on it too.”

Peter looked at Pepper frowning a little, but before he could point out that he was the one who had hidden it, Tony’s hitching voice agreed, his head snapped the the man, Peter opened his mouth again but Tony wasn’t looking at him as he continued.

“We’d like Peter to be able to maintain as much of a normal life as possible, we know that he enjoys attending school here we’d like that to resume as soon as possible, though of course Pete’s still healing, and once a comprehensive security plan has been carried out; my head of security is gonna wanna help you with that,” Tony had on his professional voice, not letting Peter interrupt to protest or have a heart to heart in public, or semi-public.

“Of course, Mr Stark, we’ve already talked to Mr Hogan,” Peter’s face scrunched up in amusement when he remembered that Happy had a name which wasn’t ‘Happy’, “about security, and obviously there’s no media allowed anywhere near school grounds, nor are students allowed cellphones, so any chance of photographs coming from student sources is minimum. As for schooling I’m sure that given some time Peter will be able to catch up, no longer in AP classes-.”

Peter sank in his chair, thinking about being stuck in classes with a bunch of strangers, without Ned and MJ, not even necessarily with the same frees or breaks.

“No longer in AP classes?” Pepper frowned at the teacher, her voice strong enough to cut glass, “I know he’s has some time off but he’s been catching up at home?”

“I’m aware, I’m waiting for his teachers to mark it, but because of his marks before this all occurred-”

“-His marks?” Tony interrupted this time, “what do you mean his marks?” His head snapped from the teacher to glance at Peter, who was blushing and not looking at anyone….. ah, shit, Tony thought, he had sworn that Peter couldn’t play superhero if his grades dropped… but he just hadn’t actually thought that they would drop, he hadn’t checked, if he had maybe he could have figured this out before…

“Sadly, he was about to be moved down before the field trip, Peter’s grades have fallen more than we can consciously ignore, really it’s or Peter’s benefit, we can revisit him being placed in AP classes again next year, but I’m not sure it would benefit Peter to put too much work on him at this stage in the year. What do you think Peter?”

Peter shrugged, still refusing to look at anyone, refusing to look at Tony knowing that he had broke their grades deal, he’d surely be pissed, “Whatever.” 

Tony stared at his kid, then looked at Pepper, she nodded at him, “I think it might be best for Peter to stay in his previous AP classes, if the teachers mark the work he’s been doing at home and say it’s good enough; this situation is hard enough for Pete, we think it’d be best for him to have some stability, with the teachers he knows and trusts, with his friends, and doing work which is at his level; I know that when I was Peter’s age if I was in a boring class I was more likely, well nearly guaranteed, to skip.”

Peter’s head snapped up to look at Tony, who was nearly staring down the principal, he felt Tony’s hand move to his shoulder and squeeze it gently.

“Perhaps it could be done on a trial period?” Pepper suggested, looking at the principal with nearly the same look as Tony had on his face, “It seems pretty pointless to send him back to school just yet as there’s just couple of weeks left, but perhaps a trial period after the holidays, between then and spring break? He can do extra credit work if it’s needed,” she looked at Peter, her look and voice softening, “would you prefer that, honey?”

“I… yeah, I mean, if I, if it’s okay, Mr Morita, sir?”

The principal looked at the three of them, hesitated for a second, took in Peter’s hopeful look, then nodded his head, “I think we can arrange that, we will be able to provide tutoring if it’s needed too, although I am sure that Peter will have a myriad of resources at home.”

Home, Peter thought, Peter had a home, a new home, a new apartment which wasn’t in Queens with May and Ben… Peter was okay with that.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” Peter tried to hide his laugh and his smile when he saw how concerned Pepper was, she had been for at least ten minutes, they were all sat in the parked car in the parking lot, waiting for the bell to ring so Ned could come out and they could go home.

“Honey-,” Tony was met with a glare which clearly told him ‘this is your fault’, and he held up his hands in surrender, “okay, okay!” he sent Peter a look who was sniggering, he was on his own.

Pepper looked back at Peter her face softening as it always did when she looked at Peter, “We could all drive down tomorrow instead, Morgan will be fine with waiting one more night to see Tony’s alpaca.”

“Our alpaca.”

Pepper glared at him, she turned back to Peter once again.

This had been their discussion the whole day; they had been planning on going and spending a week at the lake house, before it got too cold to thoroughly enjoy the nature, and because Peter hadn’t been there yet. The plan had originally been for them to travel down on Friday evening, so they had some extra time there, Morgan had been beyond excited about it, despite settling into the Tower as her full-time home, she missed the lake house, and chattered constantly to Peter about it.
Tony had suggested that Pepper takes Morgan to the lake house while Ned comes to spend a bit of time with Peter, then he would take Peter to the lake house on Saturday morning instead, this was all before their discussion with the social worker, before they were worried about Peter, looking at him as though his was breakable.

Pepper had been double guessing the plan all day, not wanting Peter too far from her sight, but Peter was insistent on the plan going ahead, he played on the ‘wanting some normalcy’, which Tony and Pepper kept talking about when they thought he couldn’t hear.

“How about Pete has to text you every hour,”  Tony suggested, Pepper was still glaring blamingly at him, but without her usual ferocity, so he continued, “and has to call you before he goes to sleep? That’s fair, right? Kid’s barely seen anyone but us for like months, he’s either going to become a shut in, or before more like me than any of us would want.”

Pepper bit her lip, glancing from Tony, who she begrudgingly admitted had a point, to Peter…. Peter’s face was what made her nod, “Okay, but you are texting and ringing me, both of you are, and if anything happens I am the first to know.”

Tony tried to hide his surprise, and managed to stop himself from asking her how his argument worked (he might need it at a later date), but a look at Peter’s face told him exactly what he had thought was wrong: Peter had perfected his puppy dog look, which had already worked on him, now it was at a level that it worked on Pepper too.

Peter leant forward pulled Pepper into a hug, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he beamed as he felt a kiss on the side of his head, he eventually pulled out of the hug and continued to beam at Pepper and Tony, “and thank you both for getting Mr Morita to let me stay in AP classes… sorry I didn’t… that my grades, y’know.”

“I should have been checking, I said I would be, that’s on me,” Tony told him firmly, trying not to think about what could have happened had he been checking, instead he plastered on a wide smile with just a hint of mischief, “But now we’re going to be getting every single one of your report cards… I’m sure we’ll be sticking them all on the fridge”

Peter groaned loudly at the thought.

“We can print off small copies,” Pepper joined in trying not to laugh at Peter’s betrayed look, not dissimilar to the one Tony often sent her, “show all our friends…” Peter let out a squark of protest, if there was such a thing.

Tony continued completely ignoring Peter’s protests, “Oh yeah, major bragging is gonna happen, I’m sure the team, and Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy would love copies too.”

Tony didn’t actually mind the nerdy chatter in the back of the car as he and Peter drove to drop Ned off at the kids house, they had stopped for milkshakes on the way, he forewent the super sugary shit that the teenagers went for and went for a green super smoothie instead, he was way past the age that he could feel good about drinking the choco-medley-extravaganza they could.

By the time they got to Ned’s home it was nearly eleven.

“Home sweet home, Nedward,” he pulled up outside and fired off a text to his wife, informing her that Peter and he were dropping Ned off, that he’d have the kid ring her when they got home.

“Thank you so, so much Mr Stark, for the milkshake, and the ride, and the pizza and like the-!”

“Breathe, Ned, seriously it’s just Tony.”

“Just Tony,” Tony gasped in offence, “you’ve changed kid, I remember when you used to be like ‘Oh Mr Stark your so amazing! I want to spend all my time with you and-”

“Ugh, Ned, c’mon I’ll walk you in,” Peter practically pushed Ned out of the car to escape the embarrassment.

Tony laughed alone in the car, he had made it to Tony now, not Mr Stark, it wasn’t necessary the name he wanted the kid to call him- wait, what? Shit. He needed to be careful with that thought process around the kid, in case it slipped out… though perhaps if he jokingly started referring to himself as dad as a joke around him it could get Peter starting to think… and then, perhaps…

Back at the penthouse Peter tided up the living room while Tony, voluntarily, took the kitchen.

“You nearly done kid?”

Peter looked up, putting the last console remote into the hidden cupboards, he nodded at Tony, “Done.”

“Good, kid.” He collapsed onto the couch, feeling more tired than he should do, he wasn’t sure if it was due to his incredibly young age and not even slightly old age, or the whole death then back to life thing, he didn’t have many people to ask, Peter collapsed onto the seat beside him, Tony grinned and ruffled his hair before pulling him into a half hug which Peter didn’t pull out of or tense, he looked better, like his Peter again, a little tired but happy, maybe they weren’t doing too bad at this whole parenting thing.

“Hey Tony?”

“Hey Pete?”

Peter rolled his eyes good naturedly, a smile still firmly on his face, he didn’t move even slightly away from Tony’s hug, “Thanks for today, for staying, and letting me have Ned round, and, well, y’know,” he gave a half shrug, “everything at school.”

“It’s no problem, the Fred thing, or at school, going to bat for you with school stuff is kinda in my and Pep’s job description,” he shoved him ever so slightly with his shoulder, “even if it wasn’t we’d do it.”

Peter was nearly certain that his cheeks had turned pink but he still grinned, yawning but trying to hide it.

Tony gave Peter a knowing look, “You need to get some sleep,” he chuckled when Peter let out a whine and shifted closer to Tony, “Ah, a worthy retort.”

“I’m not tired, can’t we watch like Star Trek or something? You know you love it, we can even watch those super old ones,”

Tony put his hand on Peter’s face covering, “Uh uh, you don’t get to ask while looking at me, you know you’ve perfected a puppy dog looks right? Seriously you and Morgan are not allowed to do that together, or I’ll stick you both in a time out.”

“I’m not five.”

“The whine in your voice begs to differ,” Tony smirked, he stood up held out his hand to a reluctant Peter and helped him to his feet, “We can have a movie night tomorrow, if you like, we’ll have to start with animated movies for Maguna, but once she’s gone to bed you and I can watched whatever nerdy shit you like,” he ruffled his hair in a way which was half stroking his hair.

“You like the nerdy sh-,” he dragged out the word as he received a sharp look, “stuuufff,” he corrected quickly, “too, Rhodey told me that you were like obsessed with Star Wars and Star Trek, forever, Pepper told me too.”

“They’re both traitors, you’re no longer allowed to talk to either of them” Tony swore, “sure it’ll make my and Pepper’s parenting you a little harder, but it’s better for me, personally, than them telling you anything to make you think I’m even slightly uncool.”

Peter laughed, taking a few steps towards his bedroom, but he stopped, turned to face Tony, “Tony? I think you’re pretty cool… and you’re good at this whole parenting thing,” he was about to correct himself or change the word from ‘parenting’ to something less in case Tony protested it, but Tony beamed so Peter left it, debating for the first time that he might not be a burden, that Tony and Pepper might like him around, he smiled back at Tony.

“Glad you think so kid, you’re stuck with me for life. Go’on to bed, I’m pretending to be a responsible parental figure here, it kinda ruins it if you’re all sleep deprived and grumpy tomorrow,” he watched the kid playfully roll his eyes but begin to walk again, “night kiddo, sleep well.”

“Night Tony,” Peter called back through a yawn.

“Hey kid?” Tony called after him, Peter stopped and turned to face him rubbing his eyes with his hand, Tony closed the gap between them as he searched for the words to say what he needed.
Still, he hesitated before speaking, “Are you, - is everything okay? You’ve seemed a little, lately I mean, and I know you’ve got a lot going on, but you’ve seemed a little quiet, a little like not you… You know you can talk to me, right? Nothing’s too big or small- or Pep, or anyone really, Rhodey’s been asking if you’re okay, and Nat - it’s not a, we’re not talking about you behind your back, but they’ve been a little worried, so have Pep and I.”

Peter sucked in a slow breath, he remembered his promise to Ned, that he’d tell Tony and Pepper about the texts from May, about her involvement when he was living with her, he could tell him then and there… but they were too close to May apartment, if Tony got mad he’d go and face her… he’d see Charles there, Charles who had promised Peter that he could and would shoot Tony if Peter pissed him off… it would be safer to tell Tony when they were at the cabin away from anyone and anything, where Pepper could talk him down from the ledge, or at least stop him from doing anything.
“Nah, I’m fine, I’m just…I’m looking forward to going to the cabin, I’ve never been to one… I think I wanna get out of the city.”

Tony smiled, he ducked his head and pressed a kiss to the top of Peter’s nest of curls, “You’ll love it,” he promised, before ruffling his hair and gently shoving him in the direction of his bedroom, “go on, kid, get some sleep, we’re leaving early tomorrow- oh, shit, make sure you call Pep too.”

“Night, Tony.” Peter smiled at his foster father for a second, wondering how Tony would react if he were to slip and call him ‘dad’….

Not that he would, of course, he slowly headed to his room, he felt a buzz on his phone, he knew it would be Ned, or Pepper, or less likely but still possibly MJ or Tony, the latter to try and bug hm, probably, or tell him to pack.

He was about to throw himself onto his bed as he took out his cell and saw the single text message from May:

The soufflé is burnt, need your help, asap.

Peter was still by confusion over the text before he remembered their dumb joking about code words and secret SOS’s when watching dumb spy movies… Peter’s blood ran cold.

He was moving in a second, his closet, his web slingers and mask from the special case, he pulled the slingers onto his hands as he walked to the window, pushing it open and stepping out onto the balcony.

He pulled on his mask, hearing Karen’s chirpy voice, he didn’t hear what she was saying, he pulled his hood up to half hide his mask.

“Karen, find me the quickest route to wherever May is, it’s an emergency,” he demanded, uncharacteristically firm.

“Finding the direct route, Peter, twenty minutes, keeping you away from as many cameras as possible, do you require assistance from the Avengers or the emergency services?”

“No, not yet, have the cops and an ambulance standing by though, do not tell the Avengers,” He shot the first web as he ran and jumped off of the balcony, his stomach dropped for a second, as it had the first time that he had started to use the web slingers, but there was a slight tug through the web, he stopped falling and began to swing, away from the tower, his new home, his new family, “…Don’t tell Tony.”

Chapter Text

The clouds hung heavy over head as Peter swung out, it didn’t take long for them to break and spread the city with a blanket of rain, but Peter didn’t feel it.

Instead he followed the arrows in the display Karen had thrown up in his mask, he could hear her talking to him, but he couldn’t take in the words as anything more than white noise; instead behind his eyes his brain played images of May battered and bloody with Charles standing over her, and memories of Charles showing him the gun and pressing the cold barrel to his temple; a cold feeling trickled down his spine.

He tried to focus on swinging with only one slinger, wishing his other arm wasn’t in a cast, if he had both arms to use he could have been there by now…

He swung faster, between cars, and building, through tunnels; he should have told Tony and Pepper, he should have told them this week, or any time since he had moved in, before he moved in, even, he could have moved in with them sooner, he could have….

… He should have told Tony before he left, he could still call him now…. but… he couldn’t, he had to… he couldn’t think, he had to just get there, he just couldn’t… he was just a kid, he was a kid, he didn’t know how to deal with this, he couldn’t deal with any of it, he couldn’t think or find his words to ask Karen to call him, there wasn’t time, anything could be happening to May right now, she might not even be breathing anymore.

He couldn’t think about that, he really couldn’t… but he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t stop the images playing in his mind.

“Peter, your heart raise has risen out of place with your current level of activity, would you like me to alert Mr Stark that you are in distress?”

“I can handle it,” Peter forced out, he could hear the scared little kid in his own voice, he was glad that only Karen could hear him, “I just need to save May, I owe her that, at least.”

He reached May’s block; he landed on the ledge of the building, he couldn’t think to do anything, to check inside the house with the scanner, he couldn’t think anything further than getting inside, he would have to think on his feet (he thought absently) which probably didn’t help that he felt numb, there was a flickering lights through the windows but he didn’t notice that until he crept through the open window, pulling off his mask to shut Karen up.

The apartment was still in perfect order, it was dark, the only light playing from a black and white movie on the large television, but the sound was turned off.

Peter shouldn’t have come.

His whole body was on alert, it could have just been his reaction to the apartment and his past with it, or it could be the glass bottle of whiskey with the glass beside it, it could have been May sat on the couch perfectly fine, it could have been May glaring at him, it could have been May slowly standing up then staring him down.

Charles hadn’t been the only reason he had been glad to leave this apartment.

“So, that’s all it takes for you to finally come and talk to me?” May stood up, another whisky glass was in her hands, Peter could smell the alcohol from where he stood frozen in his spot. “That’s all I have to say? I have to pretend to be in distress for you for your ego to deem you to visit me, you’ve forgotten all about me now that you’re living it up with the billionaires.”

Peter was pretty sure that his heart wasn’t beating, his Spidey senses were dialled up to eleven, he knew something just wasn’t right… he was so focused on his heart not beating that when he came back to himself he had seen that his silence had poked and prodded May’s white hot anger like a fire, “I-I-I’m, I’m not allowed to, I was told, I wasn’t, I’m not allowed to talk to you, not meant to; my so-social w-worker, she told me I can’t, I can’t talk to you,” he slowly backed up as spoke, trying to make it back to the window, if he got there, if he got out, he’d be safe-

-Smash-

Peter’s ears rang and he ducked thinking that something had smashed the window, his eyes darted around, it took him a minute, too long really, to figure out that the glass May had been cradling had been thrown against the wall, narrowly missing more than a few shards hitting him, but it did what she wanted, he had stopped moving, and was looking at her in fear, his face pale… if he had kept his mask on he could have called Tony, or if he hadn’t left his cellphone in his room back in the tower he could have sent an SOS text to Tony, to the Avengers, anyone really, but he really wanted Tony here, with him.

“You’re going to stay here, and you’re going to listen to me, it’s the very least you can do.” May’s voice was terrifyingly calm.

Peter didn’t dare move, he didn’t dare breathe, he could feel his legs shake.

“You need to detract your police statement,” she amended, “you’re going to detract your police statement.”

Peter’s mouth fell open so slowly that he didn’t notice until it was wide open and his eyebrows crumpled into confusion.

“You need to tell them that anything they saw was, it was a misunderstanding, that you didn’t get it here,” May continued, picking up another glass, not watching Peter flinch as she did, she didn’t throw this one, instead she filled half of it with whisky.

“B-but I, I was hurt here,” Peter’s voice was quiet, full of childlike confusion, trying to cling onto any last drop of hope that May could still be his May.

“You can tell them you got involved in a fight club, I’m sure that’s a thing in New York, somewhere,” she began to pace, staring him down every few seconds, “or they can, you can tell them about Spiderman, we can tell them that you’ve stopped playing hero because you got hurt, it makes perfect sense, though there might be questions, it could be Tony…”

“Wha-what…?” Peter’s voice was a mere squeak now; May had gone mad, she was, she was seriously suggesting that he could blame Tony, he managed to look away from the glass in her hands to her face, there was a anger in her eyes he had rarely seen, one he had seen in Toomes before he had a building dropped on him; every part of his DNA was begging him to leave, but he couldn’t, he wasn’t in control of his body, he was paralysed.

May stopped her pacing, she was smiling now, impressed with herself, how had she not come up with this idea before? “Well, you were always hanging around there, with Tony Stark, notorious for his quick temper, do you know how many journalists he’s snapped at? And who knows what kind of… trauma, he went through, and you were always around, maybe you reminded him of the Snap, maybe you just annoyed him, he got pissed, he hit you a few times, all understandable- we’ll probably even get compensation, we can buy a house as big as his, the girls will be able to come home.”

This was not May, this was a monster, this was May, and a monster. He wanted Tony, he wanted Pepper, he wanted Rhodey, Steve, Bucky, fucking anyone, anyone but the monster who had once been his aunt.
“D-Did you care?” She raised an eyebrow, there was still a maniacal hint in her eyes, but there was also now confusion, she raised one eyebrow, so he continued, suddenly unable to care about what she did to him now, this betrayal was too big. 
“D-did you, do you care that, that he hurt me? Char-Charles? I- I called out for you, I begged you to help, I… He, he hurt me bad, aunt May, so bad I’m still healing, I… I begged you to help, I knew you were there, I tried to, tried to pretend you weren’t, tried to convince myself you wouldn’t… why didn’t you help me?” his voice broke, “did you ever think about helping me? Stopping him? Choo-choosing me?” He could hear the beg in his own voice, he was still so desperate for her to choose him, for her to still care, even slightly, just at all.

The line of May’s jaw hardened as she clenched her teeth, “You were fine. You’re meant to be a hero, aren’t you? That’s what you were busy doing when you left me to go and fanboy over Tony Stark? Hell, before that, the entire time I was busy trying my best to work, to pay for everything, when you’re not even my nephew.”

That stung, Peter wouldn’t lie about it.

She let out a scoff of disgust, “You know Charles told me about what ‘Spiderman’ is really like; he used to help out in the ER, he’s patched up the people you ‘helped’, he told me all about it, the fact that you used weapons on them, he even found a gun in your old room… it wouldn’t surprise me if you shot Ben, on purpose or by accident, yet I still took you back in, me and Charles thought we could… you’re not a hero, Peter, you’re a little boy who takes the law into your own hands, you betrayed me, you left me, but we took you in, even if you were dangerous, you were never hurt by Charles, he gave you some discipline, then you went and pretended to be hurt, crying abuse- you wouldn’t know real abuse if it slapped you in the face.”

Peter tried to suck in some air, to breathe, he couldn’t breathe at all, he didn’t know what he felt, other than a lot, and nothing at all.

“You were lucky to end up with us, the girls aren’t so lucky,” May’s voice turned soft, trying a different play, “they’re both split up, in terrible homes, Sophia had barely spent a night away from me and Charles before this, now she’s shoved into children’s homes with kids three times her age, most of them with criminal records, she’s about the age you were when you only spent one week in one, you had nightmares for months after , Chloe’s in a different one-.”

“-You’re lying!” Peter wasn’t sure how his voice managed to find its way out, it was strangled sounding, but that the words had come out at all was a near miracle. “They’re not, Chloe’s living with her mom, and Sophia’s living with your sister, you’re lying, they’re both fine, they’re safe, they’re better without you, without both of you!”

The slap rang out as May slapped him hard enough to knock him to the ground, he pushed himself up to sit up, his knees to his chest, he shuffled back, trying to get as far away from her as he could, until his back hit the wall, he gasped up at May, this time she wasn’t looking shocked that she had slapped him like she had the first time, she just looked mad.

His spidey sense had been getting increasingly more intense, the angrier May got, so when it completely cut out it was a shock, until he remembered what happened when he was younger and sent too high a charge into something, it hadn’t stopped because he was safe, but before he was in immediate danger; he looked to May, but there was no sign of-

-A floorboard creaked, the growling coming from the back of a dog’s, no, from a man’s throat -

Peter’s head snapped towards the noise.

Charles was walking towards him, gun in hand, pointed straight at Peter’s head.

Peter squeezed his eyes shut tight, he couldn’t do anything to protect himself, he wasn’t Spiderman, he was nothing, he was just a kid from Queens, friendless, familyless, soon to be lifeless.

In his head he pled silently for Iron Man to save him, just as he had when he was nine, stood in front of one of Justin Hammer’s Iron Men, hoping for Iron Man to save him; only this time he knew that Tony was at home, watching ‘How it was made’, or maybe he had already gone to bed, he’d wake up in the morning ready to head to the cabin with Peter, only to discover him gone, he’d search for Peter, he’d eventually look at May’s, certain that Peter couldn’t be so stupid as to go to May’s, when he got there he’d find Peter but he’d be hours too late.

-Bang!-

Peter was sure he was dead, that bang must have been the gun, his ears were ringing though, and he had kinda died before and his ears hadn’t rung then… though he supposed that was more of a being unwritten than being killed…. But there was also the fact that his Spidey sense was back; it was high, very high, but only an eight or a nine instead of being an eleven out of ten, or being blown completely.

When he dared to open his eyes he saw the chaos of the apartment, he must have been hallucinating or something, because Captain America, War Machine, and the Black Widow were directing armed cops into the apartment through the front door, punching Charles as hard as possible, or roughly pressing May against the wall to be handcuffed.

To Peter’s left side Iron Man, Tony Stark, his mentor, his family, in an Iron Man suit which was so new it hadn’t even been painted yet, was staring down at him talking to him but Peter’s ears were ringing so loud that he couldn’t hear him properly, he was pretty sure he was asking him if he was hurt, Peter shook his head regardless.

Peter was staring at him in confusion, he didn’t understand, he could have sworn he had died, he should have died… but he hadn’t, he blinked slowly, he felt like his brain wasn’t working as fast as it usually did, he was stunned, he told himself, remembering the chapter on shock in his aunt’s medical books. He was so stunned that he didn’t react in more than confusion when he was picked up into Tony’s arms like a baby being cradled, the man went into the closest room, which so happened to be Peter’s old room.

Tony hesitated for a second, “Fri, make sure he stays in here.”

Peter frowned at Tony’s muffled voice, he was about to remind Tony that there wasn’t a Friday in this apartment, but he heard the hum of Friday’s voice saying something he couldn’t make out, and saw a small drone which looked like the miniature of Tony’s arc reactor.

He was left alone in the room, he collapsed onto the bed, covered his ears, hearing the ringing in his ears, he could hear noise and shouting from the outside of the room of his door, but he didn’t want to hear what was being said; he just wanted to go home.

Peter wasn’t sure how long he had been in the room when the door opened again, long enough for the ringing in his ears to die out, he skittered back on the dirty mattress, but it was just Tony; he turned dismissively away from Cap; the muscle in his jaw tightened taking in the room then Peter, but all the while his face was blank.

Peter couldn’t stand looking at Tony, guilt sank into his bones, he looked down at the mattress instead, it was still stained with his own blood and old vomit, the remnants of the beatings Charles had inflicted when Peter had lived here… he couldn’t believe that he had decided to come back here, how could he have been so dumb?

There were more footsteps and the door creaking open again, both Tony and Peter’s heads snapped up, finding Steve walking through the door, Peter looked away before Steve could catch him looking.

After a moment of silence before the captain cleared his throat awkwardly,  he lowered his voice to talk only to Tony, “You did the right thing, not-.”

“-It doesn’t feel like the right thing,” Tony’s voice was full of venom, “and it didn’t escape my notice that you and Rhodes got a few punches in.”

“How’s Peter?” Steve’s eyes flickered from the teenager to Tony, assuming, wrongly, that Tony had spoken to Peter since coming back in.

“I’m taking him home now, tell the cops that I’ll talk to them when I’ve got the kid locked up at home safe,” the ‘Peter will not be talking to the cops’ remained unspoken. He finally looked at Peter, “There’s a couple of cameras out there, all on the ground right now but they could still see you,” he nodded as a metal suit came in through the window, it opened up, empty inside, “climb in, I’m in control of it, so don’t bother trying to sneak off.”

“Tony-!”

Peter bit his lip, ignoring Tony’s swipe, ignoring Steve’s indignant tone, instead he climbed into the suit, relieved that it closed up before tears spilled from his eyes, the only reason why he wasn’t a crumpled mess on the dirty floor was the metal suit holding him upright.

“I’ll see you at home, Rogers.”

Peter had been dreaming of flying an Iron Man suit since the second he had seen Tony Stark’s first suit flying on the news, before he even knew who Tony Stark was; it was one of the first things Peter and Ned had bonded over as small children… but he was numb as they flew over New York, a little in front of Tony’s suit, not in control of the suit, or of his feelings, he just felt numb.

The suit flew in through his own bedroom window, his suit came to a stop near his desk, where Dr Cho was sat with a doctor’s grade first aid kit, the suit didn’t open and Peter was about to tell Tony that it was defective but he watched Tony fly inside the window behind him, then have Friday lock it up, and Tony checking that it was in fact locked. He felt his heart sink with guilt.

“Okay, Fri, you can let him out now,” Tony stared, his face blank but firm, as Peter stumbled out, the step down forcing himself to right himself after. He was still between Peter and the window and looked at Helen Cho instead of at Peter. “His arm’s cut, glass, I think, you might need to scan him.”

Peter stayed silent, knowing that Tony not talking to him, and not showing any emotion, was a bad sign.

“Fri, scan Mr Parker,” Tony said, stepping out of his own suit, without bothering to wait for the doctor to decide to do it.

“I am not detecting any new injuries besides the cut on Peter’s arm and a possible mild head injury, it’s possible he has ringing in his ears due to you busting through the window, Boss, there is also heat coming from Peter’s cheek, but I’m sure you can see that for yourself.”

“Sit down, Peter,” Helen told him, not unkindly, and the teenager did so, “I’m going to check you for signs of a head injury, can you tell me what happened, and anything that hurts?”

Peter nodded, when he spoke his voice was quiet and numb, devoid of emotion, and for once, when it concerned May, devoid of lies. “M’ head hurts a bit,” he admitted slowly as Helen shined a light in his eyes and wincing when she pressed where his head collided with the floor., “May slapped me, I ended up on the floor, then h-he came in with a gun, didn’t know he was there, thought he shot me, opened my eyes and, and everyone was there…”

“Okay, I don’t think you have a concussion, but Friday will keep an eye on you for signs as you sleep, you will have a nasty headache for a while, you’ve got a bit of a bump on your head, I’ll give you an icepack for it, you can use it on your cheek too.” She helped him out of his hoodie.

Tony took the hoodie from her, grabbing Peter’s Spiderman mask from his pocket and placing it into his own pocket, “I’ll take the web slinger too.”

Helen took the band from Peter’s wrist and passed it to Tony, “It needs to be out of the way anyway,” she said, as though trying to point out that she wasn’t being Tony’s helper, she inspected the gash on his arm, grabbing a metal dish and tweezers, “Was the glass from the window?”

Peter shook his head, wincing as she picked out tiny pieces of glass, “whisky glass, hurts, I didn’t, I did’t know it cut me.”

“Adrenaline,” Helen told him sympathetically, “I’m sure you’re used to that feeling from when you’ve gotten injured on patrol, it was keeping you sharp.”

Peter sat there in silence as she picked all of the glass pieces out of his arm, even the tiny pieces he couldn’t see, but she said she didn’t want it to heal wrong.

Once all of the glass was out she wiped it down, then added a paste down the gash, Peter had used the paste before, he knew that it could heal small wounds faster than other things could, his arm would be healed in a few days, the downside was usually that it hurt; but this time he welcomed the pain, he felt numb and empty without the need to defend May anymore, and he’d rather anything other than the tense silence of Tony’s stare.

He deserved all the pain, he had left Tony, he had chosen May, yet again, now when he was sure that she hated him he was back to leech off of the Stark family again; Tony should just send him away now, it would be easier for all of them.

“Peter?”

His headshot up, Helen was staring at him a way which clearly told him that she had said his name before, “S-sorry, Doctor Cho?”

She smiled kindly at him, “I said that I’m going to give you some pain medicine, it’ll help your head and your arm and anything else that’s hurting you, it’ll also help you sleep.”

Peter nodded, he didn’t care anymore, he just accepted the two pills and the bottle of water Tony had passed him, he couldn’t meet the man’s face, he was certain of the hatred he’d find there, he took the pills and swallowed a gulp of water.

“I’ll be staying in the guest suite downstairs, if you need me, either of you, just get Friday to call for me,” she told the guys, packing up her kit and standing up, “Tony, I’d like to check out your arm when you’re free.”

Tony gave her a jerky nod then stared down at Peter who wasn’t looking at him, he opened his mouth then shut it, before opening it again, “Get some sleep, it’s late,” he told him firmly, he waiting but when he only received an equally jerky nod from the kid he began to head out of the door, it was too late to get into what he wanted too, they were too tired, Tony was too angry, he couldn’t…

Tony stopped when he got to Peter’s door, “Friday’s on babysitter duty, she’ll tell me if you leave the room…” the ‘do not’ was left un-needing to be said, “Get some sleep.”

Peter stayed sat at his desk for five minutes, then suddenly he was moving, he could smell that apartment on him, he felt like he was going to vomit, he stripped as though he was on fire, throwing all of the clothes he had been wearing into the trashcan. He still smelt it, he grabbed some pyjamas, ones which had once been in Tony’s wardrobe but had ended up in his own. He rushed to the en suite, keeping the lights as low as he could, he scrubbed his skin in the shower, until his skin lost nearly all scent of that apartment, until he smelled of the shower gel Pepper had chosen, he stayed in the shower until Friday asked him if he was okay.

He dressed then opened the door to his bedroom just enough to stove his trashcan into the hallway, he couldn’t stand having those clothes in his room.

Peter climbed into the bed, cocooning himself in the blankets, he picked up his cellphone which had been left on his bed, all the texts from Tony asking where he was, getting more freaked out, even telling him that he was going to search his phone, the last told him that he was on his way to get him, even though they both knew that he wasn’t able to read it.

“K-Karen?”

“Yes, Peter?”

“I think Tony hates me.”

“All the information I have on Mr Stark suggests the opposite, would you like me to contact Mr Stark and let him know that you’re in emotional distress and you would like to talk to him?”

Peter shook his head, “N-no, no, he’s… he’s busy, I just… I think I really messed up…”

“Peter-.”

Peter shook his head, “I- I’m okay, Karen,” they both knew he was lying, “I’m gonna go to sleep.”

“Okay Peter,” the AI told him through a sigh, her voice was full of sympathy, “if you won’t permit me to talk to Mr Stark, would you like me to play music which has been scientifically proven to calm and promote sleep?”

Peter hesitated but nodded ever so slightly, he closed his as music began to place through the room’s speakers, “I don’t wanna be alone,” he mumbled barely audible.

“I am right here, Peter.”

Chapter Text

Peter jerked into consciousness, he looked around the room with desperation when he caught no sight of May or Charles he looked towards who had been shaking him awake, Tony looking as tired as Peter felt. 

“You’re okay, you’re safe, you at home, in the tower, you’re safe,” Tony’s voice was low and soft, his eyes drifted to Peter’s cheek with a small wince when Peter’s hand went to the bump hidden in his hair, he hid the wince fast.

Peter didn’t force himself to hide how fast he was breathing, and that he was slowing it, today he simply didn’t care about hiding it. Tony’s hand stayed on his shoulder as he fully woke up; he was sure that he had woke up in such an abrupt way that he knew he had been stuck in another nightmare, like the others he had been trapped in during the night, each time he had woken he had begged Friday not to tell Tony, he had also begged Friday to tell him that Tony was still in the tower, in fears that Tony would have abandoned him, but that was neither here nor there. He was so tired that at first he assumed it was still the early hours, and that Friday hadn’t managed to wake him from his nightmare, so had told Tony. 

Now Peter was once again calm Tony let his hand fall from the teenager’s shoulder and his tone returned to the neutral one he had adopted the day before, “I left you to sleep in but we have to get on the road,” he nodded his head towards Peter’s bedside table where a tray sat with a plate piled with buttered toast and a much of steamy hot Italian hot chocolate, “eat up, shower or whatever you need to do, I already packed for you, meet us down in the garage in thirty minutes, top; Friday’s still on babysitting duty, so don’t try and reenact Prison Break, again .”

Peter bit his tongue, perhaps Tony’s words were meant to come off in the easy jokey way they usually did, but without the life in them they just stung, Peter had royally fucked up, he knew that, so he just adverted his eyes to his duvet cover and nodded his head, neither of them spoke for a moment before Tony gave a single nod in place of any words, then left the room, closing the door behind him.  

Pete felt as though he could cry, had he not simultaneously been completely numb. 

He moved like a robot, shovelling the buttered toast into his mouth but only managed half of the plateful before it started to taste too much like like eating fistfuls of sand, he drank the hot chocolate, the Italian kind Tony made was essentially just melted chocolate, and Peter usually had to beg the man to make it as it was never the same when he made it himself, but all it did today was scold his throat on the way down. 

His limbs felt like they were made of lead as he finally forced himself out of his bed, he moved uncoordinatedly towards his closet, nearly tripping over his own feet, the backpack he had moved in with was gone, he wondered vaguely where it had gone, if he was going to be kicked out with the things he had turned up with, or if Tony had trashed it, he had no idea, but there were a few things he wanted from it he’d have to somehow bring it up to . There was a pile of folded clothes on the closest shelf, clearly Tony had put piled them there before Peter had woke up, but he was too tired, and too numb to even begin to think about it. 

He grabbed a towel and headed into the shower, he could still faintly smell that apartment on him, but it was so faint he wasn’t sure if it was just in his mind, he didn’t care, he just wanted the smell gone; he scrubbed his skin raw for nearly twenty minutes in the steam hot water, before he reluctantly dragged himself out. 

Peter put his hood up of the old, worn-soft, hoodie which had the logo of the Stark Expo up as he stood in the elevator heading down the garage, hearing the hum of Tony and Happy talking but focused hard on not hearing the words.

Tony was leant against the hood of the Audi which they had driven to the school the day before, Happy was sending his boss (and friend) a hard glare with his arms crossed, though it was much more intense than Peter had seen him sending him when Tony usually leant against the freshly polished cars. Peter felt another stab in the heart when Tony made a show at looking at the watch on his wrist, and glaring at the time; as though they hadn’t both noticed that Peter took longer than thirty minutes, but it was worth yet more of Tony’s tangible disappointment to be rid of that stale whisky smell, and the smell of May’s perfume. 

Happy clearly noticed the tense atmosphere and sent Peter a grim smile when Peter looked at him, “How’s your arm?”

Peter looked down at his arm in confusion, then realised what he meant, he looked up at the head of security with a tight smile, “It’s okay, the thing Doctor Cho put on it is healing it.”

Happy looked relieved, staring down at the arm, then back at Peter’s face, “That’s good kid, your backpacks in the car, I was telling Tony you could do with a new one, that’s gonna fall apart on you, probably in school and you’ll have to carry all those books around all day.”

Peter’s tight smile changed from a tight smile, to confusion, to relief as he realised that his old backpack with all his things was in the the trunk of the car, that the things important to him were close by, “I can web it up, it’s okay,” he told the man with a slight blush and a grateful smile, which was partially at Happy’s attempts to make him feel not as bad as he already did.

“I said I’d take care of it, Hap,” Tony focused entirely on the man as though Peter hadn’t spoken at all, he rolled his eyes as though Happy had taken a hit at him. He nodded his head towards the car, “Get in the car, Parker, we’re already late, Pep’s waiting for us.”

Peter nodded then ducked his head to look at the concrete floor as he silently walked to the car, he slipped into the back, glad that the large hood concealed most of his face when he felt his eyes sting with tears, he heard the sound of Happy and Tony talking again, but it was nearly entirely muffled, thanks to whatever ultra thick metal probably bullet proof glass the car had, he was relieved at that. 

He sank down in his seat as the two front doors opened and Happy and Tony slipped into the two front seats, not beside Peter, as Tony always did if there was only three of them in the car. Tony was already pulling out his cellphone and typing away on it before his door was even closed, Peter wasn’t sure if it was a relief that Tony wasn’t about to sit and chat to him on their journey, or if he wanted him to, needed him to. He pulled out his headphones and his cell from his pocket, ready to blast music into his ears and ignore all the worried texts from Ned, MJ, the Avengers family, and Pepper, and ignore Tony and Happy.

“Seatbelt.”

Tony’s voice almost sounded bored, the same way he sounded normally, when he had to remind Peter about standard safety techniques, but today it stung. 

Peter belted up and Happy finally began to drive, Peter shoved earbuds into his ears, leant his head against the window, and closed his eyes as music played; it was going to be a long journey.  

Peter woke up several hours later when the car hit a bump, jolting the car and it’s occupants, and making Tony growl a warning  to drive carefully or be demoted to the mail room, and Happy retorting back that Tony didn’t get to take his own bad mood out on everyone else. Peter didn’t add anything to either of them, he was the cause of Tony’s bad mood, and Happy could have been home watching his cooking shows if Tony had driven them to the cabin, as planned. 

They were driving on what must have been a very primitive dirty road through more trees than Peter had seen in his life, it was already getting dark, due to the hours drive and the fact it was mid November now, when he looked up through the shedding trees he could see clearly skies and more stars than he had since he had been in space. 

Their journey thus far had been… well, it hadn’t been the most pleasant, he had been woken up every so often to eat things Tony had ordered him from drive thrus, once or twice they had stopped for pee breaks, each time Tony had leant back once Peter was safely in the car and checked to make sure that the child locks were on, he did this all wordlessly, each time it was just a little reminder that he didn’t trust Peter anymore.

Peter had spent the whole time listening to music, along with an hour or two of a podcast which was trying to educate people on what they had missed while they had been Blipped, but there had been too many mentioned of the Avengers, of the rest of the ‘Saviours of the Galaxy’, as they had been termed; it hurt too much, because if Tony hated him then what did the rest of them think?

The car began to follow the curve of the road and Peter caught his first glimpse of the house Tony and Pepper had built while he had been gone; the size of it wasn’t surprising, he had seen videos of Tony’s old mansion, but this one seemed like it could be in a Christmas card, if they added a little snow and lights along the fir trees, they drove past the edge of a large lake, the lake that his, his family (??? At this point he had no idea if he was still allowed to class them as that) had lived at, before he had turned their worlds upside down. 

It was the cabin which Pepper and Tony had been planning on spending their time in for Tony’s recovery, they should still be there, really, Peter knew that it was his fault they were, he had seen the pain Tony was in today after using his suit the night before, the pain which he was in daily, he thought that perhaps had he not intruded then Tony’s recovery might have been smoother. 

He was such a fuck up, and selfish, he should have just disappeared instead of ruining May and Tony’s lives. 

The car jerked to a stop, forcing Peter out of his thoughts, he blinked a few times realising that Tony was staring back at him, had the man spoken? Peter said nothing, he looked out of the window at Pepper, dressed in a cream sweater, her arms wrapped around herself, worry clear and unhidden on her face. She headed towards Peter’s door but Tony beat her in opening it for him, when had Tony got out of the car?

His limbs were as heavy and uncoordinated as they had been all day, and being stuck in a car for hours hadn’t helped, it took a lot of effort to undo the seatbelt and force himself out of the car, when he did he stood for a beat, looking at Pepper who seemed to be looking him over, she met his eyes and he was suddenly pulled into a ever so slightly too tight hug. He bit his lip as he felt her fingers card through his hair, at least he was able to hide his face in the hug. 

“Honey,” was all Pepper said, through a sigh so pitying she couldn’t even begin to hide it, and she didn’t try to. He thought of all the times May had held him like this, the times when he was struggling with being Spiderman, with being Peter, how it had ended so quick…. 

Pepper pulled back, taking Peter in again, this time her hands on his shoulders keeping him planted in place as though he might disappear again.

“You look tired, honey, do you want to get some sleep? I have your room all set up. Or if you’re hungry I can sort something out -?”

“I think,” Peter’s voice was horse from barely saying a word all day, and from exhaustion, not just a lack of sleep, “I think I might, I’ll sleep, if, if it’s okay?” 

“Of course it is honey,” Pepper ran her hand through his hair again, “you want something to eat? There a couple of snack bars in your room Bruce made, but I can-?” she gave him a tight smile when he shook his head. “Okay, your room’s the to the top of the stairs then the furthest door on the left, your name’s on the door, do you need me to show you?” 

Peter shook his head, not wanting to inconvenience Pepper as much as he didn’t want to be stuck in more tense atmosphere, able to feel Tony, Pepper, and Happy’s eyes all on him.

Peter took his backpack from Happy when the older man held it out to him.

“Friday’s here, too,” Tony’s voice was iron as he called after Peter who had barely taken two steps towards the door, “so don’t get any ideas about practicing to become New York’s hide and seek champion.”

“ Tony .” 

Peter didn’t turn around, he didn’t look to see Pepper glaring at her husband, he didn’t want to know what Tony’s face was looking like; he simply mumbled “Yes sir,” barely loud enough to be heard, had a tense silence not fallen on the group.  

He walked upstairs numbly, not even looking at or around the bedroom his name had been plastered on, he just collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep. 

It was dark when Peter woke up, he hadn’t meant to sleep for so long, but his body had other ideas.

His head was pointing towards the window, the curtains hadn’t been drawn, but all that lay behind the glass was darkness; it must have been very late or very early. He rolled so he was on his back, there was the now familiar sting from his nearly healed back, there was something perversely comforting about the sting, like the comfort from a favourite sweater, had the sweater been knitted using bees instead of wool. 

He sucked in a breath of air, it was unfamiliarly clear, not like he was used to having rarely been out of the city in his whole life, there was also a chill in the air, whether from the time of the year or from being in the middle of nowhere, but it was warm enough to tell Peter that Friday had upped the temperature so that his spider genes would be comfortable. Speaking of…

“Erm, Fri?”

“Good Morning, Peter, is there something I can help you with?”

“No, I just…” He just what? He was lonely? He was wondering if he had been dumped in a house in the forest and left forever? He wanted to know if Tony had talked about them? He couldn’t breathe properly in this room, in the lake house, after everything the night before? “What time is it?”

“It is four forty two in the morning, you’ve slept for a long time, Boss and Mrs Boss both checked on you several times during the night, they have left none perishable granola bars on your desk and there is leftovers in the fridge for you to eat, would you like me to inform them that you’re awake?”

Peter shook his head, “N-No, no, I just… I think I need to get out of the house, just to the lake, you can track me there, right?”

“I can track anyone on these grounds,” Friday paused for a second too long, making her seem almost human in her hesitancy, “You are free to go there, would you like me to wake Boss and tell him where you’re going?”

“No, no please, I... if he wakes up tell him I’m there, that I don’t need babysitting, I promise, he can track me like on cameras or something, I just need… I just need…” He trailed off, uncertain of his own words, of what he needed, or of what he needed to say to get Friday to understand. 

There was silence but Friday eventually spoke, “I will watch you,” Peter wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a threat or not, all it did was bring him comfort. 

The lake was a lot more peaceful than the busy ones he had been around in the New York parks full of tourists, so Peter sat down on the little dock, his knees pressed to his chest, the cold whipped at his body, Peter accepted its punishment without complaint. He was probably cold, but he couldn’t really tell, he was warmed by the memories playing on repeat in his mindseye. 

He was, in fact, so focused on them that he didn’t notice that he was no longer alone until the weight of a blanket settled across his shoulders, he flinched, his head snapping up to see Tony stood in front of him, in an old black Stark Industries sweatshirt so worn it was grey not black, and heather grey sweatpants. 

Peter looked away from his mentor, his… whatever it was that Tony was, or had once been, and back at the still dark lake, “I’m sorry, I, Friday said it was okay for me to come out here, I asked, I can go back to my room, if you want,” he was about to shift to stand up and walk back to the house, but he heard Tony make a dismissive sound and felt him drop onto the deck close enough that they were touching. 

“I know, she told me, she told me you didn’t want her to wake me either, don’t worry, she didn’t,” he added when he felt Peter tense and open his mouth, “I…” Tony shook his head, like Peter his eyes were on the water in front of him, he had made leaps and bounds with his emotional maturity during the five years Peter was gone, but this was still hard, “I was an ass, a huge jackass,” that got Peter’s attention, his head had snapped to Tony, so Tony turned to meet his eyes, he tried not to laugh when he saw that Peter was offended on his behalf. 

“No you weren’t!”

“I was,” Tony insisted, calmly, “I wasn’t speaking to you or, I wasn’t talking, y’know, like actually talking, I should have, I should have been more matured, used my words and shit, I mean, shoot, don’t tell Pep I swore in front of you.”

Peter ignored Tony’s slight ramble towards the end, “You were mad.”

Tony tilted his head slightly to the side as though to say “kind of”, “I was mostly worried, I mean, you were a bit of an idiot, but I’ve spent enough time with Steve to know it was for the right reason.” He took in the way that Peter’s face fell, a deep sadness filling his eyes, “Full disclosure? I read the texts on your phone, the last ones you got I mean, I thought, I don’t know, I guess I hoped you were just doing some teenager sneaking out bull, I read May’s,” his hand curled into a fist as he tried to stay calm, “that last text, it was a code word?”

Peter nodded his head, he looked away from Tony’s eyes while still looking at him, biting his bottom lip as he tried to stop tears from forming, “We made it up when I was a kid, I had a like spy phase, I read some books, I thought it looked cool, Uncle Ben always said I talked too much to be a spy,” he smiled fondly at the memory but the smile faded as soon as it had appeared. “She tricked me. May, she… it was our safe word, that’s why I, I got there I… I went as fast as I could, I thought maybe Mr Fisher was… I thought he was mad at her, that he got out and blamed her, I thought she was in trouble…” He shook his head; his voice was quiet, full of lost hope, of regret, and betrayal.

Tony was quiet, he could see the far off look appear in Peter’s eyes, he waited, knowing that the gears were turning, Tony at the base level was just a mechanic; he knew when to wait. 

“It was like normal when I first went to live with her, it was- she had been mad, before the snap, when she found out about the whole spidey thing, we didn’t have like time to fix it before I was blipped, I guess during the time she couldn’t, couldn’t understand why I had to be him, spidey, I don’t know… it was… Charles knew, May had told him, which I guess I get, I was dead, she needed someone to vent to… Charles, made it clear he didn’t want me there, he told me I had to get a job, so I did, and May didn’t seem to care, I mean I know lots of people do, but she always used to tell me to focus on school and she’d kill me if I got one, that she could do it… He was tough, a bit of an asshole, but I didn’t realise he’d… I thought I could get him to like me, I mean, I got all the Avengers to like me, and that space squirrel guy…”

“Everyone likes you,” Tony told him with absolute certainty, “he’s clearly defective, but we already knew that.”

Peter sent him a faint but appreciative smile before continuing, “Their kids, his and May’s, they didn’t even really know about me, they didn’t want me there, I got it, but I was used to Mo, it hurt, but I got it… May didn’t really want me there either, Mr Fisher, Charles, he told me, she never had… she and Ben had been saving to travel the world when my parents died, I was dumped on them, Ben had never wanted kids, May had but didn’t because of Ben, but then suddenly I was there… She wanted her own but had to settle for me… I guess it made sense that she preferred Sophia, even Chloe- she at least chose her deliberately,”

“Pete-”

“It was like the third day or something I was there that he pushed me for the first time, I wanted to do my homework, he wouldn’t let me use his printed, he pushed me hard, then I, Ned he told me about his dad, that he died, I went there because, well just because… I mean I knew what it was like, I wanted to be there for him, I didn’t tell anyone…”

“May got me to track your phone,” Tony said flatly, he didn’t want to show how scared he had been when he had heard that Peter had disappeared, it wasn’t like it was hard to trace him, but those milliseconds aged him more than any fight with Thanos could have done. 

“He slapped me, he… he lied to May about why I left, about him wanted to bond or something, he was pissed, he slapped me, it was when I tore my stitches open.”

“Fuck, Pete, that was the first weekend, I mean, jesus that was....”

Peter gave a half shrug, “It got worse after that, I figured I could take it, or I could make him like me, or… I mean I was, I am, Spiderman, he couldn’t really hurt me… I figured it was worth it if he made May happy.”

Peter carried on, telling Tony the highlights, the worst bits, telling May and her slapping him, Chloe lying about him hurting her, working himself to the nail and then some, never being good enough, being so tired and hungry all the time, how he would hand over any money he earned to Charles, but he would squirrel some away, trying to come up with the strength, he eventually ended up back at what happened when May lured him to the apartment, that she slapped him again, Charles suddenly appearing, then Tony saving him, not for the first time. 

“I’m really sorry Tony, I should never have… I let you down, you don’t have to do the whole… I’ll go, you can tell people it was my choice, or whatever you want, I mean I… I just can’t hear the speech right now, please.”

Tony’s frown deepened, he hesitated for a second before speaking, being sure to keep his voice light and breezy, “Y’know about a year ago Maguna got into the medicine cupboard and into the garden pesticides, she was playing doctors or something, she was mixing them together, it was already starting to smoke when we caught her, we got rid of it and it was fine, she was fine, even if she made us age about five years…. Y’know what we didn’t do?”

Peter shook his head ever so slightly, trying to figure out if Tony had a point to make or if he was going off on a barely related tangent. 

“We didn’t give her away, or send her away, hell we probably kept her closer to us… what the hell makes you think we’d do anything different with you?”

Peter’s mouth fell opened he closed it and opened it again, “It’s different, I’m not your-”

“You’re our kid, Bambi, DNA doesn’t mean shit, you’re ours , you scared the shit out of us, but we knew what we were getting into when we decided to foster a spider-kid- hell, your room, the one here, that’s been your room since before I even brought you back, and it was… all of the time travel shit, all of that? It was because of you, I couldn’t, we couldn’t, live without you, kid, I couldn’t do nothing when I had the power to do something, it was for you, you’re my kid, my son .”

Peter bit his lip harder before giving in and throwing his arms around Tony, Tony’s hold was just as tight in return.

“I’m sorry,” Tony whispered into his kid’s brown waves, “I’m so sorry, bambino, I should have… I saw the signs, I was trying to… I didn’t want to be wrong and push you away, I saw you- you changing… I should have fixed you.”

“I’m not a machine, Tony,” Peter mumbled against Tony’s sweatshirt, not moving away from the warmth of Tony’s body, and he didn’t sound offended by Tony wanting to fix him, he didn’t say that Tony was already starting to fix him, the night before was simply a slight setback. 

Tony didn’t say anything, he just held tight to Peter until he felt Peter’s body shiver from the cold, “C’mon, don’t want you ending up like Capsicle,” He stood up, a little groan, either from his age or from his post-snap body, but held out his hand to help Peter up, readjusting the blanket around the kid’s shoulders when he was on his feet beside him. 

The two slowly began to walk back to the house, there was smoke coming from the chimney and the lights were on downstairs, Peter wondered if Pepper had woke up too, or if Tony had heated up the house ready for him to go back inside. 

“I have a question.”

Peter looked at Tony, raising an eyebrow when he saw the glint in his eyes. 

“Iron-Teddy, in your backpack, I saw it when I was packing yesterday morning,” Tony beamed when Peter let out a small groan and looked embarrassed, he was sure he was walking a little faster to get away from this, “so dumpster? ebay? Collector because Iron Man is your absolute favourite superhero ever?”

Peter let out a snort of laughter and rolled his eyes, “Suuuuuuuure….. Just a booth at the exo, and I think Thor might be my favourite, I mean I haven’t met him yet, but he’s never stolen my poptarts-” he cut himself off when he realised that Tony had stopped, he turned on his heels to look at him, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly in worry. “Tony?”

“A booth? At the exo?”

“Yeah,” Peter shrugged his shoulders, “it was in Queens, there was since there, it was awesome.”

Tony ran his hand over his face and through his hair, “Pete… there was, you weren’t there when…?” he caught Peter’s eyes and got an answer to his question, “Shit Pete, that was, it was dangerous there, you could have been hurt, or…”

“Tony,” Peter closed the gap between them again, “I’m okay, you saved me.”

“I what? Wait…. The kid… Peter I swear to fuck if you were that kid who decided to take on one of those-...” He let out a loud groan seeing the answer yet again written on Peter’s face, “You’re so grounded, you could have, kid that was so dangerous.”

Peter shrugged his shoulders again, he was smiling ever so slightly at the look of retroactive worry on Tony’s face at the mere memory of Peter in trouble, “I knew you’d save me,” there was no hint of concern or doubt in his voice. 

Tony’s face melted in a slightly done ‘seriously’ sort of a way he felt years older again, and knew he’d be watching that footage of little Peter the next second he was alone, but there was nothing he could do right now but sigh and pull Peter into another tight hug, “Seriously, grounded, until you’re forty, at least.” His punishment clearly had no effect as Peter just snorted with laughter against him, Tony rolled his eyes, fondly, “You’ve always been a hero, I guess.” He said as though with sudden realisation, but he had known it since he met him, Peter looked up at him and beamed… this kid had him wrapped around his finger, the little shit. 

The boys eventually began to walk again, slower this time, enjoying being with each other in silence. 

“Tony?” Peter’s tone was hesitant and gained Tony’s attention straight away “Do I have to, I mean last time I had to talk to Sara and the cops, do I, are they comin’ here or…?”

Tony shook his head with absolute certainty, “I talked to them last night, so did Steve, and I sent them all the footage from the suits, through SHIELD, someone I trust, they won’t let anyone know who you are, you don’t have to talk, I think Sara will be visiting soon though, or she’ll call, you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to though, okay?”

Peter nodded, but now that the secret was free it was like the floodgates had been opened, and it didn’t feel like he had to hide it anymore, Tony knew, Pepper would know soon, the rest of his chosen family presumably not long after this, they would know and they wouldn’t care because they were like Tony, they loved him, he was almost certain of it. 

Chapter Text

Peter’s eyes were glued shut as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he tried to open them but that required too much brain power, and by the time he remembered that he had been planning on opening his eyes he was drifting off to sleep yet again. He heard voices around him each time he woke, but unlike in the past these didn’t stir an urgency to wake up, or to be on guard; it was the joking tone, the laughter, the teasing, and the reading of story books, of the Starks’; even half asleep he knew that without a shadow of a doubt he was safe. 

After perhaps minutes or hours or days, okay probably not days, but a certain amount of time, had passed Peter managed to unglue his eyes, sit up, and peered around; he had come to on a couch whose only rival were the couches in the Tower, though this one was slightly less fashionable and more traditionally cozy, like some chocolate box picture perfect winter cabin couch. 

His memory stirred, he had come in from the lake with Tony, the pair had eaten so much breakfast Peter wasn’t sure he would ever be able to eat or even move again, they had put on one of the oldest Star Wars movies, somewhere between the opening score and Luke saving Leia Peter had fallen asleep. 

“Hey honey, you’re awake!”

Peter turned towards the voice, he was already smiling, knowing who it was even before he caught sight of Pepper’s smiling face, “I didn’t mean to take a nap,” he told her, a little sheepishly. 

Pepper reached her hand out, running it through his hair temporarily, her eyes drifted to his arm, still healing but the cuts were sealed by the healing balm, her eyes landed back on his face, on his cheek, it was a deep red, a hand print shaped red bruise, a parting gift from May, “You obviously needed it, how are you feeling?”

Peter gave a half shrug in response, “Good, I think, I just… Better after talking to Tony, fixing it, with him at least,” he took his bottom lip between his teeth, he needed to talk to Pepper, to apologise, he hadn’t even intended it with Tony, it had just come out, he didn’t know how to deal with apologising to Pepper, what to say or do, suddenly he felt her thumb under his lip, forcing him to let go of his lip, his eyes met hers again, he was unsurprised to see concern and… love, on her face, but after everything with May and Charles it was a little jolting, even if it was welcome. 

The next thing Peter knew he had stood up and wrapped his arms around Pepper, careful not to hug her too tightly, without hesitation she was hugging him back, tighter than he was holding her, that was for certain, “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry Pep, I was, I was meant to call you and I didn’t and I left and I, everything I…”

Pepper, if possible, held him tighter, “It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re okay,” her voice broke and before they knew it both Pepper and Peter were clinging onto each other and crying, the fear and the tension of the past couple of days finally escaping them in the most natural way.  

About ten minutes passed before the two of them managed to get control of their emotions, the two pulled away from each other enough that they could see face to face, but Pepper kept hold of his shoulders not out of fear of him disappearing, but because she wanted him close. “I understand, I do, you were just trying to protect her, that’s what makes you you, what makes you a superhero.”

“I’m not… I haven’t been spiderman for…” he trailed off, it wasn’t the first time he had felt the weight of uncloaking himself, of abandoning, of not feeling fit for the crown; but swinging to The Fishers’ apartment, rushing into danger, it had felt, not necessarily thrilling, but right. 

“Peter, not matter whether you wear a mask or a cape, a suit, a Stark Industries lab coat, or a torn oil covered t-shirt like Tony likes to; it doesn’t matter to us, you’re always going to be a superhero to all of us, our whole family, and it’s a big one, trust me I’ve had all your surrogate aunts and uncles blowing up our phones worried about you, I think only Steve and Bucky have convinced the two super spies not to try and sneak down there, and Rhodey is pissed that Happy got to drive you down not him.”

Peter ducked his head to hide his smile, he hadn’t looked at his phone, even when he had just woke up the night before, but he was almost certain that he would have at least as many texts from the team. 

“You can do anything you want, anything, you’re always going to be loved by all of us, unconditionally.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Thanks Pepper,” Peter smiled at her, a soft smile, but his eyes were shining with love, there was no ‘but’ tacked onto the end, no condition, no joke playing it off or making him doubt it, it was just this: pure unconditional love, that of a parent, he couldn’t remember having parents but he was pretty sure they were meant to be like this, like Pepper and Tony.

“Now, come on, you need some food, and I can show you around most of the downstairs as we head to the kitchen,” she turned him around by his shoulders, but kept one arm draped around them as they began to walk.

Pepper showed him around the place, like Peter had assumed from the outside when they had first driven up; the place was big, bigger than most cabins on the lake, not that he had seen any outside of horror movies which both he and Ned hid (then pretended that they hadn’t) through. There was another couple of living rooms, a ‘formal’ dining room, a play room full of Morgan’s toys, a game room with a big tv and some new and some old consoles, he had to be stopped from wandering inside, his hunger abated by the possibility of playing some original Mario, he grinned as Pepper told him that he was just like Tony, neither of them saw it as much of an insult. 

They passed several more rooms as they headed to the kitchen and Pepper grabbed out ingredients from the fridge and the cupboards, apparently Pepper had sent Tony and Morgan out on a grocery run, they didn’t actually need one, but according to Pepper it stopped the pair from waking Peter or bugging Pepper, at least for a short while.

“Pete, I am sorry that she betrayed you, you deserved so much more than that,” she stopped herself from saying ‘than her’ if only to avoid Peter feeling the need to defend May.

Peter looked down at the island he was sat at. 

“I really am sorry for leaving, Pep, I mean, I would, I would do it again, if I didn’t know that she was lying, but I should have called Tony, or anyone really, I thought about it but I just… I froze, I know that’s not an excuse-”

“It is an excuse,” Pepper told him firmly, “it’s not just fight or flight, you know? Freezing is also a natural instinct, you couldn’t fight it if you wanted to.”

“Bu-... but what if it happens again, what if I’m out on patrol and I freeze? What if I need help and I can’t think about calling for it, if people get hurt, because I couldn’t, I didn’t call for help?”

Pepper didn’t miss that Peter was clearly thinking about donning his suit once more, even if he hadn’t realised it himself, “You don’t need to worry about that, even if it comes to that, if you freeze, if you need extra help, I’m sure that Tony’s already coming up with blueprints to fit an emergency call procedure into your suit.” 

Peter slowly nodded as Pepper turned to throw things into an already hot pan, as a sizzle and Pepper talking, telling him all about the workshop (which he was allowed in only once he was fully healed), filled the kitchen; a small smile came onto his face as he remembered about all of the people of Queens, the ones who had embraced him, the ones who had brought him food in return for his small good deeds, he remembered the feeling of the heels of his feed dragging across the water as he swung, the glow in his heart when he helped people as best he could… he thought about the suit, wherever Tony had put everything… perhaps not yet… but soon…

Peter sat on the floor his back resting against the couch, on the tv some medical tv drama was playing on the tv, he didn’t know what it was, but that didn’t matter, instead he pulled out his cellphone. 

Guy in the Chair: u are still coming into school on monday right?

Peter rolled his eyes fondly, a smile on his face at the question his friend had already asked approximately six times that day alone, still Peter texted him back, he knew that Ned was simply excited. 

Spider-Baby: yup :) Pep said you can come over at the wkend if u want :)

Guy in the Chair: Hell. Yes.!!!!!!!

Peter chuckled and tilted his head all the way back so he was looking at an upside down Pepper and Tony, “Ned said he’ll stay over at the weekend,” he told them with a smile. 

“Well, we could have predicted that,” Tony announced dryly, but there was a smile in both his eyes and on the corner of his mouth. 

“Hush you,” Pepper reprimanded but she cuddled closer to her husband, “tell him we’re looking forward to having him.”

Peter locked eyes with Tony, a plea in his eyes, Tony shook his head ever so slightly, enough to tell him that he didn’t actually have to, which was a relief.

Tony could see that Pepper caught sight of their shared look, “Hey, Rhodey’s heading back from DC the same day we’re heading back to the tower, I think he’s angling for an invite to our apartment.”

“Doesn’t Rhodey have an open invitation to every home we own? I seem to remember getting home from a date night one time to find him watching Star Wars-?”

“-Okay, yeah, but I banned him from everywhere remember? For eating all my Ben and Jerry’s.”

There was only a beat of silence as both Peter and Pepper’s eyes narrowed in thought, “Wasn’t that you who ate it all?”

“Yeah, I remembered that later, at that point I had already banned him so…” He trailed off as though to say ‘what can you do?’.

Peter let out a snort of laughter. 

“You’re not telling him a word of that,” this was to Peter, in a growl of a warning, but it was playful, the older man’s brown eyes were sparkling, there was a hint of a question in his eyes, asking if it was okay, his joking. It was.

“It’ll cost ya,” Peter’s response was accompanied with a cheeky smile, Tony looked dramatically betrayed, while Pepper sent him a proud look she tried not to smile as she said,

“He’s definitely spent too much time with you Tony.”

They all laughed, but Tony and Peter both had a proud look in their eyes and in their smiles. 

Peter’s eyes returned to his phone, he scrolled through all the texts from the Avengers, none of them talking about what Peter had done, that he had run from all of them, who would have freely given him help, instead, like Pepper and Tony, they worried about him: They were a family, something Peter was only just starting to get used to.

“Petey! I found it!” Peter turned his head from his cellphone and the group chat with all the Avengers bar Tony where Clint was currently trying to convince Peter to force Tony to drop the Tower’s no pet policy, Morgan came barrelling towards him, a bright yellow tub of lego in her arms, she had insisted on seeking it out herself. 

“Sweet,” he grinned at her as she took a seat beside him on the floor in front of the couch, “whatcha wanna build?”

Morgan thought for a second, “Erm, a spaceship, or a submarine!” she announced with great enthusiasm, without noticing how Peter, Tony, and Pepper all tensed, all remembering where they were when Peter and Tony took their trip to space, where Peter died. 

They were all silent for a moment, Peter remembered being torn apart his spider fought to stitch him back together, he was alive a few minutes longer than everyone else, but it was an existence of pain, grasping onto Tony, feeling bad about doing to as he didn’t think Tony would have wanted that; Peter heard rather than saw Pepper and Tony both open their mouths to presumably try and redivert Morgan’s attention, he heard the sound of Morgan’s mouth opening too, knowing her it was to ask why they were suddenly all acting weird. Peter plastered on a smile and an equally bright voice, she spoke loud enough that it was loud of enough that Morgan wouldn’t listen to Tony and Pepper’s voices and hear the worry which was sure to lie in their tones. 

“Let’s do a submarine, hey did you know there’s some fish that live so far under the sea where it’s dark 

The tension alleviated and both Morgan and Peter started to excitedly chatter about aqua life, animals, lego, and everything in between, Tony felt Pepper gently squeeze his hand and the heat and the dust faded from his mind’s eye.

Tony was beginning to feel restless, they had only two more nights in the cabin before they had to return to real life, it was too close that he couldn’t relax any more, he hated this sort of thing, the waiting, or the anticipating; he knew he was driving Pepper mad, and had probably wasn’t helping an already anxious Peter, especially when he kept asking him if he was sure he wanted to return to school, despite everybody insistence that it’d be better for Peter, he had already been sent out by Pepper to chop wood three times.

“Daddy, why are pacing?”

Tony stalled, he looked down at his feet in a way which clearly showed that he hadn’t realised he was, “Oh, I was just… testing the floorboards,” he stamped his left foot twice, “yup, they’re still there.” He smiled and dropped into the closest chair as Morgan laughed and called him silly, it made sense why he felt so exhausted, now that he realised he had been pacing while lost in his thoughts and anxieties.

“Daddy?”

Tony tried to prepare himself for whatever question Morgan would decide to ask, normally it was one which he wasn’t prepared for, so he didn’t know why he bothered this time; he did however prepare to fall down a wikipedia rabbit hole to answer a question morgan will have forgotten she asked by the time he finally found an answer, hell the worst was when-

“Why doesn’t Petey call you and mommy ‘mom and dad’?”

Tony froze, “I, what do you, he’s, I… huh?” oh if Mensa could see him now, “What- what do you mean, Morg?”

“Well, my friend, Jack, says that really really big nearly adult kids call their mommies and daddies, ‘mom and dad’, so why doesn’t Petey, he’s our family now, he should do.” rather than looking stubborn or even demanding she just looked sad, so sad that it broke Tony’s heart.

“He is our family, honey, it’s just he… You were born to me and mommy, but Petey had a mommy and daddy before us, they’re still his mommy and daddy even though they’re not here anymore, he’s not really used to having some people who are like that, he’s gotta have some time to get used to it; like you got used to going to preschool. He’s family no matter what he calls us, he always has been, like you have, he might one day,” he tried his best not to feel his hope at that, the surprising hope, at something he hadn’t known he wanted, “but he doesn’t have to call us that if he doesn’t want to, it doesn’t change that he’s our child the same as you are, that he’s your brother. And that me and mommy love you both.”

Morgan was quiet for a minute, she looked carefully at her dad, then down, before looking up at him again, “Okay, can I have an icepop?”

Tony blinked, once, twice, jesus, was he ever going to stop being amazed by the resilliance of kids, by his daughter? God, he hoped not. “Sure,” he stood up from the chair, “I think Petey and I need one too, I think we both need to chill.”

“Mommy said you need to chill too,” Morgan took hold of her father’s hand as he grumbled that he was already ‘chill’.

They were playing monopoly when the knock on the door sounded, well Tony and Pepper were still playing, both out to own the entire board and to destroy each other, Peter and Morgan had been playing as a team and were now watching Tony and Pepper, having already gone bankrupt.

There would have been nothing unusual about hearing a knock on the door, in fact there wasn’t, at least not to Peter, but Pepper and Tony shot to their feet, Pepper stood in front of Peter, while Tony moved towards the door, standing so the side with his prosthetic arm was in front, he held up his hand.

“What’s-” Peter began to ask, but he was cut off by Pepper who hushed him with her words.

“We don’t have anyone planned to visit, and none of the security alarms were tripped, it’s probably nothing, it’s probably Nat, she’s been asking about you, her or Clint probably just missed you.”

Peter realised that Pepper who looked as concerned as she had when he had woken up in the hospital after his appendix had ruptured, her words weren’t convincing, he realised after a second, that she was stood to protect them, a pang of guilt shot through him, but before he could stand he heard Tony sigh, when he looked up he saw the man dropping his outstretched hand and sighing as he opened the door.

“Anthony, you really should have better security” Peter heard the woman’s English voice admonish.

“I really should have a world class superspies not trespassing on my land,” he shot back.

“Did you expect anything less?” Came another woman’s voice, this one was American, New York.

“Aren’t you going to invite us in?”

Tony stood to the side inviting in two white haired old ladies, despite the trespassing remark he looked amused, and was trying not to smile, Pepper also relaxed, and Morgan, both of them stood up fast and rushed over to greet them.

Tony gestured for Peter to join them by tilting his head, Peter walked over, trying not to look as nervous as he was feeling.

“Petey,” Tony said once Pepper and Morgan had both given hugs and kisses to the women, “this is Aunt Angie, and Aunt Peggy, my godmother and her wife.”

There was pride in his voice and Peter didn’t blame him, there was a reason why, Peter now realised, the second woman looked familiar, “Y-you, you’re Agent Peggy Carter, you- you’re like The original superspy, an-and you founded SHIELD, I, you’re-!” Peter knew he was fumbling and rambling, and that Charles would have mocked or beaten him for embarrassing himself and by extension Charles, in public, but Tony and Pepper were laughing and looking fondly at him, in fact, so were Angie and Peggy.

“It’s great to finally meet you, Pete, Tony’s told us all about you,” Peter was pulled into a tight hug by the American woman as she spoke, clearly as excited about meeting him as he was to meet them.

“Y-you too.”

When he was finally released he was pulled into another hug, this time by Agent Peggy Carter, who also gave him a peck on his cheek, “We did want to meet you a while ago, but the timing was never quite right, then there was the whole snap nonsense, Angie and I were gone like you were…,” she pulled away from him, noting the surprise on his face that they had wanted to meet him before the Snap, “Tony talks about you all the time, he’s very proud, we’ve been badgering him about visiting for a while now.”

Peter looked towards Tony, who looked a little embarrassed that his bragging had been revealed, that the affection and pride towards him existed before they had fully bonded, before they had gone through everything on Titan, Peter grinned, “He’s told me a bit about you too, I didn’t realise that you were, you.”

Tony rolled his eyes when she sent him a betrayed look, it gave validity to Pepper’s claims that he looked dramatic when he did it, “Yeah, well, I wanted you to like me best,” he joked, okay not completely joked, but it was bad enough when Peter met and fell in love with all of the team.

Peter gave a half shrug, it was meant to be casual, or teasing, but all which came out was a shrug and a look in his eyes which told Tony, and everyone else, that he already did. Tony slung his arm around Peter’s shoulders as the group moved to sit down on the couches, and warm up in front of the fire; despite his originally excited rambling it didn’t stop Peter from feeling nervous, but Tony had sat with an arm around him, and his nerves eased.

Peggy and Angie had come baring gifts, some science kit for Morgan, as she was always wanting to do fun experiments like elephants toothpaste with Peter and Tony, and was always disappointed when she wasn’t allowed to join in with lab time. Peter really hadn’t expected a gift, when they had announced they had some, but soon enough a difficult looking Lego Big Ben set was in his hands, while Angie chattered about the hidden SHIELD base behind the clock face.

Hours later Tony stood in the kitchen watching the coffee machine fill the mugs with various hot drinks; coffee for Pepper and Angie, hot chocolate for the bambinos, tea for Peggy and for -

“Are you drinking tea, Anthony?”

Tony had heard Peggy walking, she had clearly intended him to, probably so he wouldn’t jump and scold himself with the beverages, he raised a single brow as he turned, hands in the pockets of his plaid pyjama pants, he could see the amusement on his godmother’s face, “You and Jarvis had a slight influence on me growing up,” neither of them said that he had drank black coffee exactly like his father had insisting that he liked it that way when they all knew otherwise.

“You’ve grown up.”

Tony let out a bark of a laugh, “I’ve been a grown up for quite a while now,” he rolled his eyes playfully at her doubtful look, he couldn’t really argue with her, if he was being honest with himself, which he tried his best to never do, “It’s good to see you, Aunt Peg,” he told her instead, it was the first time he had seen her since before the snap, a while before the snap, too long, he was too wrapped up in himself, in business, in saving everyone to allow himself to enjoy it. He had dreamt of her, while he was stuck in space, her and Jarvis and Angie, his three parents, for all intents and purposes, Jarvis long dead, Peggy and Angie old, but he didn’t know if they had been turned to dust like Peter, his son.

Tony noticed her eyes stuck to his arm, where his right arm had once been, where there had once been skin and bone was now metal and tech, “Pete helped me with it,

“You could have died,” Peggy’s voice was quiet, numb with emotion.

“It was the only way, aunt Peg, the only… for you and Angie, for Pep, Rhodey, Happy; but mostly for Morgan, and Peter, I had to.”

“I know… it’s just… you never want to see your child in danger, hurt,” her eyes drifted away from him and towards the wall where Peter’s laugh sounded, like music in Tony’s ears, “but then I think you already understand that.”

Tony’s usual smile lost its cockiness, it was closed and tender, he nodded humbly.

Understanding spread across them until Peggy’s smile gained the cheek which Tony had learnt from her, “I know we were supposed to meet at that Tower of yours, but we just couldn’t stand waiting any longer to meet our two grandchildren.”

Tony pressed a kiss to Peggy’s cheek, “I’m really glad you’re back,” he admitted his voice low, humble with his love for her.

“You know that works better out of the box, right Bambi?”

Peter’s head snapped up to meet Tony’s sparkling brown eyes as he handed him a warm mug of hot chocolate, Peter realised that the man had caught him staring at the photos of the Lego replica of the London landmark on the back of its box, Peter sent him a playful roll of his eyes, and an easy smile was on his lips, identical to Tony’s own ones, “Thanks,” he told him simply, in regards to the hot drink, not the sarcastic remark which didn’t deserve a response.

Tony glanced at his recently vacated seat next to Pepper, and where Angie was sat on a tiny child’s chair being commanded in play by the tiny terror which was Morgan, Pepper sent him a smile, she already knew what he was going to do before he decided, because she was Pepper.

He slowly lowered himself to the ground, letting out a groan without meaning to, hearing Pepper’s slightly snigger as she called him old, he turned to face him for a second, pulled his tongue out a her, then turned his head back to an equally sniggering Peter. He took a long sip of his tea before nodding his head towards the box of Lego, “C’mon then, let’s get started, it’s going to be a bit of a project, but we’ve worked on bigger ones, we might be able to get it done before we head home.”

Peter blinked, once, twice, “You wanna help?”

Tony’s entire being said ‘well duh’, “Of course, what, you think I was going to let you build by yourself?”

“You know,” Peggy said as Peter and Tony started to build, her voice was far away, reminiscent, “when Tony was young he came to visit Angie and I when we were living in London, they didn’t have a set like yours Peter, so your father insisted on me taking him to see Big Ben multiple times so he could update his own blueprints so that he could recreate it.”

“C’mon Aunt Peg,” Tony whined, “now the kid’s not going to think I’m cool.”

“I already didn’t think that you were cool,” Peter teased.

“Oh really,” Tony raised one eyebrow, “Stark Expo teddy says otherwise, bambino.”

Peter playfully glared at his mentor turned father blush high in his cheeks, but neither of them could stop smiling, Peter continued to smile as he heard Pepper and Tony both brag about him, and about Morgan, equally, as their kids. Peter wondered if Peggy noticed her slip in calling Tony his father, or if she had intended it, he leaned towards the latter.

He thought about the lego sets Ben and May had bought him for Christmasses and birthdays, those memories were now tinged with pain, but there was still good in them, regardless of the betray of both him and of Ben, he set the memories aside, locking them in a room in his mind, and let this new memory being made settle in, the old memories far away from the new... but still, Peter held the key, he knew he could watch them whenever he wanted, Peter felt peace settle into the depths of his soul as he sipped the hot chocolate.

Chapter Text

Peter tore off his sweatshirt for the third time, selecting the first shirt he had put on that morning. Logically he knew he should have kept it on in the first place, it was the one Pepper had helped him choose for his first day back at school, when he had asked for her help to find the ‘right’ outfit, he pulled it over his muscular frame, and looked into the wall mounted mirror, it would do. It was his usual style of shirt, this one told the viewer ‘If I’m telekinetic, raise your hand’, he smiled at it faintly wondering if he should buy one for Doctor Strange for Christmas.
The sweatshirt would do, he glanced at the bomber jacket lying on his bed, then the leather one beside it, he liked both, suited both, according to Pepper, but that didn’t stop his stomach from twisting in knots, the ‘first day at school’ knots he hadn’t had for years.

He tried on the first jacket again, then the second, then stripped it off with a sigh, he frowned at his reflection, trying to smooth down his clinically messy hair, to no avail, he bit his lip ever so slightly as a thought crossed his mind; where was it…? He rummaged through his closet, more clothes had filled it in the couple of days they had been home from the cabin, finally he found it, he gave a sigh of relief, he pulled on the MIT jacket it had taken to living in when he had first moved into The Fisher’s apartment, it still did the magic it had once worked, it soothed and comforted him.

He took one last look in the mirror, everything he was wearing was brand new, other than the MIT jacket, much to his protests that he didn’t need it; nothing looked that expensive, or even out of character for him to wear, though Peter knew otherwise, his sweatshirt was long enough to touch the thighs of his jeans, skinny and made to look worn, but they were stiff with newness, he couldn’t see them but he knew his socks were bright and cartooned, thicker than his cheap ones had been the last time he had attended Midtown School, on his feet were Van high tops, covered in Christmas Peanuts illustrations, they were the part of the clothing delivery which he hadn’t protested. He sucked in a breath, he knew he’d have to get used to being given things, allow himself to feel worthy of such gifts, he was just relieved that Tony hadn’t yet dragged him to a suit fitting, as the older man had teased and warned him that he would need; Peter was a Stark now, he would be dragged to benefits and parties…. But he couldn’t think about that right now, he had to get through a week at school first, he could do this.

He made one last attempt to style his hair into anything other than bedhead, then grabbed his backpack, swung it over his shoulder, and left the safety of his bedroom, grimacing, knowing just how this next part would go.

Pepper was on her cellphone, rolling her eyes, as Peter walked into the living area, she turned around just in time for her to avoid spotting him, he was a little revealed, she had already not so subtly weep at his ‘first day [back] at school outfit, he knew that Tony wasn’t going to be much better, but he might be ever so slightly more chill… at least Peter hoped.

Peter slid onto his now usual seat at the small table closest to the kitchen, next to Morgan, he pressed a kiss to her cheek at the same moment that she noticed him, “Morning, Mo.”

“Hey Petey,” Morgan smiled as she crammed a forkful of pancakes into her mouth, “S’only,” she frowned momentarily, “how many sleeps ‘til Christmas, Daddy?” She asked her father who must have expected or heard Peter, or asked Friday if he was ready for school, as he walked over with a plateful of pancakes, enough to fill Peter up for at least half of the day.

Tony almost halted seeing Peter, he had, in fact, asked Friday for an ETA on his getting there, if only to stop himself from checking on the kid repeatedly, but now that he saw him there, bedhead ever present, as was the brave look Peter had plastered on his face every time he had insisted on going back to school, despite Tony’s ever desperate attempts to convince Peter to be homeschooled: But Tony didn’t halt or even falter as he placed the plate down, ruffled Peter’s hair then with a mere hint of hesitation dropped a kiss to the top of Peter’s head, “How about we let Petey eat before the Christmas countdown begins?”

Peter opened his mouth to say that he didn’t mind the countdown, that like Morgan he was beginning to get excited, especially having seen the Tower decorated in their absence, but instead he let out a snort of laughter, “Seriously?” He asked Tony, his eyes on his plates, pancakes like Morgan, but all in the shapes of various Iron Man TM shapes.

“I found it online,” Tony positively beamed, “the internet really is amazing.”

“I’m getting Friday to put child locks on,” Pepper announced dryly, she took in the sight of Peter, already digging into his Iron Man approved breakfast, “you look very handsome, honey. Do you have everything? I know you’re getting lunch there, there’s plenty of money on your account, we made sure, but do you need anything…?”

Peter bit down a chuckle, smiling at her instead, “I’m good, Pep, thank you, and I packed everything last night, and I’ve checked like three times since.”

“You’ve got a couple of those nutrition bars Brucie made you?” Tony was now back at the stove but he paused his flipping of a pancake to ask Peter, pointing a spatula at him to enunciate his point.

Peter rolled his eyes playfully, he could threaten to tell the press what a mother hen Tony really was, but he doubted the press of all people would believe that, not after Pepper had banned him from talking to the press due to his frequent threats to them. “Yup,” he popped the ‘p’ as he shoved more pancake into his mouth, “you saw me put them in my bag last night, I put in three just to be safe, but I’m really going to be okay,” it was only then that he noticed that Tony was wearing a frilly apron so out of place in the modern apartment and on Tony, over his expensive shirt, that Peter burst out laughing, nearly choking on a pancake as he did.

“I’m already counting down the days until you’re off for winter break,” Tony drawled dryly, but it wasn’t believable, not to the four Starks, who all knew Tony was barely refraining from trying to convince Peter yet again to stay home at least until after the holidays.

Not long after Peter had finished the last of his pancakes, and drank his orange juice, (accepting another bottle of juice from Tony who told him that he had to remember not to let himself get hungry, as he used to out of necessity, but that wasn’t needed now, so Peter accepted it and nodded his head), Peggy Carter and her wife Angie emerged from a guest bedroom, a camera in the latter’s hands, and Peter was prodded into a pose with Tony, Pepper, and Morgan, until Tony forced Peggy and Angie to join them for a few snaps.

After those photographs Peter followed his family downstairs, taking the private elevator to a room set up with a green screen, avoiding the eyes of everyone other than the photographer in the room, again they were prodded into position, but this time it was less relaxed, Peter felt his shoulders stiffen, could feel the muscles on his back tense, the scars Charles Fisher had left tensed too, as a reminder of their existence, though to Peter if felt like a whole different life, and just like that Tony’s arm draped around his shoulders, his hand on his other shoulder, Pepper’s arm around his waist, Morgan holding onto his hand as she leant back against him; his muscles relaxed, he let out a smile.

“You still have time to change your mind, it’s not too late.”

Peter turned his head from where it was staring at the back of his high school, a door he had never entered through, to Tony, sat beside him in the back of the car, his brown eyes flickered to Pepper, who was in the front beside Happy, she was also looking back at him, her eyebrow’s together in the only sign of concern she was allowing herself to show him, he looked back at his foster father. “I don’t want to change my mind… I’m not… it’s a little, uh, I’m not like super pumped about it, but I’m ready, I can do it, I want to do it.”

Tony opened his mouth, it was clear how nervous the kid was, how he had been bouncing his leg, running his hand through his hair, twisting his fingers, all the way to the school, Tony knew Peter would hate him if he overruled him and forced him to waylay the start of school until the new year, what was the point in one week of school anyway? But Pepper beat him to speaking.

“Okay honey.”

“What?” Tony’s head snapped to his wife’s who gave him a look as though to tell him that Peter’s hard-headedness was entirely Tony’s fault, as though the kid hadn’t been like that since before Tony had even found him, in that small apartment bedroom while Peter stubbornly called himself Spiderman, and defended his refurbished trash computers, all those years ago.

“He’s ready.”

Tony looked to Peter, and even he didn’t look sure, in fact the kid opened his mouth to say that he wasn’t, but Pepper continued.

“He needs this,” she continued, her words as much to Peter as to Tony, “he’s ready, and if he finds that he wants to take it slower he has all of our numbers, he can come home, but he’s ready to try.”

And just like that Peter was, that fresh air from the cabin still filled his lungs, soothing his nerves, he steeled himself, he was Peter; Peter Parker, Peter Stark, Iron Man’s kid, he was Spiderman, he would not be afraid.
“I’m ready.” his voice was quiet yet firm, it was a thank you, and a promise to call them the second he needed them.

Tony pulled him into a quick hug, “Go give them hell, kid, just don’t get too many detentions,” he added as he pulled away, sending his kid a wink.

Out of the car Pepper and Tony both hugged him again, Pepper pressing a kiss to his cheek, then wiped the lipstick off his cheek again, Tony kissed the top of his head, then handed him extra money, telling him that it was a just in case, Peter tried not to feel guilty about pocketing the extra $50, and that it seemed like barely anything to his new self, yet still too much to the boy he had once been. Even Happy gave him a hug goodbye, ruffling his hair, whispering to text him if he wanted to get out of there without his parents kicking up a fuss, Peter gave him a smile, not bothering to protest that Tony and Pepper weren’t his parents.

Peter waved to his family as they climbed into the car, then turned to school building, he knew that they wouldn’t leave until they saw him walk in and knew he was safe, and if he stayed any longer he would be tempted to give in and go home with him.

He door opened to a stockroom, some spare empty lockers, some cleaning equipment, but thoroughly unremarkable, and rather unremarkable, even if he had to admit it, he wasn’t even entirely sure whereabouts the room was. Okay, he thought, time to look like a dumbass trying to find his way around his own school.

But the only door out of the room flung open, before Peter could do it himself; light flooded into the room, voices down a corridor from the few people who were in school this early, but Peter didn’t pay attention to any of that, instead his eyes were drawn to the two people squashed in he doorway, the lights turning their skin golden, almost etherial, as Ned and MJ beamed at him. His face broke into a smile which split his face, he rushed over to his friends, and enveloped them into a hug; both he and Ned ignored that they were both weeping ever so slightly, MJ on the other hand…

“Are you losers crying?”

Peter laughed and pulled out of the hug at the same time as his friends, he noticed the sparkle in MJ’s eyes at the same time Ned did.

“You’re one to talk, you’re crying too.”

“Allergies.” She told him dryly, though they all knew that it was a lie neither boy dared disagree with her.

“So,” MJ punched Peter’s shoulder to get his attention, her voice was quieter than usual, despite the empty corridor around them, “now that I know you’re Spidey does this mean I can send you to pick up food for me at obscene hours, y’know when you’re out saving the world and all that.”

Peter rubbed the back of his neck as the three friends began to walk, “I haven’t… I haven’t gone out in a long time, I haven’t… I don’t think I’m Spiderman anymore, I don’t think I get to be him.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” she told him not unkindly, “you get to be whoever you want. And you will go out as him again, I know you’ll be him again.”

“I might not…” he trailed off.

“Yeah,” MJ told him, as certain as she was when she would share her thoughts in class, as right as then too, “you will.”

Before Peter could let out another protest he saw someone walking towards them, he stilled, for a moment he was back in the Fishers’ apartment, a man walking towards him, a gun, he blinked-

No. This was not Charles Fisher, he was not in that apartment, he was in school, he was safe, Ned was safe, MJ was safe, this was just Flash walking towards him, looking the same as Peter had in his mirror that morning, perhaps that was why he stayed still even as his friends tried to lead him off, tried to tell Flash to piss off, the other boy almost did.

“Hey Flash, what’s up?” Peter asked, a little awkward, sure, but it was as casual as he could make it while steeling himself, the last time they had been in the same room hadn’t exactly been pleasant, even if most of that hadn’t actually been Flash’s fault. The school corridors were mostly empty, they were there early, but he could feel peoples eyes on them, on him, as they passed.

“I just, I wanted to talk to you, i-if you don’t mind, I mean you don’t have to, I won’t stop you, I swear I just…”

Wait, Peter thought to himself, blinking once, twice, was Flash nervous? He took in the other signs, the slight sweat and perspiration, his bottom lip was red from being chewed on, his hands kept fidgeting, yes, Flash was nervous… that was… weird… He gave him a look which he hoped told the other boy to continue, because Peter, for once, didn’t have the words.

“I, I’m sorry, Parker, for everything, for- for everything I did, for what I didn’t do, and for…” Flash cleared his throat and his voice dropped so low that Peter wasn’t sure if Ned and MJ could hear him, “I’m sorry about your aunt, really, I’m… I get it,” he admitted quietly, “not like that, not to that level, but not having parents, a family, having them but them being… never being able to reach them, their expectations, to make them care… it hurts I know that, I used to do the whole closed down thing… I’ve been talking to someone,” he didn’t need to use the word therapist for Peter to guess, if only because of the honesty in his words, “they made me realise that the things I would do, would say… it’s not an excuse, please, just, I just want you to know that I get it, mostly, if you ever… if you need someone… I’m sorry I was a dick to you, I… you didn’t deserve that, it was on me. So yeah… I just… I’m sorry.”

Peter stared at him in shock, unable to speak or even move, he felt his throat tighten from Flash’s words about his aunt, about Flash’s parents, that was what held him still even as the other boy stared at him, even as Peter realised that Flash had finished, and he began to back away, to walk away, feeling like Peter had rejected his apology.

“W-,” Peter cleared his throat when his voice broke, “Wait!” And like a spell Flash did. “We have homeroom soon, you wanna walk with us?” He could feel Ned and MJ’s eyes on him, he knew what they were thinking, but he was thinking about how he had tried to push his friends away, he might have turned into Flash, had his friends let him. Maybe all Flash needed were some friends, maybe it wasn’t and it would turn out the boy was still mean, but Peter was willing to give him a chance, and he knew that if he asked, his friends would make the same deal.

There were eyes on him as they walked through the corridor, it wasn’t a surprise, between all that happened in that press conference and May and Charles’ crimes being reported in the Daily Bugle, even if he hadn’t been named, people had put together enough of the story to make him an attraction in the hallways.

“Did you guys ever watch that Baby Yoda show?”

“The Mandalorian?” Ned asked, excitement filling his face, and surprise that it was Flash who had broke the tension.

“Yeah, I watched it all with my little sister.” Peter said, only realising what he had said once it was out, Ned beamed at him, Flash looked excited, both looked on the verge of questions, but MJ just gave him a wry smile.

“Yeah but can you believe the ending they gave season six?” She asked, ducking her head to hide the smile as all three of the boys beside her let out anguished groans.

And just like that the new normal was formed.

Peter knew he had made the right choice in choosing Flash not Ned to cover for him as he jogged up the steps of a subway station in Queens, Ned would have insisted on coming with him, or calling Happy to play bodyguard for Peter, in protecting and being there for his friend, but Flash had just looked at him, considered for a second, then told him he’d cover as long as he could, should Peter be late.

He knew it was clear that Peter needed to do this himself, and that Flash owed Peter, and this was what Peter chose.

It felt like a lifetime ago he was in Queens, no, not felt like, it was a lifetime ago. It hadn’t changed, sure there were new stores open, less posters searching for missing family members, more graffiti, but it felt the same.

He didn’t even have to think about it his feet simply started walking, he was outside the glass door to Delmar’s before he realised where he had been walking, he hesitated guilt tightened his stomach, but he pushed against that feeling, and made his way into the store.

The store was nearly exactly the same, the same smell, the same feeling, but now had various decorations to celebrate various winter time holidays, just as the school had been the day before.

“Just a mi-,” came a voice from near the shelves, Mr Delmar was crouched down but turned his head towards the door where the bell had rung, when he saw Peter his happy greeting faultered, “-Oh... Peter.”

This, more than Flash’s apology the day before made Peter’s throat tighten, maybe he shouldn’t have come, maybe it was a mistake, coming back after leaving without so much as a word to any of them, without a word to him, not even letting him know that he was safe, that he was alive. Peter blinked, his mouth falling open but not words trialled out; when he blinked again Mr Delmar was coming towards him, Peter did not move.

Arms around him, tight, rocking him to the point of almost shaking him, not anger… Mr Delmar was jubilant, hugging him, saying his name like a prayer, or the answer to a prayer, if there was a difference. Peter pulled himself out of his shock and hugged the man back, he was warm, especially after the winter cold, he wished he had hugged the man sooner… though perhaps when his back was split open the tight hug wouldn’t have been quite so pleasant.

“You, take over,” he directed to one of his family members who worked there, then he pointed at Peter, “you, sit down,” he pointed at a chair, “you have a lot to tell me, I’ll make you a sub.”

So Peter did as he was told, he sat on a wooden stool behind the counter, a sacred place he didn’t feel like he deserved to be, despite having worked there. And Peter talked, telling him nearly everything, claiming he knew Tony through the Stark Internship, the common story, but everything else, so long as he was allowed to say it he told him, this man who saved his life, he deserved the story.

And he deserved the apology Peter gave him, breathless with hope for absolution, and from his story and eating; he thanked the man for everything, for the job he knew was made for him, so he could save money, for all the ‘wrong order’ sandwiches which staved the hunger until he could next eat, for simply being there, for caring if he lived or died.

Mr Delmar refused the apology, claiming one wasn’t needed, and Peter had refused the man’s apology, the one given to him for the man not doing more, for not saving him, but Peter knew that at that point he wouldn’t have let him, only Tony and Pepper and Rhodey and Happy and the team could get close enough to the feral boy he felt he had become, and only he could allow himself to be saved.

But rather than becoming stalemates the man and the boy smiled, Peter asked about the man’s daughter just to make the man pretend to glare, then he asked about the neighbourhood, unable to try and ignore it any longer, as he had been doing for weeks. MJ’s words were in his head, something inside of him twisted.

“Hey kid, lemme show you somethin’,” the man smiled, leading Peter out of the store, around the corner to the allyway Peter used to use to change into his suit, he wondered if the man was going to kill him for talking about his daughter, he was about to ask so when he saw the man’s eyes, shining bright as he looked at the brickwork, Peter followed his gaze.

Spread over two stories was a mural, many people of Queens, beaming, and in the middle, swinging though the proud crowd, was Spiderman, a vision in red and blue, Peter’s mouth dropped open, he wondered if there were more people like Doctor Strange, magic users, as he swore that Spiderman was glowing.

‘The Queens’ saviour: Spiderman’ Read the top, mere inches from the window, the bottom of the text read ‘We miss you’.

“Who- who did this?” was all he managed to ask, eventually.

“I don’t know,” the man admitted, there was a smile in his voice, “it could have been anyone. Queens has been really missing Spidey… everyone’s hoping he’ll come home soon, when he’s ready.”

Peter had insisted on going to school on the Wednesday, despite the trial taking place in a courthouse in the city, he could have gone, perhaps should have gone, but he knew he couldn’t face being in the same room as May or Charles, he probably wouldn’t be able to stand doing so ever again. And that was alright.

Pepper and Tony hadn’t gone either, both telling him that they didn’t want to be in the same room as either of them. The Captain had gone, though, along with Clint and Nat, all promising to tell him whatever he wanted to know; but he had overheard Tony talking to Steve, he had heard the captain telling Tony that the three of them were going to ensure that the Fishers faced repercussions, if not by the court gavel then by the three of them- Nat and Clint to do it smoothly, Steve because who better to use as an alibi than Mr American Pie himself.

Peter tried not to think about it, about any of it, not that that worked, of course, he sat zoned out all day, as his friends tried to be there for him, as his phone vibrated in his pocket against his leg stuffed deep in his pocket, he knew what the texts would be saying, would be asking: ‘if he was okay’, ‘just checking in’, that they were there; he didn’t read them, he didn’t look at his cellphone, the worried looks and frantic typing by Ned on his own was enough to tell Peter that someone, probably Tony, had reached out to Ned to see if he was okay, Peter didn’t bother to complain.

Which was why it hadn’t surprised him when he got to the room at the back of the school where Happy was to pick him up and found Tony waiting in a sparkling clean Audi, he sent Peter a tentative smile as he climbed into the front of the car, next to his foster father.

Tony waited for Peter to buckle himself in before he pulled silently out of the school, and onto the road home, both of them in complete silence, “We could stop and get ice cream, or something else, if you want? A burger?”

Peter shook his head, he chewed on his lip as he looked out of his window, only dropping it from his teeth when he felt Tony squeeze his shoulder.

“You want me to tell you?” Peter shook his head again, still not looking at Tony, Tony’s heart was breaking for the kid, “Okay, fair warning your social worker is at the tower, she came to tell us, you, how it all went, to make sure you’re okay; but we could stop if you don’t want to talk about it yet, we could stop at a park or something, fresh air and all that-”

“I just want to go home,” Peter’s voice was quiet as he finally turned his head to meet Tony’s eyes, “please? Can we just…”

“Of course, bambino,” Tony’s voice was quiet and soft, only able to be heard as there was no music playing, “let’s go home.

As promised his social worker was perched on the couch when the doors of the elevator opened, he didn’t rush to her, but he allowed Tony to lead him over to Sara and Pepper, he allowed his foster mother to pull him down to the couch beside her, she wrapped her arm around him, Tony dropping to sit on his other side.

The news was what he expected, what he had been told to expect, but it didn’t stop his rigid spine relaxing as Sara told him that both Charles and May were heading to prisons miles away from him and his city; Charles was in prison for a minimum of forty years charged with neglect and abuse along with attempted murder, and for her part May was given a minimum of twenty five years, having admitted to everything she had done, her daughter would be an adult with a family of her own by the time she was next free, Peter tried not to feel bad about that.

Peter didn’t speak, not for a long while squeezing Pepper’s hand to give her the sign which told her that he was okay, Sara was starting to gather her things by the time words escaped his mouth, and it surprised even him. “The girls, are they… they’re okay, right?”

Sara eyed Peter and the Starks carefully, “I can’t tell you a lot… but one of my colleagues has both of their cases, the younger girl, Sophia is thriving, she’s still living with her aunt, her aunt told her who you are, that you were hurt, she didn’t…”

“May never told her who I was,” he stated numbly, “that’s why she was scared of me.”

Sara nodded, “We believe that Mr and Mrs Fisher deliberately left her confused about who you are.”

Peter nodded again, there wasn’t really much he could even say about that, he had figured it already, it didn’t sting any more or less than the rest of the shit May had pulled. He thought back to the older girl, Chloe, thought back to her trying to bully him, trying, no, succeeding in getting him hurt, because he wouldn’t do what she wanted. But still… there had been a hint of fear when she had seen Peter cower, a few times, she was young, there had to be hope, there had to be.

As though reading his thoughts Sara grimaced a little, “Chloe… has had more trouble adjusting, she had been told a lot of lies about her birth mother, they had a few problems, she’s currently receiving help at a juvenile detention centre, she and a friend had a disagreement, she chose the wrong way to settle it… she’s young, she could reform,” but it sounded like she doubted it.

Peter didn’t speak much after that, as Sara said her goodbyes, as she promised to check in in the new year, she wished them happy holidays then left the Stark family to the silence.

Well, the almost silence, Tony and Pepper were having one of their silent conversations, full of eye gestures, Peter wasn’t sure if it was his spidersenses or just, everything, but it grated on him, he spoke, just to shut up that silent noise, “Where’s Mo?”

Pepper and Tony both blinked at him, Tony frowned opening his mouth to change the top back to May, but Pepper beat him to the punch, “She’s downstairs, honey, with the team, we thought it’d be best, just us three,” she not so subtly nudged Tony with her elbow, to stop him from glaring not at Peter, but towards him.

“Yeah, she’s playing scientist, I’m sure she’ll be missing you though, kid,” he gave him a smile before dropping it, “listen, Petey, we need to talk, you know that right? Your therapist would agree, it’s how we move on, and it’s better sooner so it doesn’t fester-.”

“-I know,” Peter interrupted, his words began to spill out of him, “I will I just… I need to talk to you both first, it’s not about Ma-, -about them, but I…”

“You can talk to us, Peter,” Pepper’s voice was as soothing as a lullaby.

“I skipped school,” well that got their attention, both stared at him wide eyed, he held his hands up in surrender as they both opened their mouths, not looking happy, “I didn’t skip, skip, I had two free periods! I just went to Queens and back before Happy came to pick me up!”

Tony was trying very hard to not clench his jaw, to not look angry not at Peter per say, as much as him going somewhere where who knows what could have happened. “Oh, so you didn’t skip you just left the school premises which we made sure that you were safe on and protected from anyone including the press who are all so excited to meet you?” He knew his words were dripping with sarcasm, but he didn’t care, for the first time in a while he didn’t feel like Peter was about to break, he looked like his, their, Peter, despite the kind of day it had been.

“I know, I know, I just….” Peter sighed and was surprised that Pepper and Tony were both giving him the time to explain himself, though neither looked happy, in fact Pepper looked like she might be about to sic a bodyguard on him twenty four seven. “I had to go, I haven’t been there in so long, I couldn’t… I couldn’t be Spiderman, I couldn’t do it, so I couldn’t go there because it hurt too much, but I had to go see Mr Delmar, he… he saved me, him and you guys you’re all why I’m alive, he deserved an explanation. I wanted to go there, home, my first home, while I could still go and just be one of everyone, before the whole media release, before everyone knows I’m one of you, when I could just be Peter, on my own.”

Tony exhaled a breath through his nose, sharing a look with Pepper, hell if it wasn’t the wrong time he would have commended Peter on choosing the exact right time and place to reveal that he had disappeared, again, so that he wouldn’t be in trouble. He let out another sigh, this time out of his mouth not his nose, “I suppose we can understand that, but I’m getting you chipped, I swear one morning you’re going to wake up to the medbay and we’ll be standing next to you and you will have one of those dog chip things in you, several of them.”

Pepper didn’t disagree with Tony, in fact she was close to holding him to it, but Peter was chewing on his lip again, despite his small laugh at Tony’s over dramatics, “What else is there?”

“Hu-huh?”

“There’s something else, what do you need to tell us, there’s… something.”

“I… Mr Delmar’s shop had been graffitied.”

“Oh god was it you? Did you graffiti a giant homage to dear old iron man? A big heart and ‘I heart the saviour of the universe’? Because-”

“Tony,” Pepper rolled her eyes, “he’s not you, in fact if I hear about a single one of those anywhere in the world I’m going to know it was you and I’m going to tell your physiotherapist you took a suit out without her permiss-”

“It was Spiderman.” Peter’s words spilled out of him again, loud enough to quiet their playful bantering. “It was…” he took out his phone, swiped a couple of times and handed it over to Pepper, who stared at it then passed it to Tony. “It wasn’t me, I didn’t… it was people in Queens. Ned and MJ, Flash,” a slight flash of anger in Pepper’s eyes at his newest friend’s name, “they say they’re all around the city… all around Queens.”

“Queens misses Spidey.” Tony said carefully.

“I think… I think I’m ready, I… I wasn’t weak, what happened to me was Fisher’s fault, it wasn’t that I was weak, it was that he was a bad guy and he won for a little while, it doesn’t make me any less Spidey than when that building fell on top of me, it was a set back… I think I’m ready. I know I’ve snuck away a few times, and it was what pushed me and May apart before… everything… and I know that I did it again to even see Queens, but I need to do this. I have these powers; I don’t owe it, them, to anyone, but I want to help people, because I can, because it’s the right thing to do… I don’t want to sneak out, and I know that you-”

“-You can start at the end of the week.”

Peter’s mouth fell open but Pepper still looked calm, as though she was talking about him getting an allowance. “Wha-what?”

“You have to get through this last week at school, use the time to train up a little, and to keep up with your school work, and you’re going to have a curfew, and you have to tell us if you even get a splinter, and you’re keeping your extracurriculars, at least debate, you’re good at it and college applications will be coming up before you know it,” Pepper’s head turned to Tony, still smiling calmly, as though she had been waiting for this conversation, and she had, “But, a week, that’s all you need, right babe?”

“Yeah, I’ve finished the communication upgrades, as we know that some people in this family struggle with that,” Pepper sent him a pointed look, “and there’s a few new web features, but I want to see if I can improve the shield layer a little more, I mean it’s already pretty cool… Pete you can help me after you’ve done your homework, but first family dinner, it’s up to you if we join the team or if it’s just us.”

Peter stood perfectly still, his eyes wide, his mouth fallen open, “You’re… you’re both fine with it.”

“Oh we’re going to worry like hell, especially at the start, probably force calls through so much you’re going to hate the sound of our voices.”

“But this is part of you, part of us, this family is full of superheroes, why would you be any different?”

Peter’s mouth closed and smoothed out to a small smile, he looked at them as though he was dazed, he knew not everything was solved and that he still had to check in with himself, had to address it, himself, and with his family, but for now he locked it away, he had better things to think about. “Let’s join the rest of our family, it’s burger night, right?”

When Peter walked towards the elevator, his parents were at his side.

"You’ve probably seen this photograph everywhere the past couple of days, but here it is again – Stark Industries CEO Pepper Potts, and Iron Man himself Tony Stark’s new child. Not much is known about the fifteen year old, Peter, but its said that he knew Tony personally long before he went to live with the Starks, it’s also a rare photograph of the biological child, Morgan Stark, who is four, her parents have kept her firmly out of the spotlight, could adding a new child to the mix jeopardise this? We’ll be talking to expert-."

Friday the following week hadn’t come soon enough for Peter, it had only been nine days wait, nine days of school, and family meals, of Christmas shopping, nine days of lab time, morning jogs, and training in self defence, but it was nine days too long, in Peter’s opinion anyway.

“Are you-”

“-If you say sure you owe me $50.” Peter’s eyes met Tony’s in challenge, out of his peripheral Pepper covered her mouth to hide a laugh.

“You know that $50 is like literally nothing to me, right?” Tony just watched his son shrug, Tony rolled his eyes fondly, before letting them drop to the webslingers in his hand, he did his twentieth check for any loose screws. “I was going to say ‘Are you still a pain in my ass’, turns out that you are,” He somewhat reluctantly passed them over.

Peter stood in his spideysuit, he looked down at it, it fit like a second skin on him, he fastened on his webslingers, anxiety turning his stomach like a screw, he checked that they were okay, before looking up to look at Pepper and Tony, the pair looked worried, concerned, reluctant to let him leave…. But they also looked proud. “I- I think I’m ready.”

“Keep it small, watch out for the little guys, anything big you call in the cavalry,” Pepper told him, her voice somehow gentle and fierce, “just let yourself get back into the swing of it, you can come home earlier than your curfew if you like, it’s allowed.”

Tony wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist, pulling her into his side, saving Peter from Pepper deciding that he should wait a little longer. Tony smiled at Peter, an easy smile, but full of joy, like when he had appeared again on the battlefield, only this time there were no hints of sadness or regret, “Go say hi to Queens, kid.”

That was all Peter needed, he walked onto the balcony, pulling his mask on as he walked.

Karen’s voice was a welcome surprise, he hadn’t allowed her to be activated on his cell for some time. He expected resentment, but he was just met with warmth. “Hello, Peter.”

“Hey Karen.”

“It’s good to have you back, Peter.”

He sucked in a breath of the cold night air, “It’s good to be back.”

“Where first?”

“Let’s go say hi to Queens, Karen, like Tony told me to do… and then, let’s go help the little guys.”

Chapter Text

Spiderman was silent as he swung through Queens, the only sign he had been there at all were lines in the snow whenever he was skim his feet. Around him were lights, decorations for each and every type of winter holiday, and new Spiderman murals, in each he was celebrating the holidays in various ways, various holidays too, he smiled beneath his mask, no one would have guess this was how he was choosing to celebrate the very earliest hours of Christmas morning, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

His body was aching, he was cold, he was tired down to his very bones, but he continued to smile, shifting as he swung to adjust the heavy red and blue sack on his back.

“Peter,” Karen’s voice was full of warning, “Boss said twenty minutes ten minutes ago, we still have to get back to-”

“I know, I know, I do, I just… I have one more lot, it’s an important one,” he could swear that he could feel the judgement in Karen’s silence.

He came to a stop on the roof of the Orphanage moving the sack of gifts he had bought with any money he had saved to his hands, and tried not to think about the time limit he was under, he climbed down the chimney, relieved about the dry cleaning feature the suit now possessed.

“Wow, Santa, a whole three minutes before your legally mandated ‘if you’re eight seconds late I’m gonna sic the whole ass avengers on your ass’, time.”

“Like you weren’t tracking me the entire time,” Peter pulled off his mask, beaming at Tony, seeing the sparkle in the man’s eyes, “And the name could need a little…”

“Yeah, we’re gonna have to workshop it.” he nodded his head towards the general direction of the bedrooms, “Go change, then get back here, you need to replace all the calories you just lost.”

Peter didn’t both arguing, when he got back, this time in his actual pyjamas, and dug into the grilled cheese Tony made, as he ate his eyes scanned the room, trying to figure out if any more gifts had been added to the winter wonderland which was the Starks’ home during the holidays.

Tony blew gently on the mug of coffee in his hands, trying to hide his amused smile as his kid looked oh so subtly around for any more presents: The same amused smile he and Pepper had shared every time Morgan or Peter would sneak a shake of the presents labelled as theirs underneath their Christmas tree, one of several in their apartment, all decorated by the Starks and their family.

“Santa doesn’t deliver presents until all the little kiddies are in bed,” he teased, watching Peter’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink and his mouth twisting into a grin which is both bright and mischievous, “but I guess you know a thing or two about that,” Peter hadn’t allowed any of them to help much, insisting on buying anything and everything himself, in building or fixing anything that was needed, he had only accepted some help with the donation of things which would other have been sent to be recycled. Peter met his proud remark with a half shrug.

As soon as Peter had finished and Tony had insisted on him drinking nearly an entire bottle of water, Tony giving him a mini lecture on hydration and skin care until Peter gave a snort of laughter and was hurried to bed.

Tony led Peter to his bedroom, as he or Pepper had done every night since they had begun to do it at the cabin, giving him an extra opportunity to talk or mention anything, good or bad. Once he knew that Peter was safe in his room, looking sleepy but forcing himself to shower before bed, washing away the smell of New York from his skin.

Tony gave Friday a command to let him know if Peter left his bedroom area, the same as he had commanded for Morgan, when he had put his younger kid to bed, then he walked away to go and join his wife in their bedroom, to finish the last of the wrapping of presents.

Peter was being attacked, a fist, a bomb, one of Thanos’ hands straight into his stomach, that was his first thoughts as he snapped his eyes opened, it was none of those things, it was Morgan, her dark hair wild and messy as she pushed it out of her eyes and over her head in a way which would make it fall back over her eyes any second.

“Mo?” He murmured, his voice thick with sleep.

“Happy Christmas, Petey!”

Her voice was so loud as she shouted that Peter’s ears rang, but a smile came onto his face as he sat up, tipping her onto the bed beside him as he did, his smile widened as he heard her giggle. He rubbed his eyes a couple of times and was suddenly filled with a tingle of excitement in his stomach, “Merry Christmas Mo.”

“Let’s go wake mommy and daddy up,” she encouraged, the two having already talked about it, Peter had agreed only because he knew that both Pepper and Tony had heard and smiled about the ‘plan’.

After checking with Friday for what time it was and deciding that six thirty was good enough for them, Morgan and Peter walked down the hallway to Pepper and Tony’s room, Peter placed his finger to his lip, hushing her but grinning as she copied him and giggled, as he did he used his Spider hearing to listen to Pepper and Tony mumbling as both confirming to each other that it was ‘Peter and Morgan awake’, and that they should pretend to be asleep, he didn’t know if it was for each other, or in the hopes that Peter would hear.

The two kids ‘snuck’ into the large bedroom and over to the bed, Morgan headed to Pepper’s side and Peter to Tony’s, Peter could see the smiles tugging at their lips, and Tony tensing in preparation.

Morgan threw herself at Pepper, as she had to Peter five minutes earlier, he hesitated for a second before throwing himself at the bed, the gap between Tony and the edge of the bed, joining in with Morgan’s shouting for them to wake up, and what day it was.

“Ugh,” Tony ‘grumbled’ as he ‘woke’ up, playfully glaring at Peter but he also wrapped his arm around Peter, making sure that he wouldn’t fall off of the bed, “Pep, is it too late to swap the kids for a dog?”

“You’d have to get up every single morning at this time to walk a dog.”

Tony look like he debated it for a second, “I guess we’ll keep the kids then.”

Peter rolled his eyes but was still grinning, in fact Tony’s teasing made his smile widen, “Merry Christmas.”

An easy smile slid onto Tony’s face, “Merry Christmas, Bambi,” he pulled his kid into a hug, a one armed one as he hadn’t yet put on his prosthetic, Peter wrapped his arms around him in response, for once he felt the stump of Tony’s arm and didn’t remember the snap of Tony’s finger and thumb.

It was two hours later that Morgan and Peter were finally done opening presents, from Tony and Pepper.

Peggy and Angie who had given them their gifts and left to join the avengers for breakfast, and Rhodey and Happy had also handed over gifts and were now drinking litres of coffee in Starks’ kitchen, grumbling about the kids being the reason why they woke up, even though Friday announced that they had both asked for her to set an alarm to wake them up when the kids were awake.

Peter hadn’t stopped grinning, their home had already resembled a winter wonderland, but when they left Tony and Pepper’s room they were met with a sight of more presents than Peter had had in his life time, he had been in shock even before Pepper had pointed out that half of them were his, and that he should get started or they’d never be ready for Christmas dinner.

So Peter unwrapped all different gifts, from ‘Santa’, a new laptop for school, a box full of parts for him to build his own desktop, with Tony’s help, clothes of various types, sneakers, all his style, funko pops, figurines, comics, Lego, a new tool kit, everything under the sun and then some.

He beamed at Morgan’s face when she opened the robot dog he had made her, changing her name for it about fifty times a second, she had clearly wrapped up her present for him, and when he unwrapped it he found a New York city Lego set, a not yet released set, a Spiderman New York City Lego set. He managed not to swear in shock… barely.

Eventually they were done, and Peter was starting to feel carpal tunnel or something coming on, but he was also beaming, slightly blushing from all of the attention, and about to go and find his present for them he had hidden, when another was presented to him… well it was out thrust so vigorously that an Iron Man Christmas wrapping paper wrapped gift flicked his nose.

He looked up and saw a smirking Tony, “Ow.”

“Oh c’mon, I know that didn’t hurt you, Petey.” Tony rolled his eyes but checked his kid over with his eyes anyway, “Will one last present easy your pain and strife?”

Peter’s face crumpled into what Tony had dubbed his ‘confused puppy’ face, “But I already… I already got loads…”

“Those were from Santa, this is from me and Pep.” His eyes flickered to Morgan and back, glad that they had Morgan to use as an excuse, and to add to the magic of Christmas, “I refuse to be outdone by some old guy, why do you think I refuse to race Cap?”

Peter let out a small laugh, and seeing both Pepper and Tony watching him he accepted it, unwrapping it as Morgan unwrapped her own from them. He slowly unwrapped his own, careful not to rip it open. He pulled out a lanyard, black but the very sides were golden… it was nice, you know if you liked lanyards, he guessed he needed one, there had been news of new card readers being added into the school, no doubt financed by Tony and Pepper, the last lanyard he had was from the Stark Expo, he wasn’t sure where that was though.
“Thanks, guy, this is a… this is a really nice lanyard, thank you.”

Pepper sent him a look, “You really think we’d just give you a lanyard?”

“Look at the card at the end, Pete.”

Peter’s confused puppy look returned in full force, but he did as he was told. There was a photo of him, a recent one at that, one Happy insisted on taking as part of his head of security job, looking troubled when Peter asked his special measures for an evil twin scenario. Peter’s mouth fell open.

Peter Benjamin Parker Stark.
Stark Industries Intern.
Research and Development Department.
Gold Level Access.

Peter was lost for words, only able to pull his eyes off of the lanyard’s card when he heard Tony’s nervous voice asking him if he liked it, if it was okay, Pepper telling him they weren’t sure what to get him, but if he came up with a different idea he could have it.

He stood up wordlessly, and wrapped his arms around both Tony and Pepper. “This is perfect, beyond perfect… I… thank you… thank you both so much,” he felt them hold him closer, and soon Morgan had abandoned her gift and had joined the rest of her family in the hug.

When Peter had finally pulled himself away from Tony and Pepper he grabbed the neatly wrapped present from a hidden cranny, he handed it over, shifting from foot to foot as he watched them unwrap it.

“It’s not much, but I didn’t know what to get you, you guys have everything, I didn’t know, so I, I decided to make this…” He watched them staring down at the handmade with wood from the cabin photo frame, inside was a photograph from Peter’s first day back at school; one of the ones taken from inside their slightly messy home, not the one taken downstairs with a background superimposed behind them, the second set of photos had been happy, but these ones, when he had seen them… they radiated happiness, he had asked Peggy to keep the photograph for him, planning then and there to add that photo to the frame.

This time he was the one to find himself pulled into the joint tight hug, their hands resting on his back, where the scars from Charles were, they didn’t cringe away from them, they embraced it, they embraced every part of him, scars and all. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, and he was almost one hundred percent certain that the two of them were crying too, happy tears, from all of them.

“So… it’s okay?”

Pepper let out a wet laugh, “This is the best gift we’ve ever been given, other than you and Morgan.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t call those gifts, we put a lot of work into becoming parents to both of them.”

Peter could feel Tony tense, uncertainty filling every inch of him, but Peter kept hold of them both, “Merry Christmas Mom, Merry Christmas Dad.” He whispered, and soon they were holding him even tighter, kisses repeatedly pressed into his hair, from both of them.

“Children and families across Queens have received a little extra holiday gift this year, a mere week since Queens’ favourite superhero, Spiderman, returned to the city. Toys were wrapped for children, refurbished Stark pads and laptops were delivered to teenagers, and groceries and gifts were left for the needy, for the homeless, and for shelters across the neighbourhood.

Our reporters reached out to Stark Industries, who deny any involvement in this extra holiday gift, however in a tweet Tony Stark himself sent this morning in the early hours he hinted that a ‘certain guy in red’ left the gifts, and that Stark Industries would be sending any and all refurbished Stark Pads or laptops given to them as part of the Stark recycling program to disadvantaged people across any country they have stores.

Charities around the world have also released statements thanking Stark Industries for donations, large ones seeming to go to children's’ charities, possibly due to the Stark family recently being joined by their new foster son, Peter, a New York native.

Other Avengers, such as Brooklyn’s own Steve Rogers, have also been thanked for their individual donations, and their various social media accounts have hinted that Spiderman is the one who is responsible for every single one of the Queens gifts.
Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff’s hint is quite simply “ Spiderman refurbished, bought, and delivered all those gifts, you really think @StevePunchNazisRogers would step foot in Queens? ”.
Although this is a seemingly blatant statement, Ms Romanoff is fairly well known for her dry humour, and Captain America has released statements reassuring all that he would ‘ possibly step foot in Queens, if [he] ever really, really, had to ’.

However it appears that neither Stark Industries or Spiderman will be taking any credit for this act of kindness, needless to say, Queens, for one reason or another, is very happy to see that Spiderman is back, this time for good.”

Peter couldn’t help but agree, it was good to have Spiderman back, for good.

Peter sat on the couch in a food coma, comfortable, so long as he didn’t have to move. The Starks had spent noon onwards on the Avengers floor, receiving yet more gifts, and eating various food individual members of the team had insisted were important to eat at Christmas.

He watched as Tony and Bucky competed in the forth and final race in the ‘One Armed Mario Kart championship’, the sound of Pepper, Rhodey, and Steve, laughing at the stubborn competitiveness of the men. Angie, Bruce, Happy, and Wanda had been roped into playing one of Morgan’s new board games, all of the adults, bar Bruce, playing way too competitively. Nat and Peggy were talking quietly in Russian and laughing every now and again, Peter caught enough random words that he knew the two were recounting old missions.

Clint caught Peter’s eyes, his hands moved in American Sign, “Are you okay?”

Peter smiled and nodded his head once. He was. He really, really, was.

Fin.