Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Get your bag. They’ll be here soon.” Melissa stared at Peter, expectant. It seemed more like a dominance match than anything. “Now, Peter!” She snapped. Peter broke his stare from her and jumped off his bed. As she left the room, Peter grabbed what he owned: a small flying spider robot and its controller, his hand-built computer, a pair of black headphones with the ear muffs fraying, all his clothes, and his only pair of sneakers. Everything else had to stay and be given to some other kid. Everything except

“Peter, don't forget!" Aunt May waved her translucent fingers through the plush moose that sat on his bed. She sighed with frustration. “I would grab it for you if I could.” She spun around and stuck her bottom lip out in a pout, and folded her arms. “I wish I could haunt people and move objects. I would be so much more helpful.”

Peter chuckled, albeit regretful, and picked the plush moose up to stuff it in his backpack. It peeked its head out of the top, as if watching his back for him. He chanced a glance around himself, then said, “You’re plenty helpful still. I mean, you’re here.” He gestured around him. “That’s got to count for something,” he sighed and yanked his backpack straps on.

May seemed to hear the words he didn’t say and moved to float in front of him. “I know I’ve been leaving you alone a lot lately, but I’ll try to stay for the move, okay? Just…” Her fingers fazed through his brown curls, another frustrated huff escaping her. “Try to be positive and helpful.” 

Peter turned his head and waved her off. “I think I’m allowed to be upset. Now, if you plan to keep lecturing me, don't bother staying.” With that, he turned away and headed down the stairs. May followed, but not closely. Peter didn’t mind. He’d been learning to live on his own for a while now; he didn’t need her company. Still…

Peter stopped mid-step and turned around on the stairs. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his head low. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

May clicked her tongue. “I know… Just keep moving, baby.”

Melissa’s office was a wreck. It was usually tidy enough to find things, like the top of her desk, but then kids weren’t getting adopted on a week’s notice. Melissa was mad at him for that, too.

On top of the mess of papers was his adoption paperwork. It was signed and stamped by Karen, his assigned Child Protective Services agent.

“It’ll be great when you’re gone,” Melissa had said the other day when she showed him the papers. “Then you won’t be able to cause any more problems here.”

Peter gritted his teeth and flattened his palm on a stack of documents, pushing it onto the floor. The folders scattered and sent the papers sliding. He smiled smugly and went to the back room to wait.

Soon enough, he could see his new parents enter Melissa’s office. Melissa immediately saw the mess of papers and, with a deep scowl, looked through the window into the back room. She set her middle finger against the bridge of her glasses and pushed them up her nose. Peter shrugged and leaned back on the couch. 

May muttered something under her breath. Something like, “nobody…flip off my kid… only I get to.”

The couple sat in front of Melissa’s desk as Melissa apologized for her disorderly office. Eventually, Peter turned away from the office window and pulled his headphones out of his backpack. Putting them on, he focused on his breathing, listening as the noise faded to a gentle buzz he couldn't decipher. He breathed a sigh of relief. 

He was lucky. Should feel lucky. He was getting adopted by rich people nonetheless. But, all he could feel was a painful churn in his stomach and a tingling on the back of his neck. 

Peter closed his eyes and breathed deeply. 

A woman crouched before him in his memory and set a gentle hand on his knee. She had black rimmed glasses, hair tied up in a messy bun, and soft brown eyes. She looked a lot like May. But she was alive. 

“I know this is hard,” Karen said, concern creasing her brows. “But this is going to be a good change. You won't be in a crowded group home anymore, and you won't need to hope for a foster home.”

Peter pulled his knee out from under her hand and frowned. “I don't need a change. I'm doing just fine being stuck here.” 

Karen's brown eyes glanced to his knuckles, newly bruised and cracked, then to his split lip. 

A moment passed, then Peter slouched and turned back to her. “He was trying to take Moose.”

Karen nodded and set her lips in a thin line. “Still could've been solved without violence… but I know you're just trying your best.”

“I don't want to bother with anyone anymore. Nobody cares, and everybody just hurts me. No more parents, no more adults controlling my life. I just want to be alone.”

Her eyes softened. “Peter. You gotta open yourself up to opportunities. You never know when something is going to be really, really great unless you give it a shot.”

“I just don't need everything to change again.”

“I know. But maybe this will be the last time things will have to change. Have you thought of that?” 

Peter looked to the side and shook his head. 

Karen smiled gently. “I figured.” Again, she set her hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze. “But, I'll be there for you, and I'll see you once a week. And if it is really, truly terrible, I'll fix it.” 

Peter met her gaze. “You promise?”

A knock on his headphones set his eyes flying open, his ears stinging from the harsh noise it produced. “I did not like that little stunt back there with the papers,” Melissa spat. She crouched down in front of him and glared hotly. “You won’t be able to act like that for your new family. They’ll have rules for you to follow, and they might not be as nice as me if you don’t follow them. I’d work on straightening myself out right about now.”

“What? You scared I’ll come back?”

Her jaw clenched, lips pursed tight. “Peter, you’re a brat. It’s a miracle you’re getting adopted by anybody. Miracles are once in a lifetime. Don’t screw this up.” She jutted her finger into his chest, then stood. “Now get out there, put on a smile, and be a good brat.” She pressed her hand on his backpack and guided him forward with a little force. 

In her office, there stood Pepper Potts and Tony Stark. They were widely known as the Starks, but Pepper had made her preference known to news outlets that she wanted to keep her surname for business purposes. They looked nice, somewhat happy, even excited. Peter rolled his eyes and walked straight out of the office.

“Peter!” Melissa called after him. She sighed deeply. “Sorry, this is his attitude I was talking about. I hoped it’d be better for today, but it looks like it’s one of his bad days.”

The group home doors shut behind Peter. He breathed in the cold air of polluted New York. The sun was right above him, hidden behind dark clouds that cast his skin in shadow. And he liked it. It made him focus on his body instead of the images that liked to appear in his mind.

The doors creaked behind him. Heels met pavement. 

“Hi, Peter.” Pepper came around to face him and smiled pleasantly. “My name is Pepper. I don't mind if you call me that for as long as you need. My husband is Tony Stark; he’s New York’s very own Iron Man!” She straightened and smiled widely as if hoping he would appreciate the way she talked to him, like he was a little kid.

He frowned. “I already know that,” he answered. 

That didn’t seem to be quite what she was looking for. Her green eyes flicked to her husband’s, and Tony stepped closer to the boy. 

“Well, isn’t that cool? You’re getting adopted by Iron Man and the Starks,” Pepper exclaimed.

Peter looked away and pulled at his backpack strap. “Can we just go?”

“Uh, yeah. Let's get out of this wind.” Pepper waved her hand, and a car drove through the small lot, then stopped in front of them. A large man climbed out and opened the door for everyone.

“Thanks, Happy.” Tony slapped the guy on the shoulder and sat up in the front while Pepper and Peter sat in the back. Pepper stayed on her end, Peter on his. A whole seat between them.

He set his backpack on his lap and put on his seatbelt as the driver got back in. 

“Let’s head home, Happy.”

“You got it, boss.”

Lots of smiles and glances and shifting in seats. May was glaring at Peter, tapping her finger on her hip. Peter sighed and looked towards the woman on his left. 

“Where am I living?”

“That’s… a great question. We’re going to live in a house further in the city. It’s not too far from the Tower—Stark Tower—, but we thought it best to live in a family home than… a business building. At least for a little while,” Pepper explained.

Peter nodded and looked back out the window. A sudden jolt to his seatbelt sent pain blooming in his shoulder. 

“Shi-Shoot! That dam-darn car cut me off!”

Peter closed his eyes as flashes played in his mind. The pain in his shoulder spread through his veins, hacking at his chest and stomach, cold as ice. His breath stuck in his lungs, and his throat closed.

Ben was there. Ben was yelling and coming closer. Too close! He raised his hand and-

“Peter!” The shout shook him out of his memory, and his eyes locked onto May. “You’re okay,” she said. 

Peter shook the terror away and tried to act as if nothing had happened. He was fine! Ben wasn’t here, and nobody was hurting him right now. He was only stuck in a car.

After a period of deep breathing, the car squealed to a stop in a long driveway connected to a large house. Not really a house, per se, but that’s what Pepper had called it. 

The house was wide and tall, a white fence dividing the land away from neighbors with equally as large homes. The roof was red, like clay. The exterior walls were a sandstone hue. On the porch, white columns rose to the roof, setting off the desert colors. It was nothing like Peter had ever seen before, except maybe in magazines. He always lived in apartment buildings. Ben and May were never able to afford a house, even if they worked extra shifts. His first actual house was the group home, but it still paled in comparison to this. 

“What do you think?” Tony asked, tearing Peter from his staring. He realized that his car door was open, and Tony was standing there, patiently waiting for a response.

“It’s big for just three people,” he said.

Tony shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, maybe it is a bit overboard if we’re trying to be discreet.”

Peter furrowed his brows and closed his car door behind him. “What do you mean?”

Pepper came to Tony’s side and intertwined her fingers with his. “We wanted to live in a normal house with you so that you could grow up in something you’re used to. And, we didn’t want the media intruding on our lives, so we’ve kept it secret so far.”

“The media won’t catch wind of you until you’re ready,” Tony finished the explanation. 

Peter scoffed and shook his head. “Okay, whatever.” He adjusted his backpack onto his shoulders and walked behind them, letting them lead the way. As they climbed the porch stairs, the man from before drove away, going who knows where.

The interior in the house was extravagant. Art pieces, statues, and decorative pottery lined the walls or stood on side tables to be displayed. There was a large living room with a red sectional, a black loveseat across from it. Beside them, a fireplace with another massive painting hung above it. Then, the kitchen. It didn’t look necessarily lived in, too pristine looking. But, it was stocked with food and kitchen tools, no speck of dust in sight.

Upstairs were four bedrooms. Two large guest rooms, a massive master bedroom, and then his room, directly down the hall. Peter noted the ease of the route to his room. They could come unannounced easily on the extra soft carpeted hallway floors. Would he even hear their footsteps?

“There’s a bathroom right there, one in our bedroom, and two downstairs. And, we could show you the backyard if you want, though we haven't done much decorating there. But, there’s a lot of open space for you to play.”

Peter nodded. “Thanks for the tour,” he mumbled. 

They guided him back to his room.

“Kid, uh… why don’t you have a look around, and, you know… set up your room and unpack? Pep and I will wait for you downstairs. Just come when you’re ready. Yeah?” Peter nodded, and they left him alone.

His room was the only one that looked barren. There wasn’t even a painting in there. Maybe they wanted him to make it his own, or they just had no idea what he liked and decided to leave it bare for him to mess with.

There was a twin bed, a nightstand, a mirror on the wall, blue curtains, and a walk-in closet. His window gave him a satisfying view of the backyard. Maybe they’d be okay with him setting up a chair there to watch the scenery.

Peter hung his clothes on the provided hangers in the closet and took off his shoes to set them beneath the racks. Then, he put his gadgets on his nightstand. His most precious possessions that never ever left his bag stayed safely inside his pack. He shoved the bag under his bed, far in the corner, so it was difficult to reach. Hopefully, his new parents wouldn’t notice and think to look through it. Lastly, he set up Moose beside the white pillow on his bed.

“Looks great!” May chirped. Peter shoved away from his surprise and looked around with her. “I know it’s not much right now, but this is such a pretty place. I mean, they are billionaires, but whatever.” She pushed her gold-rimmed round glasses up her nose and smiled at him. “Do you like it?”

Peter shrugged and curled up on top of the blue blanket on the bed. “I guess it’s okay.”

She sat on the bed and flitted her fingers over his curls. “Please stop moping. You’re killing everyone’s excitement by being rude, and no nephew of mine is allowed to be rude to just anybody.”

Peter closed his eyes and snatched Moose before holding him to his chest. “I never asked to be here,” he said. “I don’t care if they’re getting bummed out because I’m not as excited as you think I should be. I don’t have the energy to fake it, May.”

“Hmm… alright, well, at least participate where you can. Try, okay? I’m sure you’ll start feeling better about this eventually.”

“I will, but… can you maybe leave at least until tonight? So-so that I’m not weird and looking at you? Please?”

May nodded, though Peter couldn’t see, and her cold touch vanished. When Peter opened his eyes, he was truly alone. He felt safer like this. If no one was around him, they couldn’t remind him of what happened or what could happen. He could exist in himself this way.

Participate. Just try. Peter inhaled deeply before peeking his head into the living room. Tony and Pepper were cuddling on the couch, watching tv on a screen that hadn’t been there before.

“Did that come from the wall?”

The couple jumped and looked behind them at the slowly approaching boy. Tony sat up with a grin. 

“Yeah, you like it? Keeps the place tidy when we can store things like this. Pretty cool, right?”

Peter pursed his lips into somewhat of a smile and nodded, his hands grabbing at each other and squeezing his fingers. “You-you said to come down.”

“Yup, that’s right. Why don't you sit with us?”

Peter swallowed and entered the seating area, choosing to sit on the very edge of the sectional. He could imagine May would’ve rolled her eyes at him for the distance. Oh well.

“Do you like your room? Did you set anything up?” Tony asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Peter nodded. “I unpacked my bag.”

“Good job,” Pepper praised. “I bet it looks much better now than it did before. I know it looked pretty bare.”

Peter shrugged. “I didn’t bring a lot. Just some clothes and stuff.”

Tony nodded. “Ah, well… just means we’ll have to shop for some things you like. Do you have a favorite color?”

Peter looked to the side and wiped his hands on his pants. “Um… r-red.”

“Iron Man red?”

Peter quickly shook his head, much to Tony’s dismay. “Like Spider-Man.”

Pepper smiled. “You like Spider-Man?” Peter nodded. “He’s a cool hero. It’s too bad he hasn’t been around in a while.” 

“Kid, listen. We wanted to talk about house rules and such, but you don't seem up for it. Do you want to talk about anything else? Like, like, what’s going through your mind right now?”

Pepper elbowed Tony in his side, earning a glare, but she kept her attention on the boy.

“Nothing. Nothing’s going through my mind. We can talk about rules. If-if you want.”

“Right, sure. Um… is there anything you want us to know about you before we begin?”

“Yeah, actually. I-I’m fourteen, so you don't need to treat me like a kid. I can do things on my own and understand things pretty easily. So, stop using kid words when you talk to me. I won't respond to it.”

Tony raised his brows. “Okay, got it. We’ll stop that.”

“What… sorry, what ‘kid’ words?” Pepper asked.

Peter scowled. “Like ‘play’ in the backyard or tiptoeing around me all day. Or trying to make me happy. You adopted me, so just do what you want with me, and I’ll deal with it.” 

Pepper nodded and pursed her lips. “I’m sorry if I offended you earlier. I’ll try to speak to you more respectfully.”

Peter blinked and leaned back a bit. “Really?”

“Yes, Peter. It’s okay to ask us to do something differently if it’ll make you more comfortable.”

“Anything else we should know?”

“Yeah,” Peter said, his pupils narrowing with contempt. “Don’t expect me to ever like you or call you any other name than Tony and Pepper. You may have adopted me, but you can't make me like you or love you. So don’t even try, or you’re going to be disappointed.”

Pepper’s eyes widened as her mouth fell open. But Tony seemed to get over his shock quickly. 

“Now, that was rude and disrespectful, even for me. And I'm pretty patient.” He stood up and took a step in Peter’s direction. “That sort of behavior is what will not be allowed.”

Peter tensed as he glared at the man approaching him. 

“If you ever-“

“Tony.”

Tony stopped and looked back at his wife, a simple shake of her head making him back down. He exhaled through his nose and sat down, his glare set on Peter. Apparently, Pepper controlled the beast.

Peter relaxed as a smug smirk graced his lips. He leaned back on the cushions in victory. 

“Moving on…” Pepper cleared her throat. She smoothed her skirt, and her voice turned professional and strict. “Curfew is 10 pm. That means getting ready for bed by ten, not coming home then. Homework comes before any activities, and you are not allowed to use Friday to cheat or do your homework for you. You’re allowed to get food when you’re hungry, and we’ll keep stock of snacks. Clean up after yourself, don’t leave a mess, and ask for permission before you go anywhere. These family meetings will be every Saturday and Wednesday evening. You're required to attend. If you’re confused about something, ask. If you don’t have anything more to add that is relevant and helpful to the meeting, I’ll start making dinner. Do you have anything to add?”

“Nope,” Peter replied, popping the ‘p.’ 

Pepper huffed and stood. “Then you’re free to do what you want for the evening.” Her heels clacked against the hardwood floor as she entered the kitchen, her view obscured from the living room.

Peter walked past Tony, only to have his arm snatched by the man. Peter sucked in a breath and turned around.

“You can be disrespectful to me, but not to my wife. She’s the reason you’re here in the first place. I was fine with anyone else as long as they didn’t come with diapers. Get rid of the attitude and don’t make this any harder on her. Or you’re going to regret it.”

Peter clenched his jaw and glared, his fingers trembling behind him. “You can’t make me listen to you,” he said. “Pepper will stop you.”

“Over time, Pepper will agree.”

Peter’s eyes widened, and he pulled out of Tony’s hold. He turned for the stairs and dashed up them, his heart hammering in his chest.

His door shut behind him, and he released the breath he had been holding, his body slumping over. He wrinkled his shirt in his hand and blinked heavily.

“Go away,” he whispered. “Go away,” he squeaked. 

The images flashed. Pain trailed over his skin. Ben was there, May too. She called out, but Ben said it needed to be done. Peter had to learn to be better. The hospital room and the blood. The knife in his stomach.

“Are you okay?”

Peter shrieked then clamped a hand over his mouth, his wide eyes sizing the small ghost up. He listened, his breath slow and soft until he was sure no one was coming.

“Don’t scare me like that! Who even are you?”

The little girl tilted her head to the side, Her brown hair falling over her thin shoulders. She had brown eyes that looked so curious yet intelligent. A perfectly white dress covered her small form, her feet visible. Few ghosts had the strength to produce their entire image.

“Are you haunting this house?”

She giggled. “Haunting? Of course not! What do you think I am?”

Peter furrowed his brows. “Um… a ghost?”

“No, silly. I’m a spirit. I haven’t lived yet.”

Peter raised a brow. “I didn’t know I could see those, too. Can other people see you?”

“Not if I don’t want them to. But, you see me no matter what.”

Peter nodded and made his way to his bed, picking up Moose. “So then, what’s your name?”

Her head tilted again. “I don’t know my name today. I’m sure it’ll come to me.”

Peter chuckled. “Why are you here?”

“I like to visit my family! Mommy and Daddy are downstairs, you’re up here, and in their house, so you’re my big brother. Right?”

His smile slipped, and he shrugged. “Not for long… they’ll stop wanting me eventually.”

The little girl walked over and sat beside Peter, her translucent hand sitting on Peter’s, though phasing through it somewhat. “I like you, and I want you. That means Mommy and Daddy have to like you.”

Peter nodded and looked away. “Well, that’s a lesson you’ll probably learn pretty quick. Kids don’t get to choose what their parents do.”

Ben never listened to Peter’s pleas. 

“Morgan!” She snapped. Peter raised a brow and leaned away from her. 

“What?”

“My name.” She grinned. “It’s Morgan!”

Peter laughed. “I’m Peter. Nice to meet you, temporary sister.”

Chapter Text

Starks are heroes, people who change the world. Howard fulfilled at least half of that, but the ‘hero’ part, he hadn’t excelled in. Pepper knew. She knew what it meant to marry Tony. Tony had worked for years to change the legacy his name would leave. Everyone doubted him, thinking Afghanistan made him crazy. Pepper doubted. He showed everyone they were wrong about him.

Tony Stark isn’t the next Howard Stark. He is the first Tony Stark, the first in his line to make a difference in the world by saving the people in it. Pepper knew she had quite a name to live up to.

Their wedding day was beautiful. It was outside, and Tony didn’t have his sunglasses on for once. They were surrounded by friends and family only. She adored it and placed it on her bedside table to wake up to every morning. The three years that followed were just as amazing. Ultron occurred, sure, which wasn’t that great, but they worked through it together. They were stronger, better, and perfect together. So, when the news came that it wasn’t likely for her to get pregnant, she knew they would be okay.

Peter Parker came to their attention because Natasha had been volunteering at the local orphanages when she could. His name was gossip amongst the caretakers; everyone cursing his name. The brat, the problem child, the bane of the orphanage. A plague to all those around him. He was orphaned because his last living relative was arrested for child abuse. Pepper wished the police had found him sooner. Maybe he wouldn’t be so broken.

That’s all she could think of when considering the boy. No one was inherently evil. No child acted out and rebelled for no reason. It was a cry for help hidden under forced strength and aggression.

Peter became a project. Once she had mentioned him to Tony, he was already trying to find out all he knew about the boy. Hospital records, living records, family relations, and anything else he could come across. Hospital images were gruesome and made Pepper lightheaded. He had been thirteen at the time, stumbling through the streets until someone called an ambulance. There was a blood trail. All evidence pointed to the uncle.

Pepper wanted to help Peter, but nothing could have prepared her for his shocking behavior. 

She had tried to get through to him that first night in her care. But even when she knocked and offered food, he wouldn’t speak to her. By morning, the tray was still there, untouched. When lunch came, Tony grabbed her arm and shook his head.

“Just let it go.”

Pepper frowned, her brows knitted. “He hasn’t eaten for a whole day now.”

Tony shrugged even though he was equally worried. “If he’s hungry, he’ll come down.”

“He doesn’t even know us, Tony. And he hates us.” She set the tray back on the table and sat at her seat beside him. She laid her arm down, then rested her head on it. Tony’s fingers sank into her messy bun and massaged.

“No one ever said it would be easy,” he whispered. “If you really want him to eat right now, we can make him. Eventually, we’ll need to tell him what to do.”

She sighed, her hot breath puffing into her face. “The classes said to let him come to us.”

“Yeah, well… that’s just a suggestion, one meant to be ignored. They don’t really know how to parent.”

Pepper lifted her head and looked at him, exasperated. Laying her head back down, she said, “Maybe we should bribe him.”

Tony snickered, shaking his head. “Pep, those classes also said that we can’t discipline our children and that any discipline can be considered as child abuse. They said that we should try not to say no, either. I remember, because I failed those tests.”

Pepper chuckled and peeked up at him. “I can’t believe the teacher humiliated you in front of everyone. ‘Bad parent! Don’t be like him!’ Where did they even come up with this stuff?”

Tony shrugged. “I don't know, but I’m willing to bet that it came from adults who didn’t get everything they asked for when they were kids. That’s the hard problem. Some parents are too strict, others let their kids get away with anything. I don’t want to be like that, Pep. I don't want to be like…”

She reached out her hand and touched his folded arms. “I know. And you aren’t. We’re going to do our best to help Peter. I guess we could ask Karen. She said there'd be growing pains.”

Tony waved her off, “Nah. I'm not ready to admit defeat yet.” Pepper chuckled and rolled her eyes. 

“I wish he liked Iron Man,” Tony pouted.

Pepper sat up and laughed. “I think he has something against you. It’s rather hilarious!”

He gasped. “Shut up! Don’t laugh at my pain!”

She bit her bottom lip with a grin. “I think it’s cute. Kinda. In a roundabout way. At least he was honest.”

“Yeah, real honest. Especially yesterday. Can you believe what he said?” She shook her head, and Tony continued speaking. “I talked to him after you left.”

“No! I told you-“

He raised his hands placatingly. “It was fine. I just told him to be respectful of you. That’s all.” 

Pepper shook her head and exhaled through her nose. “You probably scared him. You know that, right?”

He scoffed. “Scared him? How?”

“It’s all for show, Tony. His attitude, his acting out. It’s to-“

“Test us and get us to snap. Pep, he’s trying to see how much control he has over us. If you let him push and push, you won’t be able to take that control back.”

Pepper pursed her lips. “I don’t think so. We’re just feeling each other out. But we can have differing opinions. I want him to try to push, though. That’s the only way he’ll learn what we want from him.”

“Okay, I guess you’re right,” Tony shrugged it off. “So, how about we get the kid down here to talk? Get something new out of him that maybe isn’t so rude.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Fine, go ahead.”

“Friday, be a dear and tell Peter to come down here.”

“Yes, sir,” the AI replied.

It used to be so unnerving how the AI was always listening and watching. Pepper wondered if Peter got startled by it. Hopefully not.

Ten minutes later, Peter finally started coming down the stairs. He appeared pale in the living room light. His brown, curly hair was mussed flat on one side from lying on it for too long. On his arm were a pair of sneakers and a jacket.

“Hi,” he said. He sat in the seat across the table and started pulling on his shoes. “You wanted me?”

“Yeah, wanted to see if you were hungry for lunch?” Pepper tapped the edge of the plate meant for him, meeting his scowl with a hopeful smile.

“Oh,” he said. “I’m not hungry.”

“I know you may feel that way, but I think you should at least eat half of it.”

“I don’t want it,” he replied, his pupils narrowing. He stopped pulling on his shoes to stare back at her.

Pepper pursed her lips. “Why do you have your jacket and shoes? Planning on going somewhere?”

“To the park, yeah.”

Pepper hummed. “Oh, well, did you plan on asking before you left? Do you remember the rules I told you yesterday?”

Finally, Peter looked to the side. “Yes,” he mumbled. “Can I go to the park?”

Pepper smiled. “Not until you eat half of your lunch.”

A fire lit in his dark gaze before he huffed and pulled the plate to his side of the table. He stabbed the salad with his fork and shoved it into his mouth. Tony gently kicked her under the table, a nod sent in her direction.

Finally. Bribes work. 

“How’d you sleep, kiddo?” Tony asked.

“Fine. The house is practically silent compared to, well, anywhere else in the world,” he muttered, as if the lack of noise made him hate the house even more.

“I guess it is pretty quiet. Do you want a noisemaker? You know, those white noise machines?”

Peter glanced at him, then stared back at his plate. “No.”

Tony leaned back in his chair, rubbed at his eyes, and replied sarcastically. “Okay. Good talk. Really appreciate the feedback.”

“Peter, did you know that Friday can make noise? You could ask her to play city sounds if that’d help,” Pepper suggested.

Peter seemed to perk up in interest. “How?”

Pepper smiled. “Friday, play New York City sounds only in the kitchen.” After a second, tires rolled over crumbling asphalt, honks blaring in the distance, and people talked as if they were walking past the speakers.

Pepper watched as Peter listened, and his mouth turned up in a smile. When he noticed she was looking, he turned away and pursed his lips to hide it.

“Do you like it? Is that better?” 

Peter nodded slightly and continued to eat. 

“I’m glad. You’re always welcome to use Friday, just not for your homework. She can help with pretty much anything. You could have her call us if you ever needed to. Tony, what else can she do?”

Tony sat up and clasped his hands together on the table. “She can also place the house on lockdown. Which you should use if there are ever reporters outside. Leave them to me.”

Peter nodded. “Can she lock down any room? Like, what if a bad guy came in?”

“Yup. You can hide in your room and tell her to lock it down. It’ll only ever be lifted either by you or one of us.”

Peter frowned. “Oh.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Pepper asked.

Peter shook his head. “Nothing. But I ate half my plate. Can I go now?”

Pepper and Tony shared a look. Then, Tony said, “As much as I like to see you walking around, we have a lot of work to do today.”

Peter scoffed. “Why didn’t you say that before? You made me eat!”

Pepper knit her brows together in guilt. “Well, we can try later, Peter. Just not right now.”

His jaw clenched, and he stood from his seat. “What do you need me to be here for? Can’t I just go alone? That’s what I was planning anyway.”

Pepper sighed. “You’re right, we don’t particularly need you for anything, but you can’t go out alone.”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t work like that anymore, kid. If people find out who you are to us, it could be bad.” Tony said, glancing at Pepper. “What about Happy? He could take him.”

Peter dropped into his chair and huffed. “I should’ve known you were lying.”

Pepper raised a brow. “Lying about what?”

“What you said yesterday! I told you to stop treating me like a kid! I don’t need a babysitter. I’m fourteen! I’ve gone through more than any fourteen-year-old kid should!”

Tony scoffed. “You can’t blame us, especially after how you acted yesterday.”

Peter shot a glare in Tony’s direction. But before he could say anything more, Pepper stood.

“Happy will take you to the park,” she stated sternly. “You are to stay by him, not leave his sight, and come home when he says it’s time. I know you think that means we’re treating you like a child, but we just want you to be safe.” She turned to Tony. “Go to your lab and get to work. I’ll call Happy.” Once her husband stood and left for the basement, Pepper sighed and sat back down, softening her tone. “Peter, I need you to be willing to listen. We’re not the enemy here. Tony and I just want to help you.”

Peter softened his glare and looked away. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.” He pulled his jacket on and pushed his chair out from under the table. “I’m going to wait on the porch.”

Pepper watched him go, flinching as the front door slammed shut. “Friday, call Happy.”

The car from yesterday rolled up the driveway and stopped. The same man then climbed out and waved at Peter.

Peter stood and reached for the front passenger door.

“Ah-ah. Your dad sits there.”

“Tony isn't coming.”

“That’s the rules, kid. No one gets the front seat but Tony or Pepper. Not you.” The man opened the back passenger door and stepped aside. Peter sighed and climbed in. When the man took his own seat in the front, he looked into the rearview mirror. “So, where to?”

“Empire State Building.”

“Try again.”

Peter frowned. “If you already knew, why’d you ask?”

The man shrugged. “Something tells me you want to be in control.”

As the vehicle backed out of the driveway, Peter asked, “Is your name really Happy?”

He chuckled. “No. That’s just Tony’s nickname for me. I’m Harold Hogan.”

Peter nodded. “I’m Peter. What do I call you?”

“Nice to properly meet you, kid. Call me whatever you like. Hogan, Happy, Harold. Whatever you want.”

“Did Tony tell you what happened yesterday?”

Harold nodded. “He wanted someone to vent to, I guess. You ticked him off. He doesn’t usually come to me to complain about stuff. Must mean he’s trying to hide it from Pepper.”

Peter nodded and looked out the window. “So you have to stay with me this whole time?” Harold nodded. Peter asked, “If we walked somewhere, would you have to tell them?”

Harold shrugged. “Depends. What are you thinking?”

Peter pulled out a few bucks from his jacket pocket and flashed it to the driver. “I have my own money. So, maybe we could stop by this sandwich shop I know?”

“I’ll drive you there. Where at?”

“Queens.”

Peter felt twenty times happier now that he had finally gotten a sandwich from Delmar’s. It was practically a family reunion there. Peter had gotten a hug from Delmar and even a free cookie for coming after months of no contact. Delmar knew what had happened. Everyone knew. Or they thought they did. Still, it was nice to see him again.

His stomach finally full, he returned to Harold and they drove off to the park. They decided on Central Park, choosing to walk through the groves of brightly colored trees. They didn’t talk much, just walked, and Peter tried to communicate with the ghosts nearby. He wished he didn’t need to hide his gift. Ghosts were fun to talk to, and they were kind. Most of the time, anyway.

After an hour, they sat on a park bench as Harold scrolled through his phone. Peter glanced at the man beside him, his mouth twisted in a thoughtful frown.

Peter decided he rather liked the driver/bodyguard. He didn’t seem to be misleading him in any way or keeping things from him. He was honest. Maybe he could be good to talk to. Peter got up his courage.

“Why did they come and get me?” Peter asked.

Harold looked up, quirking a brow. “Because they wanted you.”

“They could’ve wanted anyone a lot more than me.”

Harold chuckled. “No, you misunderstand. You see, they heard about your test scores and how smart you are, and that convinced Tony. Pepper wanted you, because… well, I don't actually know. But she’s not one to make mistakes. Choosing you was very much on purpose.”

Peter nodded. “Do you think they’ll ever send me back?”

Harold put his phone away and turned towards Peter. “Kid, why aren’t you asking these questions to your parents?”

“They’re not my-“

“Right, right. I know, sorry. Why don’t you talk to them about this stuff? I don’t know everything.”

“I don't know… You just seem nice, I guess. And they…” Peter pulled his feet onto the bench and wrapped his arms around his knees. “Are you going to tell them what we talk about?”

“If I said yes, would you keep it all trapped inside?”

Peter huffed. “Just forget it then.”

“I won’t. If it’s that important to you, I won’t say anything.”

Peter looked at him and swallowed against the building lump in his throat. His eyes stung, and he quickly avoided his gaze. “I’m scared,” he whispered.

Harold seemed to hear him. “Why?”

“Adults are-are scary,” he admitted. “You-you’re not.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “I guess because I don’t live with you. And because you're actually nice to talk to.”

Harold nodded. “I think it’s my face. People confide in me because I’m so charming.” He nudged Peter in the side, making him chuckle lightly. “Tony and Pepper are good people, you know. You don’t have to be scared.”

“I don’t care if you think they’re good. I care that I’m scared that-that they’re going to get mad and send me away, or-or… I hate talking about this,” he huffed. He buried his head in his arms and bit back the tears.

“Why’d you bring it up then?”

“May said to talk to you,” he sniffled.

Harold straightened. “May? Like… who’s May?”

Peter lifted his head with wide eyes. “N-no one! I-I mean, someone. From the orphanage. Uh, said to talk to someone a-about what I was thinking, I mean. She’s no one.”

Harold grunted. “Well, all I can think to say is… life is hard, kid. But it won’t get any easier until you talk to the people that matter. You need to talk to your—Tony and Pepper, and things can change. It can either go good or bad, but it’ll change. And if you do it now, then it won’t be such a shock for everyone involved later.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe he really did just need to talk to them. Maybe it would stop being so scary. 

Peter bit his lip and wiped a tear off his cheek. “I don’t think I can do it,” he croaked. “I’m not strong enough. I’m not brave.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Harold looking at him, expression unclear. He shifted in his seat, and his large arm rested on Peter’s back. He patted him and breathed deeply. Peter waited for a response, the silence spanning until there was a ‘buzz’ from Harold’s breast pocket. With a final pat, Harold stood. 

“Let's get you home.” Peter met Harold’s gaze, finding hints of grief or regret. He wasn’t sure. He quickly bowed his head and pushed off from the bench.

In the car, Peter asked, “Are you mad?”

Harold shook his head, his eyes set on the road ahead. “No. I just wish things were different. I wish you weren’t scared and never had to be.”

Peter turned away and swallowed hard.

Me, too.  

Chapter Text

He was home. In Aunt May’s and Uncle Ben’s house. Pictures of May were hung on the wall, her smile clear and innocent. Peter felt small and young. He crept down the dark hall and walked into the cramped living room. Ben was there, watching TV, with a few cans of beer on the couch side table. 

“Ben?” He called. The older man jumped, then looked back at the boy. His mouth twisted down into a deep frown.

“Did I tell you to come outta your room?”

Peter shook his head slowly.

“Then what are you doing out?”

“I-I don’t feel so good, Ben. My tummy hurts.”

He was suddenly on his back, crushed beer cans beside his head. His face was wet. What had happened? 

Peter sat up slowly, wincing as his stomach ached and throbbed. Ben was watching TV, completely ignoring the boy. He looked down at his lap and saw that it was wet. Ben was going to be mad. 

Peter gasped awake, and his eyes snapped open. He panted as he looked around, blinking away the dizziness, making his vision swirl. He slowly sat up, feeling the disgustingly familiar warm sensation under his sheets. Peter shivered and pulled back his blankets to look down at the mess.

“Crap,” he whispered. “Crap, what am I going to do? What do I do?” He swallowed against his dry throat, a wave of nausea stilling him as he tried to stand. He grabbed onto his bedpost and stuck to it, just to be sure he wouldn’t fall. He breathed through the increasing dizziness and blinked his vision clear. 

“Okay, okay, okay,” he repeated to himself in a whisper. “Friday, lights.” 

With the room lit, his accident was more visible and even more embarrassing. He gritted his teeth as tears threatened to rise and tore off his sheets and blankets from the bed. 

“Friday, where’s the laundry room?”

“The laundry room is in the basement. However, you do not have access.”

Peter whined. “Why?”

“Boss’ lab is down there, and he has strictly forbidden me from letting you come near it.” 

He threw his head back in a groan. “Then what am I supposed to do with my sheets?”

“I would suggest putting them in your dirty clothes hamper. They will be taken care of eventually.”

Peter groaned. “Friday, I need to do them now. Can I please just go down there? I promise I won’t even go near the lab doors.”

“I’m sorry, Peter. I cannot allow you to go against Mr. Stark’s rules. You have not yet been authorized to change protocols.”

Peter swore under his breath and rubbed at his eyes. “Okay, well-“

“However,” Friday interrupted, “I can notify Tony and Pepper Stark about-“

“No!” Peter snapped, gasping from the noise. Back to a whisper, he said, “No one can know about it. I-I’ll just… isn’t there a way to hand wash it?”

“Pepper Stark has asked what’s going on. I have notified her, and she is coming to assist.”

Peter’s eyes snapped open wide. “Friday, no! Why-why didn’t you listen to me?” He quickly ran to his dirty clothes basket and gathered his clothes together around the soiled sheets. Just as Pepper knocked on the door, he held the clothes at his waist, hiding his predicament.

“Come in,” he whispered. 

Pepper swung the door open, revealing that she was dressed in an ironed, blue suit coat, white button-up shirt, and a blue pencil skirt. “Hi, sweetie. Friday said you had some laundry to be done.”

He nodded hesitantly. “Is-is that all she said?”

Pepper raised a brow. “Uh, yes. Is there something else you need?”

“No! No, I-I just wanted to get my laundry done. That’s all. I was trying to do it on my own, but Friday says I can't go to the basement.”

“Oh, that’s right. I completely spaced telling you that the other day. It’s because Tony’s lab is down there. It’s just safer to keep you away.”

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled. “But-but, could I uh, come with you to do the laundry? I mean, teenage boys stink, and you really don’t have to do my laundry.”

Pepper smiled sweetly. “I really don't mind. You can hand them-“ As she reached for the bundle in his arms, he quickly picked up the half-empty clothes basket and shoved it her way.

“How-how about I carry this and you carry that?”

Pepper furrowed her brows but thankfully agreed. She led him into the living room downstairs, then through the basement door. The steps creaked underneath them, and the floor was much colder than the rest of the house.

“Here it is,” she directed him to the laundry room. Peter went ahead and dumped his clothes in, suddenly remembering his soiled clothes. “Uh… can I uh, put my current…”

Pepper nodded stiffly. “Sure, uh, why not?” She opened the dryer to take out a couple of towels. “You can cover yourself up with these. I’ll just wait in the hall.” 

Peter’s cheeks burned red in embarrassment as he stripped naked. This really couldn’t get any worse. And here he had been saying he wasn’t going to get comfortable with these people. What an idiot.

Wrapped up with two towels, he shut the lid of the washer and tried to start it.

“Oh, are you covered?” Pepper asked.

“Yeah.” She came back into the room and started the washer for him.

“It’s a mixed load, so I wanted to put it on a different setting,” she explained. “Is there a reason you’re up this early?”

Peter shrugged. “Just-just woke up, is all. And… wanted to clean… my clothes for some random reason,” he replied, his words growing quieter as he spoke. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

“No worries,” she waved him off, beginning to direct him up the stairs. “I have to go in early for some meetings, so I was already awake. But, it was nice to be able to see you before I left!” 

Peter nodded in agreement as the basement door locked and sealed behind them.

Pepper stared at him for a moment longer, seeming lost in thought.

“Uh, I’m gonna go shower,” Peter said, jutting his thumb towards the stairs.

“Right! I’ll be heading out.” She turned, about to leave, then faced him again. “Eat something today, please? And take care of yourself.”

Peter bowed his head and nodded once.

“Bye, Peter. I’ll see you at dinner,” she called. 

Peter trudged up the stairs, holding onto his towel tightly. “Stupid laundry room in the basement,” he muttered. “You’re an idiot, stupid Peter.”

After a warm shower, which helped his shivering and dizziness subside for a little while, all he was left with was his aching stomach and the nausea that accompanied it. He really wasn’t sure if it was nausea from being sick or if it was from him being too hungry.

As he fell onto his back at the end of his bed, May appeared.

“You had a nightmare,” she stated.

“Yeah,” he huffed. “I also wet the bed like a stupid toddler.”

May hummed and sat beside him, the bed not dipping or shifting at all. “That happens sometimes. You know that.” 

Peter stared up at his ceiling, remembering the times he had wet the bed before. He had wet his pants in his dream. It was one of the first times he had done that after Ben had… well, maybe that didn’t need to be remembered.

“It makes me feel weak.” His voice came out in a shaking whisper, barely audible. “I feel so stupid and-and young. Why can’t… why can’t everything just get better so I don’t have to remember any of it?”

“You’ll always remember it, even when you get better. I remember when I got attacked in high school. It used to give me nightmares all the time. But I got better and still think about it sometimes. And maybe one day you’ll think about it and won’t feel so scared. Or maybe you always will. That doesn’t make you weak. You’re human, baby.”

Peter nodded, blinking past tears that had gathered. He sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “I’m going to go back to sleep.” He stood to grab an old hoodie from his dresser and used it as a tiny blanket. He laid his head on his pillow and watched as May came to kneel at his bedside. “Will you stay?”

She nodded and phased her long, thin fingers through his curls, a slight chill reaching into his scalp. “Good night, baby.”

“Good morning!” Tony sang, opening Peter’s door. He was surprised to see the boy curled up on his bed, blanketed by a sweatshirt, and wearing different clothes than he had gone to bed in. Maybe he had woken up with Pepper and went back to sleep? But that didn’t explain his lack of bedding.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty. Breakfast is waiting to be eaten. Well, kind of. It’s cooking as we speak.” Still, nothing. Tony sighed and crossed the room, extending a hand out to the sleeping boy. However, before touching him, he suddenly realized the boy was shaking. No, shivering. 

“Pete?” He gently set his hand on Peter’s shoulder and shook.

Peter groaned and cracked open his eyes, his back to Tony. “Mmmph tired,” he mumbled. His voice was hoarse and words somewhat mispronounced. 

“You sick, Pete? D’you have a fever?” He set his hand on the boy’s forehead, startling when Peter suddenly snapped upright. He met Tony’s gaze with something of panic. “Sorry, kid. Didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you knew I was in here?”

Peter’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he shook his head. “Didn’t-didn’t know.”

Tony frowned. “You sound like you’re sick. Rough night?” Once again, he reached his hand forward, and Peter leaned back. 

Peter swatted Tony’s hand away and stood up to go past him. “I’m fine. Just a sore throat.” He cleared his throat and left Tony’s line of sight.

Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Right, how could I forget? Peter is still set on hating me and making everything harder. 

Tony followed the boy down the stairs and tried to keep up a chipper attitude. “Making muffins in the oven. It’s a box mix, so they should be good. D’you like muffins?”

As they entered the kitchen, Tony noticed the boy shrug and slump in his seat at the table.

“They’re okay.”

Tony nodded, somewhat pleased. “Great! It was easy, so we can have more time to do stuff today. Since Pepper’s working for the day, it’s just you and me.” That, unfortunately, didn’t seem to get any positive reaction from the teenager, for he just laid his head on his arm in response. So be it.

“I thought we could go out today. Get you some clothes, school supplies, and whatever else you need.”

“When do I start school?” Peter asked, his voice muffled.

“Monday. Thought it best to give us this first week with you. Got you signed up for Midtown. Cool right? It's ‘cause of your test scores and my reputation. Pretty good deal, especially since they’re halfway through the semester.” Tony walked over to the oven and checked on the muffins. A heaping waft of their sweetness filled the kitchen, lemon scent spreading quickly. Lemon was always a good smell. When he turned back around to grab some oven mitts, Peter was finally looking at Tony, his expression alert.

“What flavor are the muffins?”

Tony smirked. “Knew you’d like them. They’re lemon.” Then, dramatically like a British lady, he said, “They’re to die for, really.” It didn’t earn a laugh.

Tough crowd.

“I-I’m allergic to lemon.” 

Tony blanched, setting the muffins onto the stovetop. “What?” He whirled around. “But, I thought—your adoption forms didn’t say anything about lemon allergies. It just said peppermint!” Tony tilted his head. “Friday, isn’t that right?” 

“Yes, boss. Would you like me to complete an allergy assessment?”

“What’s that—“

“Yes.” He looked back down at Peter. “Hold still; she’s going to scan you.”

Peter’s eyes opened wide, and his mouth fell open. Then, his expression changed into one of anger. “You don’t believe me?”

“Boss, there seems to be no reason why his file said he was allergic to anything. There is a lack of any data in his body showing that it would hurt him.”

Tony frowned and glared at Peter. “No, I don’t. At least, now I don’t. Don’t make this any harder and just eat the breakfast I made you.” With a finality, he set a plate of two muffins in front of Peter and put a bowl of butter next to him. “Eat,” he ordered.

“No, listen, I really can’t have this.”

Tony scoffed, blinking slowly once. “Kid! Didn’t you just hear Friday? She doesn’t make mistakes! Drop it, because I’m not going to let you out of this.”

Peter’s brows turned up. “Tony, please. I’m not lying; I’ll get sick!”

Tony gritted his teeth. “Then tell yourself not to. I’m sick of letting you walk all over us, Peter. You’re eating or you’re going to be here for the rest of the day!”

Peter flinched at Tony’s volume and dropped his gaze to his muffins.

Tony took a bite out of his own muffins and hummed, nodding his head. “See? Didn’t kill me. I told you, it came from a box, so it’s not even really my own cooking.”

“That’s not it,” Peter muttered. “It will make me sick.”

Tony closed his eyes and sighed, counting slowly in his head.

This kid… 

He reached over, grabbed Peter’s fork, and cut up the two muffins into small bits. “Now, eat it.”

Still, no compliance.

Tony finished his plate, cleared off his dishes, and dumped them in the sink with a loud clatter. Then, he returned to his seat beside Peter. He rested his elbow on the table, his chin in his hand, and he waited. “We’ve got all day, Pete.”

Peter pursed his mouth in distaste and picked up a small piece of the lemon muffin. It was right there, so close to entering his mouth, and then he dropped his fork back onto his plate.

“Tony, I can’t! I don’t know why Friday doesn’t notice an allergy, but it’s really real! My tongue swells, and my throat turns scratchy, and I’ll throw up! Please, can I just eat something else? I’ll eat whatever else it is, I promise!”

Maybe he was being honest after all. Still, Tony didn’t want to back down. Kids, especially Peter, pushed people around to get their way, making up whatever they could to be convincing. Tony wasn’t going to have it.

“Prove it.”

Peter blinked. “What?”

“Then, prove it. Eat a bite, wait five minutes, and we’ll see how it goes. We’re in the kitchen; you can puke in the sink if you need to or get some water. So, it should be perfectly safe.”

“Sir, I do not suggest-“

“Quiet, Friday.”

Tony folded his arms over his chest, expectant. 

Peter’s eyes shifted over to the side, where no one was standing, and his expression turned pleading. His eyes fixed on Tony once again, a fire burning in his gaze. 

“I’m not eating it, and you can’t make me. Or I’ll tell Pepper that you put my life in danger.”

Tony scoffed. “You think she’ll really be mad at me? I married her, kid. She’s on my side automatically more than yours.”

“I’m not eating.”

Tony scowled. “Fine, let's go upstairs then.”

At that, Peter suddenly straightened. “For-for what?”

“You’re going to go stay in your room for the rest of the day until you’re ready to listen. And I’m going to go work in my room so I can make sure you don’t sneak out.”

“I’ll eat anything else,” he tried.

“Don’t care. I’m not buying it, kid. Give up.”

Peter’s jaw clenched as he stood from his seat and marched over to the stairs. Once in his room, he slammed the door shut as Tony passed by.

“Brat,” Tony muttered.

“I tried, May!” Peter balled his hands into fists and kicked his sweatshirt across the room. “He wouldn’t listen to anything I said, and then stupid you-know-who had to butt in and scan me!”

“Well, why didn’t it show then? If it reacts to you so badly because of your powers, then why?”

Peter huffed and leaned against the wall, slumping to the floor. “I don’t know. My powers don’t usually show up on scanners for some reason.” He chuckled bitterly. “Parker luck.”

May smiled to herself and knelt down in front of him. “Remember when you had your yearly checkup last year and the doctor was so amazed that your vision and asthma were totally perfect?”

That earned her a small smile. “I was really hoping nobody would question it. I was so scared.”

“I think he wanted to test you in a lab,” she laughed.

Peter looked up as Morgan phased through the wall shyly. He waved, and May motioned for her to sit down with them.

She pulled her dress up a little so she wouldn’t sit on it as she sat on her knees. “Were you really telling the truth?”

Peter sighed. “You saw that?”

She nodded and looked guilty. “I tried to hide from you so you wouldn’t know.”

“It’s okay if you know. But, yeah. It really will get me sick. Sicker than I am now, at least. I’ll throw up for hours if that’s what it takes for my body to expel it. It’s because of my spider bite. Spiders are kind of allergic to lemon. But even more so peppermint. I think if I had that, I’d likely die.”

“Why was Daddy so mad?”

“I don’t know. It’s probably my fault, though… that’s just how it works.”

Deciding to change the subject, Peter grabbed a notebook, a pair of scissors, and a stapler from one of his drawers. They were technically stolen from the group home, but they probably hadn’t even noticed. Hopefully.

“What are you making?” Morgan asked, scooting closer. She touched the stack of papers, just barely moving them.

“Tiny paper snowflakes. I have a cool idea.” So, he folded and folded each paper, cutting itty bitty designs and making each corner a separate snowflake. After a while, they had quite a pile. It would have been more if Morgan and May had actually been able to help, but it was okay. 

Finally, Peter grabbed a robot from his desk. It was black with two googly eyes on the front. Some of its limbs had silver accents, mainly from metal springs uncovered from the black platings. Altogether, it looked like a giant, robotic, flying spider. 

“I built it all myself,” he told Morgan. “I found pieces in the trash or at school. My old middle school used to have a trash bin specifically for devices.”

Morgan’s eyes looked on in wonder and awe. “That’s so cool! What does it do?”

Peter grinned and grabbed the Xbox controller off his nightstand that connected to the robot. The propellers whirred and the robot lifted off. It took a little bit to get it centered just right. It held still in the air above the pile of paper snowflakes before its long legs started to grab at them like a claw in one of those games at the arcades. With a handful in its hold, the spider flew higher and dropped its load onto the floor. The snowflakes sailed through the air, scattering. Morgan jumped up and ran through a few of them, their trajectory changing to follow her movement.

“It’s like they’re on me!” She squealed. “Peter, look! It’s snowing on me!”

Peter laughed and dumped another load on her. She spun under the bot. The snowflakes swirled through the air, then landed gracefully on the floor.

“Again, again!”

Peter caught May’s eye, her smile so sweet and happy. He paused for a moment, remembering when she used to smile like that all the time. A warm feeling erupted in his chest, and he laughed with Morgan.

A couple of minutes later, Tony burst in, positively furious. Peter froze; the spider robot went limp and crashed to the carpet. Peter flinched as the whirring stopped after a few more seconds.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Peter set his controller aside and looked up at the man. “I-I stayed in my room like you said. I listened to you.”

Tony closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. “No, Peter. I meant, look at this mess!” He gestured to the room. “When you’re sent to your room, you’re supposed to sit there and be miserable. Or sleep. Not-not play arts and crafts. Where’d you get all this stuff anyway?”

Peter shrank into himself. He looked at May and Morgan and shooed them away with a flick of his hand. They listened, disappearing. “I-I didn’t know.”

Tony huffed. “Haven’t you ever been disciplined before?”

Peter stiffened, his mind suddenly sending him far away.

“You need to be disciplined.” 

“This is for your own good.”

“You’ll never learn if you aren’t disciplined.”

“If you don’t want to be disciplined, then quit making mistakes!”

Peter snapped back to himself as a chill wracked his spine, his spider sense suddenly going off. He looked wildly around the room. Nothing was amiss; Tony wasn’t even near him. Actually, Tony was looking at him weirdly, like he was regretting something. Peter felt something tap his legs and looked down. His hands were trembling. When had he started shaking?

Time returned to his world a moment later, and Tony stepped further into the room. “Peter? Hey, you need to breathe.”

Peter furrowed his brows, sucking in a slight wheeze.

Oh, that’s what he meant.

And suddenly, it hit him. He couldn’t breathe, his spider sense was going crazy, and he couldn’t stop shaking and flinching. He was having a panic attack.

Run! His instincts sank in deep, his only clear thought. He scrambled to his feet as his hand touched his throat and then pushed past Tony.

“He-hey! Peter!”

May suddenly appeared on the bottom step of the stairs he was almost tripping down, her arms waving. “Peter, calm down. Ben’s not here!”

Peter shoved through her and scrambled into the living room.

“Tony's not going to hurt you,” May cried after him. 

Hide! 

Where? Where? 

He let out a high-pitched whimper as Tony’s own steps cascaded down the stairs.

“Peter, stop!” 

Peter stumbled back against the living room couch, his vision tossing and turning like the sea. He slowly slumped to the ground and panted, just barely registering that Tony had knelt down in front of him.

“Breathe, Peter. Look, look.” 

Peter shrieked as his wrist was gripped and he ripped himself away from Tony.

“Alright, alright. I won’t touch. Just listen, Peter! Breathe!” He took exaggeratedly loud breaths, in and out. “Breathe!”

It felt like hours of sitting there before his ears stopped ringing and his vision stopped swaying. His spider sense calmed, and he panted out heavy breaths of exhaustion.

Salty tears filled his eyes, and he stared at Tony.

“You’re okay. It was just a panic attack. I get them, too.”

Peter grit his teeth and sniffed, brows twisting down. “I hate you,” he whispered.

Tony looked taken aback, flinching away from Peter. “Wha- I just helped you!”

Peter pushed himself up. “You’re the one who made me have a panic attack!” He shouted. He breathed heavily as big tears slipped down his cheeks. “I hate you!” Then, he shoved him, knocking Tony back on his bottom.

“Hey! Young man!”

Peter yelled out in frustration and stomped towards the stairs.

“Peter, stop!” Tony stood and reached for the boy, but Peter’s overloaded senses quickly caught it. He stuck his hand out, his fingers turning sticky, and grabbed a vase that was on display beside the bottom of the staircase. He threw it to the ground behind him, scattering shattered bits across the hardwood floor.

Tony swore, but he stopped following him. “You go up to your room and be miserable! Don’t think about coming out until Pepper’s home!”

“That’s where I was going anyway!” Peter slammed the door as hard as he could, causing it to shake in the frame. He pulled at his hair and paced his room. “I hate you!” He screamed. “I hate being here!” His voice cracked, and a sob broke out. Quieter, “I hate you. I-I hate this.” He hiccuped and dropped to the ground. “Why do I have to be here?” He whimpered as he pulled at his curled strands. He cried and cried until all he could do was lie on the floor and remember.

Pepper was about to blow up. She could feel it. Her nerves were ticking, counting down until the last one would soon be shot. She had been in a meeting, a critical one. Stark Industries was planning to come out with another line of products. The company hadn’t wanted to invest in it before because it wasn’t as important then. The board needed to approve or risk having Tony do what he wanted anyway and ignore his board of directors. What was the point if he never listened to them? Maybe she should just fire them.

Halfway through her meeting, her StarkPad, which was projecting her presentation, blew up with messages and alerts. She had to excuse herself to deal with the onslaught of messages.

Peter was allergic to lemon? Why’d Tony send him to his room? Oh, he didn’t believe him. Right, ‘cause this was Tony. 

PrettyPotts: Just let him eat something else. 

TangyTony: No. He’s in his room and I don’t want to talk to him anymore.

Pepper rolled her eyes.

PrettyPotts: Play nice! I still have a half-day to go!

And that was that.

It was an hour later, had to be, or maybe an hour and a half, but still! Once again, she had to excuse herself from meetings to answer the messages. They came one after the other, too quickly for her to reply. Tony was fuming, absolutely furious. About a vase? No, Peter was misbehaving again. And he broke a vase. Oh. What did he do to cause Peter to act that way?

She sent her question.

TangyTony: I don’t even know! He had a panic attack when I came into his room, and then he said he hated me after I helped him calm down. So, I’m just done. I’m quitting, Pep. I’m going to the lab and ignoring him for the rest of the day.

Pepper sighed and put her phone to her ear, waiting for him to answer the phone. He didn’t. 

After a couple more tries, Friday alerted her, speaking through her phone.

“Boss has prohibited any outside communication for the time being.” Then, before she could swear, Friday said, “Peter is in great distress.”

“Friday, what kind of distress?”

“He seems to be in emotional and physical distress. A body scan shows areas of pain in his abdomen, throat, and head. His heart rate is too high, and his temperature is running warmer than normal.”

She let out her swear word of the day and sighed heavily.

That’s where she found herself, so enraged, worried, and annoyed. She was in the car with Happy, texting Tony like a madwoman, even though she knew he wouldn’t be getting them for a couple of hours. At least he’ll eventually know how mad she is. It was just a half-day!

After wishing Happy goodbye, she trudged up the front steps. She slipped her heels off in the entryway and looked around. 

“Dang,” she said, noticing the vase that was missing was a one-of-a-kind from Egypt. At least the kid knew what was best to break. Maybe they could replace it with one they painted together.

Pepper entered the kitchen first, finding the glass shards in the trash. She dished up a bowl of applesauce, rice, a slice of toast, and a banana. After she had asked, Friday diagnosed him with a stomach bug. That explained the pain in the abdomen. Maybe it was somewhat of a cold, too.

She gathered everything onto a tray and made her way to her adopted son’s room. “Peter?” She knocked with her foot. After a moment, the door wasopened by Friday. Peter’s head turned towards her, his face red and puffy. He looked obviously exhausted.

“Hi, sweetie. I figured you were hungry and brought up some food. It’s safe for a stomach bug, so you should be able to keep it down.”

“How did you know?” Peter asked, his voice hoarse. He winced at the end of it.

“Friday said you had a fever. Can I feel?”

Peter sat up from the floor, where he had been lying like an exhausted starfish. He leaned his head towards her. She stepped over countless paper snowflakes and carefully set the tray of food beside him. She rested the back of her palm on his head and clicked her tongue.

“You’re really warm. You need to eat this time, Peter. You need to take medicine to bring the fever down.”

Peter slouched and stared at the tray, but gave in. His usual fight was all but lost from his big, brown eyes. They looked dull and sad.

Her chest squeezed. Such a cute kid shouldn’t look that sad.

Pepper sat down beside him and gestured to the snowflakes around them. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “The snowflakes are so small. You must be pretty talented with your hands.”

Peter shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t supposed to do anything but be miserable when Tony sent me to my room this morning.”

“Because of the lemon muffin, right?”

He nodded and gulped down a spoonful of applesauce. “He was really mad.”

Pepper sighed. “Yeah, he gets like that when he doesn’t understand. He wants to fix problems, not put any emotional work into them. It’s his past. But that doesn’t excuse his behavior. I’ll talk to him.”

Peter side-eyed her. “Can you not tell him that I told you he was mean?”

She chuckled. “I already knew. He texted me all day. I know he was pretty dumb today.”

Peter smiled, small and barely noticeable. “I really am allergic to lemon.”

“I believe you. Maybe it’s not an allergy, but an intolerance. Maybe that’s why Friday didn’t notice it. I have an intolerance for adult sunscreen. I have to wear sensitive skin sunscreen meant for infants; otherwise, I erupt with red dots everywhere.”

“That’s weird.”

She grinned. “Tell me about it.” She gently turned more serious. “I know about the vase, Peter.”

His head twisted to look at her. “I-I didn’t, I mean, I did, but-“

“I’m not mad. You were trying to get some alone time. I understand. I’m sad about the vase, but I forgive you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. To make up for it, we should paint a vase together sometime. How does that sound?”

He nodded and continued to eat. As he did so, Pepper filled the rest of the silence.

“I love art. All the art in the house is mine. I insisted that if we moved to a house, we had to have art around. Tony secretly likes it, even though he pretends to be too good for it.”

Pepper looked to her side and noticed Peter look up at her, noticing she had stopped speaking. She continued.

“I went to art school many years ago. I loved it. I learned the history of the world’s most famous pieces and so many techniques to practice in my own artwork. I’ve always wanted to open an art gallery with my own work in it, but haven’t created enough to even show yet. I’d love to teach you if you’d like. We can do little art projects now and then. I’m sure you’d be very good at it.” She met his gaze and gasped as she noticed the tears on his cheeks.

“Pepper, I…” He sniffed and pushed his tray away, then turned more fully towards her. “I don’t hate you. I like you and you’re nice. I want to be better and do what you want me to do, but it’s just hard. It’s been so long since… I’m sorry.”

She smiled and wiped a few tears from his cheeks. “Come here, sweet boy.” She opened her arms and he fell into her embrace. “I really like you, too. All I want is for you to try. That’ll be enough. You’re safe here, though. Okay? You’ll know that eventually.”

Maybe he didn’t think so now, or wouldn’t think so for another few months. But this was his home from now on. She and Tony would have to talk and get things working right. But this initial trust was crucial. Maybe she was getting lucky with him after all.

Almost an hour later, she realized Peter had fallen asleep in her arms. She decided then that she really liked cuddling her adopted son.

Chapter Text

Tony was running on three hours of sleep, if that. Had he slept at all? After he had finished tinkering in the lab and came up for dinner, Pepper yelled at him. They took it down to his lab so they wouldn’t wake Peter. Hours later, when Tony came up after fixing and upgrading everything he could think of, Pepper was dead asleep and the clock shone three a.m. He laid down, turned his back to his wife, and couldn’t shut his mind off. 

He had made the kid cry and have a panic attack. But why? Why did he have a panic attack? Because Tony asked why he didn’t know what it meant to be grounded?

“He might not have ever been grounded before. Remember? His file said he was abused. Grounding isn't child abuse, Tony,” Pepper’s voice repeated in his mind.

So what? Tony hadn't done anything to make it look like he was going to hurt him. Why did he get so scared then? He had looked like… like Tony had just told him he was going to kill him. It just didn’t make sense.

“Sometimes you have panic attacks out of nowhere.”

Stupid mind. Can’t shut up. He was trying to pout about being yelled at, not have his mind tell him that he was wrong and she was right. For crying out loud, whose side was his mind on?

That went on for at least three hours, maybe six. Perhaps he did eventually black out sometime in that period, but it didn’t matter. He was still mad about being yelled at, somewhat guilty, mad because he felt guilty, and extremely exhausted. And Pepper just couldn’t stop there. No, she had to give him a proper punishment.

“You’re going to go out with Peter today, be happy and nice, help him pick stuff out, not pressure him, and help him have a good time. If he misbehaves, tell him that if he continues, you two will sit in the car in silence until he’s ready to behave.”

Tony scoffed, shoving the sheets off him. “Yeah, like that’ll end well.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because that’ll be treating him like a kid, which he said he hates.”

Pepper sighed, and Tony could tell she was getting dressed from the sound of her clothes shuffling. But he was adamant on not looking. He was still pouting.

“Tony, when he says that, he just doesn’t want to feel criticized. He doesn’t want to feel like he means nothing to us.”

“How do you even know that? The kid hasn’t even spoken that many words in all the time he’s been with us!”

“As far as you know,” she shot back. “You need to fix this before it gets worse because he’s ours and we won’t be giving him back. Any more questions or concerns?” She fluttered her lashes.

He huffed. “Why can’t we use Friday to buy all this stuff?”

“Because you two need to spend time together. And you’ll be able to figure out what he likes and bond with him. I’m sure that’ll make you like him more.”

Yeah, whatever. 

He couldn’t believe that Peter’s amazing test scores had made him think so highly of the kid. How foolish. Maybe he had forged them or hacked the school databases. No, that would mean he was smart enough to break past numerous technological barriers. That would mean he thought the kid was smart enough to do that. 

Maybe Peter just got lucky.

Breakfast was uneventful, other than Pepper’s encouraging stares and somewhat hidden gestures to the boy who was miraculously sitting at the table with them. He was even eating a bowl of cereal. 

Tony gave in to Pepper’s encouragement. “So, how’d you sleep, Pete?”

The kid’s brown eyes glanced at him for a quick second, somewhat of a scowl held on his face, then looked back at Pepper, quickly dropping it. “It was okay.”

Tony nodded, probably too much to be considered a normal response. “School’s starting in two days. I thought, since we couldn’t do it yesterday, we could go out today and shop for everything you need.” He put a bite of oatmeal in his mouth and glanced at Pepper to see her satisfied nod.

“Sounds like it’ll suck like yesterday, too.” 

“Tony loves to shop, though,” Pepper smiled. “And he knows his way around to get the coolest stuff. I’m sure it’ll turn out really fun.”

Peter frowned and looked at Pepper. “Can’t I go with you instead?”

Can he, please?

“I’m sorry, Peter. But I had to reschedule yesterday’s meetings for today. I’ll be going in...” She looked down at her watch. “An hour from now.”

Peter sighed. “Okay… I’ll go with Tony,” he grumbled Tony’s name.

Tony pulled on a quick, cheery smile. “It’ll be real fun, kiddo.”

It was obvious to both of them how much they did not want to do this together. Peter slowly trudged down the stairs, and Tony quickly gave hurried instructions to get in the car. They worked together as a team in trying not to look at each other during the entire ride. 

At least the kid didn’t look embarrassing to be out in public with. Peter had on a large, black hoodie and a pair of navy blue joggers. Tony wore one of his black, long-sleeved muscle shirts under a black and orange windbreaker, along with a pair of dark green camo pants. At least they had a similar color scheme. He’d make sure to get the kid some proper outerwear today.

The first place they stopped at, which was closest to the house, was a furniture store. Pepper had found their lovely living room furniture set there, so it was bound to have some nice pieces that’d catch the kid’s eye.

Tony pulled into a parking spot and clapped his hands together once. “So! D’you know what you want for your room?”

Peter glared at some spot outside like it had insulted him. Then, he huffed and shrugged. “It’s been awhile since I had my own room,” he muttered.

“Right.” Tony nodded once. “Well, then I guess we should wander around until you find something nice. Sound good?”

The kid shrugged, again.

“Would be nice if you actually talked,” Tony muttered. He shut his car door behind him. “How insufferable is this going to be?”

They started in the bathroom section. Tony and Pepper had a bathroom in their bedroom while Peter had one down the hall. They could let him decorate it. Pepper would probably be proud of Tony for that decision. 

They looked at soap containers, special faucets, toilet seat lids, and shower curtains. The kid poked a few things, but never made any indication that he actually liked something.

“Hey, how about this?” Tony shuffled through the shower curtain selection and found a Spider-man themed one. It had Spider-Man posing in his signature landing stance, wearing his onesie-looking costume. One hand and both feet on the ground, his other hand in the air and to the side of his form. Behind him was New York City. “You like Spider-man. What do you think?”

Peter’s mouth twitched to the side as he stepped closer to inspect the shower curtain. His fingertips trailed across Spider-Man’s suit, stopped near the stomach, then he stepped back.

“I don’t want it.”

Tony blinked. “What?” He paused and watched the boy take another step back and shake his head. “You clearly like it. Why don’t you want it? Is it because of money? I’m not making you pay for anything, kid.”

“I just don’t want it.”

“Are you scared we won’t like it? We want you to pick stuff out. Pick something—I don’t know—pick this!” He pulled out a shower curtain showing a movie princess with long, near-white hair, and a blue dress. “If this is your thing, pick it! Or, this!” He showed one with a ripped, beefy boxer on it. “Just pick something!” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a heavy sigh. “Sorry for yelling. I just don't know how to make it more clear that you're free to choose.”

The kid bowed his head and squeezed the hem of his hoodie in between his fingers. There was a slight tremble to his form. Tony realized the kid was probably crying. “Oh for the love of…” He wiped his hand down his face and groaned. “Okay, come on.” He set a hand on Peter’s shoulder and twisted him around, then pressed on his back as he led him towards the door.

“Hey, do you need help finding anything?” A worker asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

“No, we’re leaving.” He pushed past her, ignoring how the kid looked up at him in his peripheral, his eyes wide.

When they were beside the car, Tony opened the back passenger door and stepped aside. 

“Get in.”

“But, I was sitting in the—”

“I don’t care. Just get in.”

Peter obeyed and slid into the back seat. Tony slammed the door shut, then climbed into the front seat and rested his head on the steering wheel.

“You can cry or sit in silence. Whatever you need. We’re just going to sit here until you feel ready to talk to me about why you won’t pick a darn thing. Then, we’ll go back inside and try again.”

He closed his eyes and tapped a rhythm on the leather of the wheel with one hand, nursing an ache in his neck with another.

Three minutes passed. Two more. Tony almost had to hold his breath so as not to let out another annoyed sigh.

Is the kid even listening?

He ran out of patience and looked up into the rearview mirror. 

Peter was curled up in the seat, his hood over his head, and his sleeved arms wrapped around his knees. His hands wiped at his cheeks after each tear fell, though it looked like they were slowing down. His face was red and he was biting his lip. Was he scared to make a sound?

Tony swallowed and bowed his head to let the kid have privacy once again. Something in his stomach twisted. The kid had listened. He was crying it out. About what, Tony still didn’t know. But Peter was crying and working, albeit very quietly, to get a hold of himself. Tony wondered how long he’d been holding the tears in.

Eventually, Tony cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. For-for how I yelled at you yesterday and didn’t believe you.” Peter sniffled. “And for causing you to have a panic attack. I have those, too, sometimes. Mostly when I encounter things that remind me about some… bad experiences.”

A quiet moment, then, “Something happened,” Peter croaked. “Something happened a long time ago… and, when I think about Spider-Man… and when I see Spider-man’s suit, it-it reminds me.”

“Hmmm,” Tony hummed to show he was listening. His gaze was still set away from the boy.

“I don’t know what to choose. I’m just…” He rubbed his hoodie sleeve under his nose and sniffled. “My, uh… before the group home, I-I didn’t get to choose much then either. Whenever I did, I always got yelled at and we’d have to take it back.”

Tony furrowed his brows. “Well, I can assure you, we won’t be taking anything you choose away from you. This is solely for your pleasure so that you can enjoy your new home.” He met the brown eyes looking back at him in the rearview mirror and smiled softly. “And, if you want, I can give you some style suggestions, if that’d help.”

Peter still looked uncertain, but it made Tony feel glad when the kid agreed to try again. They got out of the car together and made their way back into the furniture store.

Peter coughed and pointed off to the side. “Could we, uh, go to the bedroom section first?”

“Sure, bud.”

They walked around the different displays for a while. Peter stood near and examined the ones with bunk beds, small seating areas, and the like. But, they kept moving on from one to the other. Tony decided to look through magazines of the store’s designs that weren’t currently displayed.

He grinned. “Pete, look at this!” He made his way over to the boy and flashed an image at him. “Cool, right?” The image had a blue sports car bed, an alarm clock that looked like a laps sign shown at competitions, and other racing memorabilia. “Did you know I once drove a race car?”

Peter looked up at him and quirked a brow. “You did?”

Tony nodded. “I also crashed it, but that was because of a villain.”

“Are you sure the 'villain' isn’t just an excuse?” Peter asked while making quotations with his fingers. 

Tony tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

Peter swayed side to side, pulling an innocent expression. “I mean... I don’t know. Your driving today?” Peter sucked in a sharp breath and his face winced before he smirked. 

Tony laughed sarcastically. “Ha-ha. Real funny.”

A small smile broke out on the kid’s face, and he turned away to hide it. “I, uh, found something. I think. And-and just tell me if you don’t like it. I mean, I don’t really need it.”

“Don’t worry, kiddo. Just show me.”

Peter nodded hesitantly and led Tony over to a display. In the area, there was a black frame for a twin-sized bunk bed, and a sturdy ladder built into one of the sides. However, while the top bunk was flush against the display case, the bottom bunk was perpendicular to the wall. The leftover side not taken up by the bed below the top bunk included a built-in metal desk. 

“I-I was thinking we could put, like, a glass cover over the metal top of the desk, so it isn’t so cold to-to touch, “ Peter said as his hand ran across the metal surface. Then he walked over to the bottom bunk and patted the mattress. “And, uh, if I ever have sleepovers, a friend would have a place to stay. I mean, once I make friends. You-you know? Maybe?” 

“Hmm. I get the appeal. Looks nice, kid. Let me write it down here,” Tony pulled out a notepad and scribbled the product number in between one of the many lines. “There! What else were you thinking?”

Peter looked at the floor and bit his lip. “I, um… I found a window seat.”

Tony's brows raised. “Really? Uh, didn't take you for a window seat kinda guy.” 

Peter rubbed the back of his neck and pointed towards the front of the store. “It’s by the front. I-I don’t have to get all the cushions and blankets, but maybe we could get the seat and put it under my window? Then I can just sit and read o-or look outside.”

Tony shrugged. “Sounds good! Show me where it is and I’ll write it down.”

Peter and Tony also picked out nature-themed bathroom sets. A lush, green mountain landscape for a shower curtain, dark green and brown towel sets, soap containers painted as fruits like oranges and apples, and a few blue rugs to cover the floor. With the kid’s eye for design and natural color combinations, the two of them had a great look planned out for the bathroom. Pepper was going to love it!

As for the kid’s room, they also purchased two premium twin mattresses that wouldn’t put pressure on the muscles much and would instead let the body sink. Only the best for Starks. 

Peter said he wanted them because he had been wanting to “get into sports,” even though he didn’t look like a sports kind of kid. But he wanted it, so Tony got it. They also bought one Spider-Man poster, a few Avengers posters, and picture frames with painted images of gorgeous landscapes.

“It’ll make my room fit the house,” Peter said proudly.

The shock that paled the kid’s face when Tony told him the store would do all of the delivering and setting up of the furniture was laughable. But, cute. He would never do it any other way. He was Tony Stark for crying out loud. If this amazed the kid, Tony couldn’t wait to show him his lab. It’d probably knock the kid on his butt from the surprise. 

In the school supply section of the clothing store, Peter had picked out a blue backpack—rather plain-looking but apparently, it’s “what’s trending”—and a couple of solid-colored folders. Tony tried to get the kid some Avengers pencils, stickers, or at least an umbrella, but Peter had refused.

“It’s Midtown. And-and I won’t know anyone. I don’t want to single myself out as more than just the new kid.”

Okay, so maybe Tony understood that. But, he still liked what it felt like to encourage the kid to get stuff that looked cool because his dad never did. Howard had never done any of this with Tony. And if Tony was doing what his dad never did, maybe that meant he was alright at this parenting thing.

Clothing seemed to be more difficult than the furniture. Though the kid didn’t cry, he seemed tired and annoyed about having to shop more.

Tony guided Peter over to the wall of jeans and gestured to the rows of them. “Jeans are a must. Hey!” Tony had glanced at Peter, catching him examining some hoodies. “Put that back. That doesn’t fit the Stark look.”

Peter frowned at Tony and put the hoodie back on its rack. “Then, what can I get that you’ll approve of?”

“Anything you want!” Tony winked.

Peter looked at Tony like he was stupid.

Tony chuckled. “I’m sorry, kid. You’ve got to have better taste in clothes than just sweats and hoodies.”

“But I like them,” he mumbled. “They make me feel safe.”

“Okay, then, let’s make a deal. We’re getting six button-up shirts, three pairs of jeans, some nice-looking joggers and gym wear, and…” He scanned the store. “Ah! Some comical t-shirts. If you agree, I will let you get two pairs of sweatpants and one more hoodie.”

Peter seemed to weigh the options, then nodded. They walked over to a rack with numerous men’s button-up shirts and filed through the hangers. Tony thought the Hawaiian prints would probably look good on the kid. There were long-sleeved plain ones, too. Tony grabbed a few others with different designs and hung them on his arm.

“Look good?”

Peter shrugged. “I guess… I just don’t wear clothes like this a lot. I wear, like, vests or t-shirts. Not…” he poked at the row of shirts. “These.”

“Hey, you’ll come to like them. Just be glad you don’t have to wear suits. I have to wear suits in public, everywhere. And I started much younger than you.”

“Maybe we should go get me a Spider-Man backpack after all, so I’m not all grown-up-looking,” Peter chuckled.

“Nope. We are not going there again. I want to get home and rest just as much as you.”

After that, the clothing selection was a little easier. Peter took his time choosing the perfect hoodie and sweatpants, only choosing the softest ones. They turned out to also be rather baggy on him. 

“I like it this way,” Peter said after Tony had commented. 

Lastly, they went by the t-shirt rack. That was the easiest, by far. Not even a second into it, Peter pulled out a few to show Tony.

“Look, they’re science puns!”

Tony scanned them, chuckling while he interpreted them. “This one’s good,” he said, pointing at the shirt that said ‘I wish I were adenine, then I could get paired with U.’ “I need to use that on Pepper.”

“So, are these okay? I know they’re not supposed to be part of your ‘Peter wear’ for me, but they’re really funny!”

Tony sucked in a breath. “Okay, you’re right. But, these are our only exceptions. Let’s get going so we can show Pepper everything.” 

Peter bounced on his feet, smiling wide. “Thanks, Tony.” Peter helped take most of the hangers off Tony’s arm and folded them over his arm, the hangers now dangling towards the floor.

“You got it? Not too heavy?” Tony asked.

“Nope. I’m good.”

Peter led the way to the checkout counter, and Tony trailed behind. The kid was so different. He had a sort of bounce in his step and he looked happy. Like, the kind of happy that he and Pepper had hoped Peter would be when they first adopted him. He was still nervous and unsure of himself quite often, but Tony was glad to see the kid behaving better. Peter had even told him why he freaked out over the Spider-Man curtain! And the whole car thing had worked great. Pepper didn’t need to know she had been right about that last part, but Tony could at least tell her that the shopping trip was all he had needed to bond with Peter. Maybe everything would be better from now on.

On the drive home, they talked about their favorite science jokes and puns, making each other laugh and smile. 

Gosh, the kid’s cute when he smiles.

Peter gasped in his seat when the car pulled onto their street. “Tony, look! The furniture guys are already here! And Pepper’s back!”

“I see it, kiddo. Let me park, and we can tell them where it goes.”

Peter kicked his feet back and forth in the front passenger seat, patiently waiting until the engine cut off. In an instant, he unbuckled and threw himself out of the car. Pepper waved at him from the front porch as she let in some of the men carrying their new furniture.

Peter stopped in front of Pepper and peeked into the house. “Are they going up to my room?”

Pepper nodded and stretched her fingers into his curls, petting gently. “Looks like you got a lot! Find everything you wanted?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! We got a bunk bed, and-and a window seat. Oh! The bunk bed has a desk! And posters! We got posters with Spider-Man and even some of the Avengers.” He put a hand to the side of his mouth and leaned in towards Pepper like he was sharing a secret. “Tony made me get an Iron Man one. He said it was ‘essential.’”

Pepper pursed her lips into a smile, her eyes shining near her lashes. Her voice came out thick as she said, “That’s Tony for you. I’m so glad you had a good time. Right? It sounds like you two had fun!”

Tony walked up the porch steps and shoved his hands into his pockets. “It was a real treat to be with the kid. He’s a load of fun.” He smiled smugly. “You missed out, Pep.”

Pepper chuckled and wiped at her eyes. “Oh shucks. Looks like I’ll just have to come with you two when you go out again.”

Peter immediately agreed.

Pepper blinked rapidly and pressed her palms against her hips. “Okay, let's get inside then, shall we? Peter, go upstairs and direct the guys.”

Peter did as she said and met four men in his room, who were already beginning to unbox the furniture. He waved shyly. “Hi.”

One of the men waved back. “You here to tell us where to put everything?”

Peter nodded. “The uh, the window seat, could go, I mean, could you please put it under the window? And the bed against the wall over there,” he pointed opposite his closet. “And I can put the posters and pictures up.”

“It’s a plan,” one of the guys responded. Right away, the unboxing team went to work, setting everything up. Peter taped the posters to his walls. He put the Avengers ones beside his closet entrance. The Spider-Man poster went on his door. He grinned and avoided looking too long at his old suit in the image, then picked up the landscape picture frame.

“I would put it there,” May said. Peter jumped and sent daggers her way, no heat in his eyes.

May shrugged. “Sorry.”

“How do I hang up a picture? Don’t I have to use some tool or-or something?” he whispered.

“You need a stud finder,” she replied.

Peter frowned and slowly turned around. “Uh… do-do you guys have a, uh, stud finder?”

Thankfully, they did and came to assist. In just a few minutes, his picture frame was hung, and he took a step towards the middle of the room to take everything in.

“This is so cool,” he whispered. 

Peter left his room in a sprint and bounded down the stairs. He met Tony and Pepper in the living room, interrupting their quiet conversation. 

“They’re just finishing putting everything together,” he announced. “It looks awesome!”

Pepper patted the open seat beside her on the sectional. “I’m happy for you, Peter.” As he took the spot beside her, she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into her side.

He was stiff at first, unused to the attention. Sure, Tony had guided him around the stores, but this was different. This was like how May had shown affection to him. Peter soaked in Pepper’s warmth, trying to relax. He listened to her talk about her day, noticing May and Morgan were watching from afar. He almost pulled away until May waved.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about me.”

But he did worry. He kept his eye on her as she looked him over, her smile turning soft.

“You really had a good day?” May asked. Peter nodded. “Thank you for trying so hard. I’m so proud of you. Morgan said you had a hard time at first.”

Morgan nodded enthusiastically and puffed out her chest. “I watched out for him the whole day!”

May ruffled her hair. “I’m glad you did!”

“Peter, honey.”

Peter looked up and met both Tony’s and Pepper’s questioning looks.

“Are you okay?” Pepper asked.

“I’m… I’m okay. I’m happy, and tired. It’s… it’s been awhile.”

Pepper leaned down to kiss his head. “You can nap here until your room is set up. We won’t mind.”

“Yeah,” Tony chirped. “And when you’re less tired, you should show Pepper your new clothes.”

Peter glanced back at Morgan and May, only to notice that they had faded away. He looked back at Pepper. “Thanks… for everything, today and before today.” He met Tony’s gaze to extend the same towards him, then curled further into Pepper and rested his face in her side.

Today had really turned out much better than Peter thought it was going to be. Maybe this was the point where he could start getting better. Maybe this was the right place for him. Maybe May was right, and his good luck was finally coming to him.

Peter let his eyes close slowly as sleep tugged at his consciousness. He felt Pepper rub circles into his arm and kiss him on the head again.

“He was so happy,” Tony said, a few minutes later. “I never thought it would go this well.”

“I told you. He just needs some patience and a lot of encouragement. But this won't… for long… take time… Peter.”

Peter slept for over an hour, cuddling with his adoptive mother.

Four knocks sounded from the front door. Tony and Pepper looked at each other, both finding confusion on each other's faces. 

“Friday,” Tony said, voice just above a whisper so as not to wake the adorable child snuggled against his wife. “Tell them visiting hours are not right now.” 

Pepper laughed quietly and Friday replied, “Got it, Boss.” Then, “Your visitor, Karen Williamson, says it is important. Shall I try to send her away again?”

Tony looked over at Peter, who was sleeping soundly and snuggled into Pepper’s side. Soft snores came out every now and then. It was spectacularly adorable for such a fiery child. A touch stole him from his staring, and he looked down to find Pepper’s hand curling around his own. 

“She did say she'd be visiting weekly.” 

Tony sighed. “I know. I just don't want to wake the kid up.” He stood and trudged towards the door. With another drawn out sigh, he fixed his posture and smoothed his shirt. Then, with a million dollar smile, he opened the door. “Karen! What a surprise!”

Karen gave a small wave and smiled. “Hello! Sorry, I know it's dinner time. I figured I'd come by tonight to visit and see how everyone's doing.” 

“Ah, no worries,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand and opened the door wider. “We haven't even started dinner. Kid's been sleeping on the couch with Pep.” Karen stepped inside, peeking around. 

“Really? That's better than I expected.” She moved into the living room and winced. “Oh, sleeping as in still sleeping. Sorry!”

Pepper rubbed Peter's shoulder, and he sat up and yawned while Karen and Tony sat on the couch, Karen on one end of the couch and Tony beside Pepper. 

“Hey, we've got a visitor,” Pepper whispered. 

Peter hummed questioningly and rubbed at an indent in his cheek from where he had been resting his head. He blinked a few times, then a sleepy smile crawled up his face. “Oh, hi. When did you get here?”

Tony and Karen chuckled. 

“Just now. So don't worry, you haven't missed anything.” She reached into the bag on her shoulder and pulled out a binder. “I came to see how you were doing in your new home. Sorry for interrupting your nap.” 

Peter dropped his hands into his lap. “It's fine. We, uh, had a long day. My, uh, Tony and I bought furniture for my room and set it up.”

“Yup. He picked pretty much everything out, too. Kid's got good taste,” Tony said and wrapped an arm around Pepper. 

“That's awesome! I bet it's pretty sweet. Do you think you could give me a tour of it?”

Peter nodded and stood, already walking around the couch towards the stairs. 

Karen set her binder under her arm and stood. “I'm just gonna have a quick chat with him, then I'll be out of your hair. Is that okay?” 

“Of course, no worries,” Pepper said. 

“Great. Again, sorry for coming so late in the day.” Then, she turned and followed the boy up the stairs. Tony and Pepper heard Peter gabbing enthusiastically to Karen already, then they heard the bedroom door close. 

“I feel like we're being investigated again,” Pepper said and leaned her head on Tony's shoulder. Then, Tony settled into the back of the couch, rested his head on hers, and she put her hand on his chest. “Like she might take him away if he's not happy-”

“She's not going to do that-”

“I know, I know. She's just making sure he's safe and taken care of. But… “

“I get it. These things are stressful. I could really use my sunglasses right about now.” 

Pepper smiled and tapped his chest with a manicured nail with each of her words. “But you promised to yourself that you'd only wear them at public events and nowhere else if Peter was around.” 

Tony sighed and let his body slump further into the couch. “Yeah. Stupid idea.”

Pepper scoffed. “No, it's not. You're trying to be present.”

“More like vulnerable. The kid knows just how to bite, and I can't hide behind anything when he does.”

A moment passed. 

“True… but you both will stop fighting so much eventually. He'll stop pushing and you two will be best buds. Then you'll do little father-son experiments together.”

“Yeah… looks like you've been having quite a bit of success already. How'd you manage that?”

Pepper shrugged. After a little while of silence, Tony lifted his head and squeezed her shoulder. “Pep?” 

Pepper shrugged again. “I haven't been around enough for him to fight with me. I'm just there before and after.” 

Tony frowned and dropped his head back on the couch. “Nah. I know you. Of course he takes to you so quickly. Your charms are irresistible.” 

Pepper grinned and sat up to look at him. Incredulous, she said, “What?” 

Tony pursed his lips and nodded. “‘M serious, Pep. He even uses you in arguments. Saying stuff like you'd be mad if I did something. He's wrapped around your finger, or the other way around, haven't decided which quite yet. Besides, I don't blame him. You tamed me.”

Pepper rolled her eyes and playfully smacked his chest. “Stop it. I didn't “tame” you.”

Tony scoffed. “Rhodey’d say otherwise… besides, we just need to plan a day for you to spend with the kid-” 

“He starts school on Monday.” 

“Then next weekend. Or some weekend. Someday. Then you won't have to feel bad.” 

Pepper smiled at him then returned to her spot in his side. “I told him we'd paint sometime. Maybe I'll do that.” 

“Hey! There's an idea! ‘Sides, I don't think he holds it against you anyways. He likes you a lot.”

She patted his chest. “We'll get you there, too.”

Tony sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Eventually.”

Chapter Text

“Spider-Man? Spider-Man! Someone, call an ambulance! Spider-Man’s been stabbed!”

Peter’s vision was distorted. He could barely make out the forms that surrounded him. He clawed at the sidewalk with one hand while the other pressed into his stomach. His stomach was so warm and wet. It pulsed with extreme pain.

“Are you calling 911?” The voice closest to him asked.

“Yes, I am.” Responded one farther away.

“Good, tell them it's some kid.”

He furrowed his brows and touched cold fingers to his cheek. Oh, that was right. He had already taken off his mask.

“Why some kid?”

“Spider-Man has a secret identity for a reason. He saved me. I’m not about to let it get out.”

Thank goodness. Thank goodness he saved this man. At least there was something good coming out of this.

Peter whimpered as he strained to sit up. His muscles squeezed and his breath came out in erratic pants. His vision was turning white!

“Hey, Spider-Man, stay down. Those guys are gone. You’re not being chased anymore.” A hand touched his back gently. Peter wished he could be touched like that all the time. How could he have been so stupid?

“Please,” Peter gasped through the pain. “Please help me.”

“Ambulance is on it’s way!” The distant voice shouted.

The hand rubbed his back in small circles. “I know. I am. Just relax. You’re not alone.”

Peter let out a cry as his muscles cramped in his stomach. He curled around himself and tried to look out past the tears. Everything was so muffled all of a sudden. It was blurry and he couldn’t hear anything but his own breathing and his heartbeat.

“Stay awake… Man… awake! Hear me?”

Peter tried to say ‘no,’ to tell him that he just wanted to take a little nap and he would feel better by the time he woke up. His eyes closed and his head lulled back. He heard a few breaths, his heart. Thump… thump.. thump. Then nothing at all.

“Help!” Peter sat up like he was a rubber band suddenly being released from its tight stretch. He leaned over his legs and heaved heavy breaths. His eyes were wide and looking around erratically. He could feel cold sweat dripping down his skin.

His ears perked as a car drove by. Some birds chirped and rustled the leaves of the trees. The blender was going off down stairs.

Peter winced as he noticed the fabric of his clothes and his sheets next. It was so heavy and scratchy. He moved the sheets off and grabbed the rungs of the ladder leading down to the floor. Not feeling up to the extra work required for a normal human, he stuck his right hand on the ceiling, moved himself to hang right above the floor, and dropped into a crouch. His bones vibrated and he shivered at the rough sensation.

“Crap, crap, crap!” He hissed and pressed his palms into his ears. The grating noises assaulting his eardrums grew muffled, much like in his dream. That wasn’t a pleasant reminder.

“Peter!” Pepper called from the main floor.

Peter quivered and squeezed his eyes shut. “Not right now. Not right now. Please.” It was no use. He could hear her coming up the stairs.

“Dang it,” he whined. 

Pepper stopped in front of Peter’s door and rapped her knuckles on the door.

Tap, tappity, tap. 

“Peter, can I come in?”

Get ahold of yourself, Peter. What did May tell you? How do you deal with a sensory overload?

He searched his mind as he tried to shove his senses away.

Breathe in seven seconds… hold four seconds… exhale eight seconds. Repeat. Be mindful of your body. You’re safe, Peter. You’re in your new house with Tony and Pepper. You’re scared because of a nightmare. It wasn’t really happening. Seven… four… eight.

Slowly, with a sudden rush of calm overwhelming him, Peter opened his eyes. The light wasn’t too bright anymore, his breathing was slow and steady, and Pepper was suddenly crouching right next to him. 

Wait. Peter blinked at her.

“Are you okay?” Her pale hand stretched out as she brushed his curls back. “You weren’t answering, so I came in… Did something happen?”

Peter met her concerned gaze and bit his bottom lip. He hung his head between his knees and sighed. “Nightmare, again. Just got a little freaked out.”

She clicked her tongue and wrapped an arm around his back, scooching in to hug him. “Looks like you did pretty good taking care of it yourself. Did it just barely happen? You don’t have to wait until I wake up—“

“It happened just barely. I know to wake you up if I need to.”

She smiled against his hair as she placed a kiss. “I bet it’s just school anxiety. You start today! You get to take all your cool school stuff and show it off to your new friends!”

Peter chuckled and leaned into her warmth. “Yeah, if I even make any.”

“Not with that attitude, you won’t,” she said with a raised brow. “Be confident. And when you get home, you can tell me all about how it goes.”

“Are you working?” He asked. 

Pepper nodded. “I have to leave soon, just came to wake you up and say goodbye.” She pressed her hands onto her knees and pushed herself up. She sighed. “Get dressed, eat some breakfast, then get going. Okay?”

Peter nodded, avoiding looking into her eyes. He really didn’t feel up to eating this morning. “Bye.”

“Love you. Have a good day!” She smiled, big and lovingly, and closed his door behind her.

Peter released a heavy breath and laid flat on his floor. “Morgan?”

A white light shone above his head and a mop of brown fell around his face. “Peek-a-boo!” Morgan giggled. 

Peter smiled and ‘booped’ her nose, even though neither would feel it. Morgan giggled again.

“Make me want to go to school,” he pleaded.

“If you don’t, I’ll haunt you.”

Peter scoffed. “You wouldn’t remember to by the time you’re born.”

She shrugged. “I might. Maybe I’ll remember it as a teeny tiny baby! Babies are said to be really smart, you know.”

“Too bad you wouldn’t be able to talk, though.”

She grinned. “That’s just better for me, because I could terrorize you, and Mommy and Daddy would think you’re crazy if you told them.”

He chuckled. “Okay, little rascal. When you get here, I’m going to make sure to tickle you every day.” He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers threateningly.

Morgan squealed. “Only if you catch me!” She ran into his closet and giggled amongst his clothes.

Peter took the bait and ran after her.

“Come and get me,” she sang. She walked through his hanging shirts, making them sway from side to side. “Ooh! Wear this one!”

Peter grabbed a red and black, button-up shirt and fitted it against his chest. “We’re going with Spider-Man colors today?”

“Yeah! You’ll feel powerful in them.”

Peter tilted his head to the side, pondering. “Okay, fine. But, you should wear a red dress.”

She squealed. “You want to be twins?” She clapped her hands. “Be right back!” She faded away as Peter changed his shirt, also throwing on a pair of black jeans and socks. 

“Boo!” Morgan appeared behind him once he was fully dressed and she spun in a circle. “You like it? I made it up myself.”

“You look very pretty,” Peter said. “I wish I could just think up an outfit and appear in it.”

She stuck her tongue out teasingly. “You’re just not as lucky as me.”

Peter ran his fingers through his hair and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. When you’re born, you’re going to have a big brother to dote on you. You’re very lucky.”

Despite expecting an eye roll or another tease, Morgan instead smiled big and wrapped her cold arms around his form. Peter closed his eyes and tried to imagine what a hug from his little sister would feel like.

“I love you,” Morgan whispered.

Peter warmed at her words. “I love you, too.” A beat. “Even if you’re a twerp.”

She threw her head back and laughed. She skipped out of his closet and sent a giggling wave back towards him, then faded away.

I’m pretty lucky, too. 

After gathering his folders, the couple of books that arrived in the mail for school, and his backpack, Peter left his room and hurried down the stairs. His chest was a little lighter and his nerves weren’t so tight anymore.

“Hey, Pete!” Tony called from the kitchen. “I made breakfast!”

Oh, yeah. Forgot. 

Peter pulled on his sneakers and peeked into the kitchen. “I, uh… could I not eat today? I-I mean, just for breakfast? I’m just not hungry this early.”

Tony seemed to frown for a moment, but he sucked in a breath and forced a small smile. “Whatever works for you, Pete. But, are you going to eat the rest of the day?”

Peter swallowed and nodded.

“Okay, then. Sounds good to me.”

“Thanks, er, thank you.” He turned around to start walking towards the door when his spider sense tingled. He quickly whipped around and met Tony’s widened gaze, Tony’s body just feet away.

“Woah there. You okay?”

Peter let out a short pant and nodded. “Sorry, nervous, I guess.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Did-did you want something else?”

Tony blinked. “Well, you looked like you were leaving.”

Peter tilted his head and furrowed his brows. “Yeah… I have school, remember?”

Tony chuckled. “Of course I do, kiddo. But, Happy isn’t here yet. So, why don’t you hang out for a bit.” Tony moved back into the kitchen and out of Peter’s line of sight.

Peter frowned and glared at the floor. “Why does Harold have to take me?”

“Harold?” Tony made a sound similar to ‘ew.’ “Is there a problem? I thought you liked Happy.”

Peter sighed and adjusted his backpack straps on his shoulders. “I do, but… I can just walk.”

“Not how it works, Pete. It’s not safe.”

Peter exhaled through his nose and stepped back into the kitchen. “If I leave now, I can catch a bus. I mean, how do you know it’s not safe? You said no one even knows about me, yet,” he tried to reason.

Tony looked back at him with a frown, then continued his cooking. “It’s just not how it works.”

“But-“

Tony turned around, his voice suddenly stern. “Peter, not today. It’s too early to argue.” 

Peter frowned, then looked down at his feet. “Yes, sir.” He clenched his jaw and dragged himself back into the living room. He sat down by the front-facing window and tapped his fingertips on the fabric of the sectional, waiting. The clock ticked on the other side of the room, the lights buzzed, and birds started chirping loudly again.

Peter clenched his hands into fists and breathed in his pattern from before. Seven… four… eight.

Harold arrived ten minutes before school was supposed to start. It was a thirty minute drive.

Midtown High wasn’t nearly as exciting as Peter prepared for. In fact, it was extremely stressful. He was already late when he walked into the main office to pick up his schedule. Then, the principal came out to shake his hand and gave him a massive stack of papers.

“Wha-what is this?”

“Make-up packets. It’ll get you caught up with your new classes.”

Peter sputtered. “But-but I thought passing the tests would mean I was good to go.”

“You qualified to enter the school, but that didn’t make it so the first half of the semester doesn’t count for you. You get the packets done by December 3rd and you’ll keep your scholarship for the next semester.”

Peter frowned. “Whatever. Do you have a map?”

The principal grabbed a sheet of paper off the counter beside him. “Here you go, Mr. Parker.”

“My last name changed—“

“I know. Signed an NDA and everything. No one’s allowed to use it. So, I’m calling you Parker.”

Peter swallowed. “Just Peter, please.”

“Get going to class, you’re already late. Doesn’t look good for a first day, Parker.”

Peter scoffed and clenched his hands into fists to prevent himself from flipping the guy off. “Peter,” he glowered.

Once out of the office, he brought the map to his face.

“What a jerk,” he grumbled. “B117 for English. Where is B hall?” He lifted his head once he found it on the paper, then looked around the commons area. “Ah!” He found the large ‘B’ displayed above one hall and hurried to find his classroom. Peeking through the small window on his classroom’s door, he could see that the teacher was already instructing the class.

Should I just skip until next period? He mentally slapped himself. Of course not! You can do this, Peter. 

He sucked in a breath and pushed the door open.

“...When you finish reading… hello?” The female teacher turned to face Peter. She capped her marker and raised a brow. “Is there something you need?”

Peter swallowed. “I-I’m new here. I’m Peter.”

Her features flashed with recognition. “Oh, right.” She stepped to the side to grab a piece of paper from her desk. “Okay, I have you down. Please take a seat.”

He looked out over the room and noticed everyone was staring. He ducked his head and walked to the back, quickly situating himself in his seat.

“Oh, Peter?” Peter looked up. “Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?”

He wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans and stood up beside his desk. “I-I’m Peter. I’ve lived in Queens for most of my life, but I now live in Manhattan.” He gripped a corner of his desk and moved to sit down.

“What do you like to do?” His teacher asked. 

Peter straightened. “Um… build stuff and, uh, travel, I guess. Mostly around the city.”

She nodded and gestured for him to sit. “Okay, class. Please welcome Peter to our school if you get the chance to talk to him after class. Now, let's turn to…”

Peter breathed out a tired sigh and leaned into the backrest of his seat. He twirled his pencil and tried to pay attention.

Almost an hour later, the bell rang, signaling class was finished. Peter gathered up all his things and stuck his nose into his map again. 

“Hey, Peter, right?”

Peter turned to his left when the owner of the voice slung an arm over his shoulders. The boy had reddish-brown skin, gelled back black hair, and wore a gray polo shirt with the collar up instead of flat against his shoulders. He raised a brow and looked expectant.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Peter.”

“I’m Flash. What class do you have next?”

“Um… English. You?”

Flash grinned. “Me, too. We can go together.” He dropped his arm back to his side and led the way. “It’s different to have a new kid come in the middle of the semester. Why’d they let you in?”

Peter glanced to the side. “Just lucky, I guess.”

Flash scoffed and glanced back at Peter. “Oh, come on. Don’t be shy. You smart or what?” 

Peter chuckled and nodded. “They gave me a scholarship.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! We need someone like you on the team.”

Peter tilted his head to the side. “What team?”

“Decathlon. You can put it on your resume, so it’s really worth it.”

“Oh, I-I’ll have to think about it.”

Flash stopped at the end of B hall and gestured to a classroom. “This is our stop. Come on, sit by me.”

Peter smiled to himself as the two sat side-by-side. 

Flash leaned into Peter’s space and whispered. “By the way, this teacher is hecka old. We can talk in class and he won’t even hear it.”

Said teacher sat at his desk in the front, a newspaper flattened on his desk. He looked to be doing a crossword puzzle. He appeared to be rather wrinkly and frail. Peter wondered how old the teacher really was.

“You said you live in Manhattan,” Flash continued. “Is it an apartment?”

“Oh, no. It’s a house, but I can't remember what street we’re on.”

Flash clapped him on the back. “Yeah, man! A house in Manhattan. Your parents must be loaded!”

Peter nodded and held a small smile.

“Man, we should hang out sometime. My parents are pretty loaded, too. So we could go to my house or yours.”

Peter blinked. “Well, that-that would be great! I mean, fun! I-I’ll just have to ask my parents, though.”

“Me, too. I have an Xbox One and a Nintendo Switch. What are your favorite games?”

“Uh…” Peter looked around nervously. “I-I actually don’t know.” He swallowed. “We-we just moved, so we haven't gotten that stuff out.”

Flash quirked a brow. “Haven’t you played your games before, though? Which ones do you have?”

Peter pursed his lips. “I, um…” He leaned in towards Flash. “I’m adopted.”

Flash’s deep brown eyes popped open wide. “Seriously?”

Peter slumped in his chair and bit his lip.

“Dude, you got adopted by rich people. That, like, never happens!” 

Peter pressed a finger to his mouth and hushed his new friend. “I don’t want everyone to know.”

Flash couldn’t stop grinning. “That’s so cool! What’s it like?”

“Um… it’s okay, but—“

“Class,” their old teacher tapped the board with a ruler. “Settle down, let's get to work.”

“I have to catch up,” Peter whispered. “I’ll talk to you later.” Flash nodded and pulled out his own notebook.

After a couple of minutes, Peter glanced at Flash and smiled to himself.

Pepper was probably going to be really proud of him for making a friend.

Flash helped Peter find all the rest of his classes for the day. They met up in the commons after each period they didn't have together, and Flash would show him the way. He was actually really cool and smart. and funny. When school ended, Peter waited by the front office for Flash, as had been agreed upon.

“Peter!” A distant voice shouted.

Peter looked into the sea of teens and found a hand waving in the air. Flash hurried over, bringing with him two other friends. “Hey, Flash.”

“What’s up, man? These are two of my pals, Jake and Logan. Guys, this is Peter.”

The two new boys grinned. “Great to meet you, man.” They slapped him on the back and shoulder.

“Nice to meet you guys, too.”

“Hey,” Flash began. “So, do you need a ride? I’ve got a wicked car that we could take.”

“Oh no, but thanks. My parents are coming to get me.”

Flash shrugged. “Alright, suit yourself. See you tomorrow, okay? Meet here?”

Peter waved. “Yeah, I’ll meet you here. See ya!” He watched as his three new friends left the building, then walked out himself to stand on the front steps.

After a while, he started walking the school grounds and lying on the grass. Then, it started to rain a little, so he went back under the thin overhang above the front steps.

Peter shivered, rubbing his long sleeves up and down his arms to create some warmth. The rain picked up and wind blew it into his face.

“Come on,” he whispered to himself. All the students were long gone by now. The parking lot was almost empty.

More time passed. Peter sat down on the cement steps and held his backpack in his lap. He curled behind it for some protection from the rain. As he became more impatient and uncomfortable in the freezing weather, he started to notice just how loud the rain was.

Lightning struck further in the city. Following it was a horrendous ‘boom’ of thunder. Peter winced as icy rain drops attacked his skin and soaked into his clothes. His spider sense started to tingle when his body wouldn’t stop shaking. He closed his eyes to shove away at least one of his aggravated senses.

“Sevvvven, fffour, eeeeeight.” He shivered and tried to steady his breathing.

Rain slipped beneath the collar of his shirt and slipped down his back. His hair was stuck like glue against his forehead. His clothes were wrapped around him, too tight, too wet, and too painful.

Peter winced and peeked out from behind his backpack.

“Please,” he whispered. “Someb-body, somebody please g-get me.”

Peter waited an hour in the rain until Harold finally pulled up.

The heat was on full blast the whole car ride home. Peter dripped on the backseat, water collecting in the crevice between the back and bottom cushion of the seat. He huddled against the window, his backpack still on his lap, and held onto the door handle to keep himself from jostling much. He had hoped his senses would have calmed down once he got into the car. Instead, they just made him cry.

“I’m so sorry, Peter. I swear, it was a complete accident. It will never happen again, I promise,” Harold said. His eyebrows were knit together in the rearview mirror, checking on Peter often.

Peter shivered roughly. “Why didn’t any-anyone co-ome?”

Harold frowned as he looked straight ahead. Peter watched him shake his head. “I don’t know,” he mumbled so quiet, but Peter heard it. Of course he heard it.

Peter closed his eyes so he wouldn’t have to talk anymore. Harold seemed to get the message.

Eventually, the car stopped on the long driveway. Harold’s door shut, then Peter’s door opened. An umbrella was held over Peter’s side of the car. 

“You’re home, Peter.”

Peter hugged his backpack to his chest, like it was all that was keeping him from flipping out. Harold followed his slow and shaky movements up to the porch. “Thanks,” Peter croaked.

Harold nodded mutely and opened the front door for Peter before following him into the house. 

Pepper and Tony were on the couch, watching TV. Peter’s chin quivered as Harold closed the front door behind them, signaling to his supposed parents that they had made it.

“Boss,” Harold called over the noise of the TV.

Tony and Pepper turned around. Tony reacted first, his brows shooting upward. He quickly stood and faced Peter, half of Tony’s body still hidden in front of the sectional. Pepper gasped, a manicured hand coming up to cover her mouth.

“Peter?”

Peter’s jaw clenched and he stared at the floor as tears mixed in with the water still dripping from his hair. He shook where he stood.

Pepper stood and came around the couch to crouch in front of Peter. “Oh, honey!” She moved to embrace him when Peter ripped himself out of her reach, his back brushing against Harold’s stomach. 

Pepper’s eyes were wide, confusion swirling in her pupils. “Peter, I’m sorry you weren’t picked up on time. Our schedule got mixed up and Happy was with me when you got out of school. We didn’t realize it in time.” She took a step towards him. “You look like you’re freezing! Why don’t we start up the fireplace and you can cuddle with us?”

Peter’s face twisted with anger, and he shoved his backpack into her middle. She caught it, but she stepped back quite a bit from the force. He opened his mouth to say something, staring into her shocked expression. A croak fell out, but he managed no words. He shook his head at her, shoved off his shoes, then ran up the stairs.

“Peter!” Tony called. “Peter, get down here!”

Pepper hurried to the bottom of the staircase just as Peter got to the top. “Peter, talk to us!”

Whipping around angrily, he yelled, “Why’d you even adopt me if you can’t even pick me up from school?”

They were climbing the stairs now, too. “Things just got mixed up—“

“I don't care!” He screamed. “Why does Mr. Hogan pick me up and drive me everywhere? Is he the only one who actually wants me? Huh? Is Harold my actual parent? Is he going to be the only one that takes care of me?”

“Peter—“

Peter grabbed the knob of his door and shoved it open. “I hate you!” He slammed his door behind him and hit his fist against the wall. “Why did you even bring me here?” He hit the wall two more times before he stepped back, panting heavily. He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the voices in the hallway over his breathing.

“Tony, don’t. We need to leave him alone.”

Their feet descended the stairs.

“That…” Harold said quietly. “That was heartbreaking. You need to fix this.”

“Thanks, Happy. We will,” Pepper replied.

Peter shook his head and let out a sob. He closed his eyes tightly, squeezing tears out and onto his cheeks, and pulled at his hair. Slowly, he stumbled to the corner of his room, beside his bed, and huddled there, his soaked and heavy clothes still clinging to his skin. He cried alone, waving away Morgan or May whenever they tried to comfort him. He didn’t leave his spot on the floor for hours.

Chapter Text

At half past five in the evening, Tony and Pepper set the table for three. Dinner was fettuccine alfredo with sautéed shrimp. As Tony filled the three glasses with water, Pepper left to get Peter.

Tony and Pepper had been rather silent ever since they left Peter in his room. For Tony, it was because he just felt so guilty. The kid had come in with big tears rolling down his cheeks and had looked so betrayed. Not to mention he had literally been soaked to the bone. Happy, who stood behind Peter, had looked like he had kicked a puppy. The Peter puppy. It nearly cracked Tony’s heart in half to see the kid like that. After the fun-filled Saturday they had had, and a somewhat relaxing and peaceful Sunday, Tony was really hoping the kid would start to be happy from now on, or at least comfortable. As it turned out, it looked like Tony and Pepper were still failing him. If only he had double checked the schedule to make absolutely sure that everything would go smoothly on Peter's first day.

Tony sighed and slouched in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose as an ache throbbed in his head.

A few minutes later, Pepper walked into the kitchen alone. It was obvious why. Still, Tony had to ask.

Pepper shook her head solemnly as she took her seat beside him at the table. “He didn’t say anything, but when I knocked, I think he threw a stuffed animal at the door.”

It would’ve been a bit silly, if not for the current mood of the evening.

“I didn’t even know,” she whispered, her voice thick. “Happy was with me, helping me. I-I just lost track of time, Tony. I never lose track of time.” 

Tony placed his hand over hers and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not yours either.”

He frowned. “I think otherwise, but—“

“Then, I do, too!” She snapped. 

Tony huffed. “Fine, it’s both of our faults! Happy?”  

Pepper took her hand away from him and scowled. “No, I’m not. I’m angry and…” She shook her head and gazed at Peter’s plate, gritting her teeth. “And I’m so guilty. I feel like a horrible person!” She flipped her gaze back to him. “So, I don’t need you being mad at me, too.”

Tony inhaled deeply and leaned back in his chair. “You’re right. It’ll just make it worse. I’m sorry.”

Pepper stared down at her own plate as her hand combed through her long, strawberry blonde hair. She shook her head as her chin trembled. Tony tensed and tried to move into her line of sight.

“Pep?”

She blinked a few times as tears gathered. “I… I don’t know how to fix it. I-I feel like all our progress just flushed down the drain! Tony, what do we do now?”

Tony was taken aback by her moment of weakness and vulnerability. He thought of how confident she had been coming into this, specifically deciding to help Peter. Not only had she liked him right away, but Peter had seemed to develop an attachment toward her as well.

“It’s only been a week,” he mumbled. 

“I know that! But, did you hear what he said? He asked why we even adopted him if we weren’t going to go places with him. Happy has taken him everywhere, other than when you took him shopping.”

“He did seem rather upset this morning when I told him Happy would be taking him to school.”

She sniffed and swiped at her cheek. “We have to fix this, Tony. We have to make this right and-and set rules. I don’t know. Maybe it’s time to stop waiting for him to come to us. We need to come to him and talk about this-this crap! And, if he wants to be driven and picked up by us, then why shouldn’t we?”

Tony nodded. “I think you’re right.”

She laughed haggardly. “I thought I was right before! I did—I don't even know right now!” She slid her plate to the side to rest her elbows on the table and bury her face in her hands. 

Tony considered trying to comfort her, then decided against it. After all, he had his own self-reflecting to do.

Dinner finished in its continued solemn tone. Tony and Pepper didn’t discuss anything more, deciding to retire early instead. Tony slowly changed into an old t-shirt and shorts, then buried his legs under the blankets as he pulled out his StarkPad. He wasn’t even in the mood to sleep in his underwear, too ashamed. Pepper seemed to have the same idea, clothing herself in a long nightgown. 

They sat silently beside each other, their dinner conversation playing in their heads. No sound came from Peter’s room. Personally, Tony hoped that the kid had fallen asleep. That’d make one of them. Tony was sure he wouldn’t get a wink tonight. 

“Friday, show me the security feeds of Stark Household,” Tony demanded. 

“Of course,” Friday replied through his StarkPad. The screen lit up with several squares showing separate rooms in the house.

Pepper leaned against Tony’s shoulder, sitting up against the headboard with him. “What are you doing?”

“I want to see how the kid’s doing,” he explained. 

“Oh, Tony. Don’t do that. We shouldn’t mess with his privacy.”

“We need to, Pep. He won’t come out and we need to know he’s okay.” He met her gaze to gauge any further reaction. When she simply nodded, he demanded, “Friday, show me current security feeds of Peter’s room.”

“I apologize, but according to my protocol, ‘Every Individual Deserves Privacy,’ I am unable to show you the current recordings.”

“Override code, safety matters more.”

“Protocol overridden. Showing current recordings of Peter Stark.”

The StarkPad flickered; the several squares molded into one, the date blinking in the top right corner of the screen as the single video played.

Peter was curled up in the corner of his room, rocking himself back and forth. 

Pepper gasped at Tony’s side. “Tony, look! He’s still in his wet clothes!”

“Friday, give me Peter’s temperature.”

“Peter’s temperature is currently 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit. He’s showing symptoms of moderate shivering, distress, and hallucination.”

Tony quirked a brow. “Hallucination?”

“Sound enabled,” Friday said. 

Tony and Pepper leaned in towards the StarkPad to watch their adopted son. 

“Leave m-me alone. Please, just go away,” Peter spoke into his hoodie, looking at specific spots in his room. 

“Friday, this doesn’t prove he’s hallucinating! How do you know he is?” Pepper asked. 

“I don’t have a reason for why. I have simply observed this symptom. In fact, he seems to hallucinate often. He has conversations when he’s alone, he interacts with his body as if there is another individual with him, and calls to them often.”

Pepper and Tony looked at each other worriedly. 

“When did this start?” Tony asked. 

Friday replied, “Since day one, boss.”

“What could it be, Tony?” Pepper hugged his arm tightly. “I’ve never noticed any of this.”

Tony swallowed and scrolled through the feed. Sure enough, as he searched past recordings, Peter was chasing something, talking to someone, and playing with them. It almost looked… 

“Is he haunted?” Tony asked, his eyes widening in horror. “The kid you picked out is haunted!”

Pepper barked out a laugh and slapped his arm. “You dork! He’s not haunted!”

Tony laughed and gestured to the screen. “How else would you explain this?”

“I don’t know, make believe? Or friendly ghosts. I don’t know! Besides, we’re getting off track. We’ll just have to bring it up to him another time.”

Tony chuckled. “Okay, you’re right. But maybe we should invest in an exorcist or some crosses. Call a priest?”

Pepper shook her head, though she wore a big smile. “Come on, let’s go take care of our son. But don’t make any jokes about it tonight. I’m sure he has enough to deal with already.”

Tony grinned and set the StarkPad aside, jumping up from the bed. “Okay, okay. I’ll be good.”

“You better be.” Pepper teased, and followed suit. 

Peter rocked back and forth, shivering within the bundle of his own form. He was wrapped as tightly as he could around himself, trying to conserve as much heat as possible. It was rather useless, especially since he was still in his wet clothes. At least they weren’t dripping anymore, just very, very cold. 

May and Morgan sat beside each other across the room, trying to get him to let them come closer. Every time they tried, he asked them in his small shaky voice to stay away. They couldn’t help but listen. 

“I don’t like it here,” Peter croaked. “Without you and Morgan, I have no one to really love me.” He sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

“Pepper loves you,” May stated. “She’s really quite fond of you.” 

“I like her ‘cause she’s like you. But… It's only been two days with Tony being happy with me, and I feel like it’s going to blow up in my face any time now.”

He peeked above his sleeves to see May’s soft and worried expression. “They’re not like Ben, honey. They haven’t shown any proof that they’re anything like Ben. You shouldn’t be scared.”

Peter buried his head in his knees. “But, I am.”

He flinched when his door rattled in its frame from a few knocks.

“Peter,” Pepper called. “Can we come in?” Silence. “Please?”

He looked at May and Morgan as they nodded encouragingly.

“Remember,” May began. “You have to try. Nothing will change if you don’t try to participate.”

Peter knew she was right.

In a soft croak, Peter said, “come in,” personally hoping they wouldn’t hear him. Unfortunately, they did.

His white door swung open, giving view to Tony and Pepper who were standing in the hall, smiling nervously.

Tony stepped into the room, making sure to step over Moose. “Hey, Pete. You’re still in your clothes from earlier. Aren’t you cold?” He asked, voice light and cheerful.

Peter shrugged.

Pepper walked in next, filling the space left open between Tony and Peter. She knelt down in front of him and started to peel his tangled limbs apart. “Why don’t we get you into something nice and warm, huh?”

Peter nodded numbly while Tony grabbed a pair of warm pajamas from Peter’s closet. Pepper took them and gave them to Peter. 

“We’re going to watch a show downstairs and drink some hot chocolate. Get dressed, bring a blanket, and I will see you down there, okay?” Pepper instructed. 

“Okay.”

Once Pepper and Tony left, Peter stood slowly. His joints popped and his muscles cramped from being tightly wound for so long. He stripped out of his wet button-up shirt and black jeans, then slipped on a pajama set with each of the Avengers’ personal logos spotting the flannel clothing. 

“Of course Tony would pick that pair for you to wear,” May giggled. 

Peter met her gaze, noticing that Morgan was gone. “I think I annoy him because I don’t like Iron Man,” he said, trying to smile. It fell short, though, and he was stuck feeling empty and heavy. 

May flew to his side and pretended to kiss his cheek. “Go down there and talk to them. You have to try.”

Peter grabbed the large blanket off his bed on the top bunk and bundled it in his arms. “Bye, May.”

“Bye, sweetie.”

Peter walked quietly down the stairs, listening to any noises he could pick up. Which, to say the least, was nice to have to try. His sensory overload had long since been gone. At least crying in his room helped something. 

When he entered the living room, nervous and feeling out of place, Pepper waved him over to the couch. 

“You’re just in time,” she chirped. “The fireplace is going and Tony’s still making our hot chocolate, but I picked out a really cute show.” She patted the seat beside her on the red sectional. 

Peter obediently wrapped himself up in his blanket, like a burrito, then sat beside her. She quickly pulled him in to lean against her side, more warmth spreading around him and making him comfortable. 

“Have you ever heard of the show ‘This is Us?’ It’s really cute. It’s about a big family and their lives.”

“That’s cool.” He turned to look up at her, her eyes flicking to his face. “I made a friend.”

She smiled huge. “Really? I’m so proud of you! I told you you’d be successful! Good job!”

Tony chose that moment to walk in. “What’s ‘good?’”

“Peter said he made a friend!”

Peter felt warmth spread on his cheeks as he hid his face in her side. “It wasn’t that hard,” he said, voice muffled. 

“Great job, kiddo!” Tony cheered. “One person down, only three thousand more to go! You’ll be Mr. Popular in no time.”

As he passed out the cocoa mugs, Peter bit back a small smile. 

Once they were all settled, Tony on Pepper’s left, Peter on her right, they started the first episode. 

Despite Tony and Pepper seeming overly cheerful, Peter could tell they were trying. It kind of made him happy. 

His shivering having finally subsided, he enjoyed the warmth that surrounded him. Maybe May was right today. Tony and Pepper were trying, so was he, and everything seemed to be going pretty well. Peter decided that he really liked TV nights with hot cocoa. 

When the first episode ended, Peter yawned within his blanket burrito, his eyelids drooping heavily. Then the TV arm started whirring mechanically and the wall opened to fit the large TV in its storage spot. Pepper gently shook him somewhat awake. 

“Peter, sweetie, don’t sleep yet.”

He moaned and tried to bury his face in the dark of his cocoon. Pepper laughed and gently lifted his head. 

“Come on, sweetie. We want to talk just for a little bit.”

“Mm… okay,” he slurred. He peeled his eyes open and stared at the couple watching him with various levels of amusement in their expressions. Peter blinked sleepily as Tony stood and moved to kneel in front of him. 

“We’ll make this quick, bud. We just wanted to say that we’re so sorry about how today went. Mistakes were made, but we plan to fix them and do better from now on.”

“We’re going to drive you to school and pick you up from now on,” Pepper explained. “And we’re going to make sure one of us is always available to take care of you as often as possible.”

“Rarely, we’ll both have to go for some meeting or something, but you’ll know about it before we leave.”

Peter nodded and rubbed at his tired eyes. “I like that. But, I also want to be allowed to go out to places without a babysitter.” He covered a yawn with his hand. “So I can go to the park, or if you guys are busy, I can walk to school.”

Pepper frowned. “That’s why you waited all that time? You knew we told you not to go anywhere.”

Peter nodded. “And, I would like a way to contact you. Or for you to contact me. That way you can check on me if you need to.”

Tony nodded, seeming to like the idea. “That is something we’ve neglected to do. It’s probably for the best.”

Pepper agreed. “Alright, if we’re absolutely unable to, you can go to school on your own. But only after we get you a phone. And that goes for going to any place on your own, too. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Peter nodded once. 

“We’re new at this, Peter. But we truly care about you,” Pepper said, curling Peter’s curls around her fingers. “We want to be the best parents we can be for you, but there’s quite a bit of learning needed from all of us.”

“I love you, kiddo. Really, I do. And I really hope you’ll forgive us for today.”

Peter smiled hesitantly. “I do, forgive you, I mean.” He chuckled. “And, thank you for talking to me. I really liked this.”

Pepper opened her arms and Peter fell into her embrace. “I love you so much, Peter. So, so much. You are such a beautiful boy.”

Peter remembered May saying something like that when she was alive. Pepper seemed like everything he had been needing for such a long time. He was grateful for her and for her love for him. 

“I love you, too.”

Chapter Text

Tuesday morning, Peter had been dropped off at school by Pepper. She smacked a kiss on his forehead, thankfully not wearing lipstick yet, and gave him a big hug. 

Peter met more of Flash’s friends and they welcomed him into the group with open arms. Having dealt with such a stressful week, so many people joking and talking with him was a breath of fresh air. 

At lunch, he sat at a crowded table, Flash beside him. Peter opened his lunch bag and pulled out a homemade meal of fettuccine alfredo with little shrimp in the sauce. Stuck on the bottom of the tight-lipped container was a note. When he lifted the food out, the note fell and stuck to the table instead.

“Hey, what’s that?” Flash asked. He snatched the note. 

“Wait! Don’t read it!” Peter tried to grab it and Flash held it further out of his reach. 

“Aww! Mommy says to have a good day, Peter!” Flash laughed, their other friends snickering around them. 

Peter’s cheeks burned hot, but a smile was stuck on his mouth. “Just give it back, man.”

“Here you go, Petey-wetey . Enjoy your lunch from Mommy-wommy!” Flash teased. “Look, she even drew hearts on it for you.” 

Peter chuckled and inspected the small piece of paper. It read Have a good day! With a heart instead of a period at the end of the exclamation point. Tony and Pepper’s signatures were scribbled at the bottom of the page. Thankfully Flash hadn’t noticed them. In the top right corner was an Iron Man sticker. Peter laughed, remembering when Tony went around the kitchen that morning and stuck Iron Man stickers on everything he could. One on Pepper’s cheek, one in Peter’s hair, a ton all over the cabinets, and apparently one on his lunch note. 

“So, what’s it like being adopted, Peter?” one of their friends asked. 

Peter rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh… I don’t know. Weird, I guess. ‘Cause you just get picked up at an orphanage and have to go live in a stranger’s house.”

“Do your parents give you special treatment? Like, do you have a cool phone or a TV in your room? Do they let you go to bed whenever you want?” another asked. 

“Nah,” Flash answered for him. “Peter’s parents aren’t cool like that. He doesn’t even have a gaming console. Not one! I think they sound pretty lame.”

“We-well, I’ve only been there a week. So, I mean, things are still changing. I kind of like them. And, they’re planning to get me a phone soon.” Peter defended. 

“But that’s because they forgot about you yesterday,” Flash continued. He glared at the note in between Peter’s fingers. “I think you should make them mess up so they give you whatever you want. I don’t imagine it’d be very hard.”

Some boys laughed. “Get them to throw a party this weekend!”

Peter laughed nervously. “I-I don’t think they’re that bad. They just… uh, are still learning. That’s what Pep—I mean, my mom said.”

Flash continued to frown. “It sucks to be forgotten. Don’t forgive them so easily. You’ll regret it later.”

After lunch came History, which Flash and Peter were in together. Flash guided him to the back of the class and they both sat down. They were two of five kids that had come early to class. 

“Hey, guess what?” Flash whispered. Peter leaned in. “That kid up there?” 

Flash pointed to a guy with black hair, yellow-brown ochre skin, who also wore a dark blue long-sleeved shirt. Peter could only see the back of him, but he guessed that the guy was probably shorter than him. 

“I see him,” Peter said. 

“He’s sick. Like, so disgusting!” Flash hissed. 

Peter’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“He’s like the plague. He’s a porn addict and he sells drugs. One time our school went under lockdown and drug dogs came in. And you know what? He didn’t come to school that day.” Flash leaned in even closer. “And, one time I caught him staring at me in the gym changing rooms. It was so weird! I told him to stop and he wouldn’t! It was so gross!”

Peter swallowed. “Oh. That’s… he’s our age? What’s his name?”

Flash nodded. “Yeah. His name’s Ned.”

“Okay. I’ll stay away from him. Thanks.”

Flash leaned away and slung an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Just trying to watch out for you, man.”

Peter thought about what Flash had said, remembering when he used to stop people doing drug deals or hurting women in alleyways. He shivered. He couldn’t believe that someone at his own school was following in the footsteps of criminals. He decided that he’d definitely keep his distance. 

After school, Tony picked Peter up right on time. They talked about their day in the car and when they got home, Tony invited Peter to his lab. 

“Stay in the ‘Safe Zone’ and do your homework.”

Peter looked around the lab with wide eyes. “Can I at least have a tour?” 

Tony smirked. Then, too amused to be innocent, said, “Finish your homework first.”

Wednesday came and went as quickly as Tuesday. In fact, Flash and his friends helped him answer some of his make-up packets. They showed him their notes and he copied them down to help him do the packets later. 

“Just write down the answers!” Flash told him. 

“I can’t. But, thank you for the notes. It really helps for later.”

Flash sighed and shook his head. “Your loss, man.”

Unfortunately, Peter also noticed that the Ned kid was in more than just a few of his classes, two of which were with Flash. In the classes he had no friends in, Peter sat as far away from Ned as he could. He just knew that if he even looked like he was talking to that guy, the principal would probably call Tony and Pepper and get him in trouble. He didn’t need more reasons for his adoptive parents to be worried or upset with them. After all, it was only a matter of time until he would do something so bad that they would have to punish him. However, he decided to enjoy the happy moments as best as he could, which included when they picked him up from school again. 

When he lived with Ben and May, he always took the bus or walked. Having Tony and Pepper pick him up was turning out to be really, really nice. Even if they were doing it partly because they were worried about Peter being bombarded with reporters. He liked the one-on-one time with them. 

Thursday went pretty well, too. It was Tony’s day for work, so he took Peter to school. It was the first time all week.

“What do you have to do today?” Peter asked, trying to fill the silence in the car. “At work, I mean.”

“Well, meetings mostly. Also have to deal with Avengers crap. Hey, now that I mention it, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you wanted to meet any of them.”

Peter looked at him with wide eyes and his jaw partly open. “You-you’d let me meet them?”

Tony glanced at Peter with a quirked brow. “Of course. You’ll have to get to know them at some point. They’re basically your aunts and uncles.”

Peter licked his lips, noticing just how dry his mouth had gotten. He cleared his throat. “That… that would be cool, er, okay. I’m okay with that.” He nodded slowly and relaxed in his seat. “But, uh… why now?”

Tony blinked at the road. “Uh, why not now? Kid, they’ve been calling like every other hour to know if they can come meet you. And there’s seven of them, so that’s like eighteen calls a day! I can’t hold them back forever.”

Peter chuckled lightly. “Okay, that’d be cool.” He paused. “On one condition.” Tony nodded once to show he was listening. “I want a picture with Bruce Banner. He’s, like, the smartest scientist ever. Like, ever.” Peter gnawed at his bottom lip, trying to hide a mischievous smile. “If I get that, I’d be happy to meet them.”

His hidden insult that bashed on Tony’s ego once more. Peter could see his jaw clenching, his fingers started tapping on the steering wheel, and Tony looked decidedly very tight-lipped. Finally, Tony broke.

Tony shook his head and scoffed. “You are a brat. A very mean, spiteful, and tasteless brat.”

Peter giggled, hiding his massive grin behind a hand. “Sorry not sorry.”

Tony chuckled, glancing at Peter. He squinted his eyes in a glare, but there was mirth in his pupils. Peter just giggled again.

“Because of that, I’m going to tell Bruce that you’ve told me you absolutely hate science, especially scientists. He will—“

“No! Don’t do that! I really do want to meet him. I’ll stop teasing you.”

“Nope, too late, Petey-pie. I’m getting revenge!”

Peter laughed and leaned into the leather cushion of the front passenger seat. He fixed his gaze out the window and noticed how close they were to the school. He didn’t want this nice moment to end. 

Calming down, he cleared his throat again. “I, uh… I like you, um, Tony.” Peter bowed his head, warmth spreading on his cheeks. He didn’t need to look at Tony to know his reaction. It was noticeable in how his heart beat sped up, his sharp intake of breath, and the shift in mood between them. Peter heard Tony swallow, clear his throat, then breathe deeply. “I like you, too, Pete,” he said, voice strangely thick.

When they pulled up in front of the school, Tony reached out and patted Peter’s shoulder. There was a slight shine to his eyes as he sniffed, not meeting Peter’s gaze. 

“Have a good day.”

Peter nodded jerkily. “You-you, too. Bye.”

Peter sped walked into the school, not chancing a look back. His own heart was pounding in his chest, a surge of anxiety, fear, and joy coursing through him.

It wasn’t an ‘I love you’ like he’d given Pepper so many times already, but it meant something. For one, Peter knew he was a liar. He had been so determined not to get attached to these new adults in his life. That plan had backfired completely, but maybe that was okay. Maybe this was right where he was supposed to be, like May had told him so many times.

Peter cleared his throat as he approached his locker, trying to clear away the growing lump.

A thought popped up in his mind and reminded him of the past. Of how he loved Ben, even though he—

No! 

Peter shook his head to clear his thoughts.

I’m not ruining this. This is good. I’m going to hold onto the good for as long as I can.  

He breathed deeply, closed his eyes, and thought of Pepper and Morgan. Tony and May. Even Moose. It helped him calm down and relax again. Remembering the good helped.

Peter felt amazing, like the world was finally okay for a little while. It was so strange! It had been, what, months? Months since the last time he felt totally content with himself. He felt like he could go stop a robbery or get shot in the shoulder and still feel so good! He felt like himself, the Peter he knew May missed, the Peter she died with.

He couldn’t wait to tell her about his day. Flash was so cool! He talked to him, made him feel like he belonged, and helped him with his classes. His teachers were getting used to him, no longer as hesitant around him. He hadn’t even seen Principal Morita all day! It was like, like his Parker Luck was finally turning around. He knew it wouldn’t last long, joy never did for him. But, a day off from his usual angst sounded really appealing. He fully embraced it. He was ready to keep embracing it all the way into lunch-time. He just had to meet up with Flash at his locker and then they’d walk to the cafeteria together.

It was all going according to plan. Until he actually got to his locker. Someone was standing by it. His spider sense hummed. It wasn’t just Flash there. Ned was by it, too. In fact, Ned was opening a different locker, probably his own, which was unfortunately placed next to Peter’s locker.

Peter frowned then thought, What if this is my chance? What if I can catch him with drugs and stop him before he hurts anyone. 

Maybe he didn’t need to stop a robbery. He just needed to stop a druggie. It would be for the guy’s own good anyway.

“Hey, Flash!” Peter called. His friend spun around, a wide grin spreading across his cheeks.

“What’s up, man? Took you long enough. Thought maybe you got lost.”

Peter chuckled. “No, you’ve showed me around enough. I’m at least competent at something .” He smiled and knelt down at his locker. Ned side-eyed Peter, glanced at Flash, then frowned deeply.

Peter put in his locker’s code and yanked it open. It was the only way to open it because the lockers were old. The metal vibrated like it always did. 

He focused his senses, trying to hone in on them. He breathed deeply. Nothing smelled amiss.

“Hey, Peter,” Flash whispered. Flash nodded at the guy beside them. Ned stood up suddenly, slammed his locker shut, and started to walk away.

Dang it! I didn’t catch him with anything! 

He glared at Ned’s back, then Flash stepped past Peter.

“Hey, Ned!” Flash called.

Peter’s eyes widened. He stood up beside his friend and knocked his locker closed. “What are you doing?” he whispered.

“Just watch.” He replied low. Back to a shout, “Ned! Come on, man! It’s not polite to ignore others.”

Ned stopped halfway down the hall. Peter heard him sigh and watched as he slowly turned around. “What?” Ned’s voice was sharp and annoyed.

“Have you met my friend here?” Flash asked, gesturing to Peter. “You’ve seen him around?”

Ned’s dark brown eyes studied Peter, scrutinizing and glaring. Peter shifted on his feet. “Yeah, I’ve seen him. We have some classes together.”

“Oh, good!” Flash grinned. “His name’s Peter. The other day, he asked about you. I told him the truth. That’s what friends do.”

Ned’s face turned dark, his glare more intense.

Peter swallowed, suddenly feeling wrong.

“Everyone knows what’s wrong with you, Ned. Knows how messed up you are.”

“Flash!” Ned barked. “Stop spreading lies! It’s not true and I can get you suspended.”

Flash glanced at Peter, disbelieving. “Can you believe this guy? Me, suspended?” He looked back at Ned, his expression settling in a scowl.

This wasn’t right.

“You’re a sick freak. A porno, a fag. You think you’re just fine the way you are, but you’re not. Everyone knows how disgusting you are.”

Ned’s form shook. “Shut up! None of that is true!” He hid his rage by swiftly turning away, stomping further down the hall.

“You fag! Get back here!” Flash barked out a laugh. “There he goes, tail between his legs. That’s why you’ve gotta stay away from him. If you are nice to him, he’ll try to convert you.” He curved his hands around his mouth, shouting, “Isn’t he sick?”

“I think you’re wrong,” Peter stated, his voice somewhat trembling.

Flash blinked, slowly dropped his hands to his sides, then turned to Peter. Glaring threateningly, he asked, “You calling me a liar, Peter?”

In his peripheral, Peter could see that Ned had stopped walking and had turned around to look at him, confusion settling in his features.

“What I’m saying is you’re projecting hate and lies on this guy. You’re trying to get everyone to hate him because it makes you feel better about yourself.”

Flash’s clenched fists shook at his sides. “You don’t know anything.”

Peter frowned. “You know what I hate?” He asked, slow.

Flash’s nostrils flared and he yelled out in rage. His fist flew up. Peter caught it in mid-air and held onto it.

“I hate people like you who prey on others.” He squeezed Flash’s fist as the guy struggled to pull away. “I thought you were different. Grow up, Flash.” He threw Flash’s fist aside and walked opposite of both the boys.

“Why, you—“

Peter’s spider sense activated and screamed. He whirred around, but Flash was too close. His fist connected with Peter’s face and blood spurted out of his nose. He winced and pushed Flash away from him.

“You jerk!” Flash yelled. “I’ll tell people about you, too! Just watch. No one’s gonna like you anymore!”

“I don’t care about that,” Peter spat.

Before he knew it, Flash tackled him, knocked him back a few steps, and punched him again. Again. Peter clenched his jaw as he tasted blood. He formed his own fist and rained it right back onto Flash.

“Hey, stop!”

“Woah, there’s a fight!”

“Step away! Get back!”

A high-pitched whistle pierced the hallway and a teacher started pulling them apart. Peter felt hands grab under his arms and try to yank him back. He only followed once Flash was pulled off of him. He blinked at the tears that came with a punch in the nose and looked behind him to see who had pulled him away. It was Ned, looking at him like Peter was a shooting star or something.

“You two!” The teacher screeched. “Principal’s office now!”

Peter dabbed at the blood on his face with a long sleeve. He hissed at the twinge of pain it caused, and glared at the soft sleeve like it was a knife. 

Before he could even start to follow the teacher, Ned grabbed his arm and pulled him towards him.

“Dude, that-that was awesome!” He grinned.

“Mr. Leeds! Do you need to come, too?” The teacher growled.

Ned ignored her. “I can’t thank you enough. Flash has been a jerk since, well, forever. I can’t believe you stood up for me!”

Peter offered a side smile and a curt nod. “Well, hopefully he’ll leave you alone. I-I’ve gotta go.”

Ned bounced on his feet as Peter turned to follow the teacher to the office. He dabbed at the blood some more, glaring right back at Flash when he caught him looking at him.

Meeting in the principal’s office was as awful as Peter expected. Principal Morita opened the door for them and looked at Peter like he had been expecting him.

“Why don’t you two boys sit and tell me what happened?” He prompted.

Flash immediately began, tears springing from his eyes. “It was all Peter’s fault! I’ve been helping Peter get around school all this week, and-and I thought we were friends! We were talking to this kid and all of a sudden he punched me! He punched first, Mr. Morita! I had to defend myself!”

Principal Morita showed his palms to them and nodded calmly. “Okay, okay. Thank you for explaining.” He turned towards Peter, a disappointed look on his face. “Parker, I can’t say I’m surprised. I knew from your file that something like this was bound to happen.” Flash glanced at Peter. “For your sake, I had just hoped it wouldn’t be during your first week here.”

Peter blinked. “What? But, he is completely lying! That’s not how it happened at all. And, I didn’t punch first, he did! Look at me! I’m covered in blood!”

Principal Morita continued frowning and shook his head. “What really happened doesn't matter. What matters is you two had a fight and made sure to make a spectacle out of it. So, I’m going to call your parents and—“

“What?” Flash squeaked. “No, don’t—“

“ And you two are going to wait in the front office until they come to pick you up. I will discuss a punishment with them.”

Peter shook his head, but resigned. There was no point to fight for himself. Everyone around him had already made up their minds about him. So, he left Flash and Principal Morita behind and sat in one of the chairs lining the walls of the front office.

He didn’t have to wait long until someone came. Flash’s Mom arrived first.

She wore a tight dress, held a hand purse, and walked with murder in her eyes. Peter noticed Flash shift nervously under her brief stare. She walked into Principal Morita’s office, greeted him politely, then sat in wait. 

Peter was impatiently waiting for Pepper, his story was on the tip of his tongue. He was so ready to tell her what really happened and be able to clear his name. Thank goodness it was Pepper’s day off. She would most likely believe him and everything would work out okay. He was sure of it. Then, maybe she’d make Principal Morita treat Peter better, call out Flash on his lies, and take Peter home.

His vision shattered completely when Tony Stark walked into the school. He strutted around like he owned the place, flashed billion dollar smiles, but kept any true emotions hidden behind tinted sunglasses. Peter gulped when Tony passed by, not even bothering to glance at him. Everyone but Flash’s attention was on the finely dressed man. Flash was staring at Peter like he had two heads. Nothing about this seemed like it would mean anything good.

Their parents were only in Principal Morita’s office for a minute when yelling began. It came from the only female in that room. It continued for two minutes until she stomped out.

“Eugene! Let’s go!” She demanded in a shrill shout. 

Flash stood nervously and followed a few paces behind her. When they walked out of the school, the yelling continued. Peter tried to ignore it.

Five minutes passed. The clock was ticking, counting down to when Peter would meet his doom. Whatever piece of good luck he had believed in before was just a sick joke the universe was playing on him. It had made him put his guard down, feel good for once, only to obliterate whatever hope he had in a single moment. Anxiety was coursing through him. He tried to steady his breathing, to focus. It was useless. He was too terrified.

When Tony walked out, that showy smile was gone, seriousness replacing it. He roughly pointed to his side when he passed Peter and Peter quickly obeyed. His hand wrapped around Peter’s forearm, tight and restricting. He pulled Peter along, walking out of the school as quickly as possible.

“Can-can we slow down?” Peter asked, trying to pull back against Tony’s iron grip. Suddenly, Tony stopped completely right outside of the school and faced Peter with the deepest frown Peter had ever seen.

“You punched another kid?” Tony hissed. 

Peter flinched and stopped pulling on his arm. “I-I had to. There was this kid—“

“You got into fights at the group home, Peter! The school knows about it! It’s on your record! You’re being suspended until next Wednesday! What were you thinking?”

Peter breathed quickly. “I-I was just-just trying to help.”

“Help who?” He roared. “Help you lose a chance at a great opportunity? Help me leave an important meeting? You didn't help anyone!”

“But—“

“I don't care!” He snapped. “I don’t care what you say. There is no reason to hurt another person. Ever!”

Peter couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man before him. Standing so close, the fierce rage was clear behind his glasses. Peter trembled in his spot. “Why didn’t Pepper come?” He squeaked.

Tony swore. “Pepper? What, did you think you were going to get out of this scot-free if Pepper came instead?” His grip tightened on Peter’s arm. “She sent me and had to take over the meeting in my place!”

“Tony, please listen—“

“Don’t Tony me. Get to the car, now! We’re going to talk about this once we get home!” He readjusted his grip and yanked Peter forward into the parking lot.

Peter’s heart hammered in his chest.

There it was. The big bad. He’d done it now. All the good was going to disappear. Ben was going to come and—Tony not Ben—Peter was going to regret it. Regret everything he did. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten attached. He knew. He knew, he knew! 

He stumbled on his own two feet and tripped, ripping out of Tony’s grasp. Peter grunted and tried to right himself as quickly as he could. He met Tony’s furious gaze and stilled.

Peter stepped back. “That guy was my friend,” his voice cracked. “My first friend here. And he was making fun of this other kid. I had to stop him. I didn't punch first, it was him.” His chin quivered as his vision drowned in tears. “I don’t fight for no reason, I had to get him to stop!” He swallowed painfully. “I’m not some villain!” Peter sniffed and stepped back again. His breathing turned into panting and he shook as he walked backwards.

Tony’s face twitched. “Get in the car. Now.”

Peter shook his head and flinched away from Tony’s reaching hand. “Don't touch me!” He screamed. 

“Peter! Don’t you dare disobey me right now!”

“Don’t you dare!” Ben screamed.

Run.

He whirred around and ran faster than he usually did, as fast as Spider-man could, not holding back. Tony shouted after him, ran for him, but he was fully human. He’d never catch up.

Chapter Text

Peter guessed it was at least four in the evening. He had been out here for awhile and the sun was on the other side of the city now. He was starting to get really cold, mostly because he was on top of a building, but it also didn’t help that Morgan was sitting right beside him. 

“Daddy came home and told Mommy you ran away. So I had to see if you were okay,” she explained.

For having never lived, Morgan was really sweet and smart. Peter felt lucky to have met her.

Morgan was wearing her white, frilly dress again. She liked it the best. It made her look angelic and innocent. Peter felt ashamed to be around her. He wasn’t angelic, he made mistakes. Like running away or making friends with Flash. How could he have been so stupidly trusting? He had been so guarded at the group home, never letting anyone in. He changed environments and thought what? That things would be better? Different?

Peter curled further around his legs and sniffed. His nose felt stuffed and it was kind of hard to breathe through it. At least the blood from earlier had dried on his skin. It flaked off when Peter rubbed it. 

“How long until we go home?” Morgan asked, swinging her legs back and forth over the side of the building. “I know you’re cold.”

Peter shrugged. “How about never?” He mumbled.

“You can’t do that! I’ll miss you!” She flitted her hands around his arm. “Mommy and Daddy will, too.”

Peter frowned and glared at the mucky alleyway below them. “Let them. I never wanted to know them anyway.”

Morgan gasped and leaned away, her eyes widened. Peter lifted his head to look at her, guilt immediately weighing him down.

“I’m glad to know you. That’s the one good thing out of this!”

She frowned. “You really don’t understand how much they love you, do you? Mommy cries about you at night and prays for you. They talk about you every time they see each other. This isn’t just pretend, Peter. They really do. And I know you’re scared, but they won’t hurt you.”

Peter shook his head. “You don’t know that. You don’t know what could happen. You’ve never even lived yet. You don’t know what any of this is really like!”

She nodded once. “You’re right. I’m just a spirit, still. Nothing I experience now will be remembered when I’m born.” She pushed herself to her feet. “But, you know what? I’m so excited to come to Mommy and Daddy. I’m so happy that they will be my family and no one else. I’m excited that you’re going to be my brother.”

Peter’s chin wobbled. “So? That doesn’t mean everything's going to be okay. You could be born and get sick! You could get paralyzed, or someone close to you could die! It won’t just be happiness, Morgan! The world isn’t like that!”

She balled her hands into fists. “I know that! But I want to live anyway, because I want to live through it with my family.”

Peter clenched his jaw as tears filled his vision. “I was born with parents!” He shouted. “They died and I got sent to Ben! I would’ve loved to stay with my mom and dad, but they had to die. I don’t know why,” he shook his head and threw up his hands. “That’s just life! I don’t have anyone to live through all of this with. Everyone I know are ghosts! They’re all dead! Or they’re not even born yet!” He sucked in a choked breath. “You have no idea what could happen or what the world could take away from you. You have no idea what happened to me!”

Morgan’s cheeks were stained with tears, her chin trembling silently. She blinked quickly to try to clear her vision and rubbed at her face. “I know something,” she whispered. “I know Daddy never wants to hurt you.”

Peter scoffed wetly and turned away. He sniffled and breathed shakily. “So what?” He croaked. “You want me to go back and let them do whatever they want to me?”

“They won't hurt you—“

“He’s gonna be mad! You didn’t see it! He was so mad! I know that whenever we got home, he wasn’t gonna go ground me or whatever. It was going to be something more. I… I finally messed up enough, okay? That’s what always happens!” He panted and glared in her direction. “Nothing ever goes good for me… maybe I deserve it.”

He flinched when a loud whine erupted to his left and Morgan started full-on crying. “You meanie!” She cried. “Stop being mean to yourself!” Her little feet crossed the flat rooftop and stopped beside him. Her arms swung around him and she buried her face in her shirt. “Why won’t you listen to me? I want you to be happy, Peter! Just be happy!” She wailed and squeezed him tight.

Peter let out a sob and turned toward her, pulling her onto his lap. “Don’t cry, Morgan. I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” He wiped his thumb over her cheek and swiped away a tear. “Don’t cry,” he sobbed.

They both held onto each other tightly, letting out all their pent up emotions. For once, he felt like the caverns of built up emotions within him were finally being cleaned out. Maybe it was because of Morgan, his future little sister. Or he was just so exhausted from being alert, and being up here, high above the people of New York, where he felt safe.

Peter and Morgan slowly calmed down and wiped their faces clean. Even when no more tears fell, Morgan stayed in his lap, hugging his middle. She sniffled every now and then as they watched the clouds drift by.

“I’ll go with you,” she whispered. “I’ll stay right by your side the whole time. You won't be alone.”

Peter nodded slowly and embraced her tighter. He froze and flicked his gaze down to her. “Morgan!”

She blinked up at him, confused. “What?”

He sputtered as he tried to speak, then quit trying and put his hands under her arms. He lifted her up in the air and stood her up on her own two feet. It seemed to click when her face broke into a giant smile.

“You can touch me!” She screamed. She put her palms out and shoved at his stomach, moving him back a step. “I can touch you!”

Peter was speechless. He shook his head, an unbelieving smile on his face, and swooped her back up into his arms. “I can feel you,” he breathed. “I can… how? How does this work? How can I feel you?”

She clapped her hands and giggled. “I don’t know, but this is awesome! Swing me around!”

He set her back down, held her wrists tightly, then started to spin. Her light body swung with him, dress and hair flowing through the wind. She laughed and laughed. Technically, it was her first real human touch. Peter couldn't believe it. He was touching a ghost. He was touching Morgan!

When they stopped, she threw herself against his legs and hugged him.

“That was so cool!” She squealed. “I love it! I love it!”

Peter chuckled. “I’ll make sure to do that often when you’re born.”

She stepped back and nodded eagerly. “You better! Peter, that was so cool!”

“It’s amazing, Morgan. I’m happy for you!”

She bounced on her toes then threw herself around him again. “Be my brother forever, Peter. Be there when I’m born, okay? I’ll go home with you. And-and if he scares you, I could tell him to back off! That’d freak Daddy out a lot and you could calm down.”

He ruffled her hair. “No, if I freak out, I don’t want you getting hurt. Just… I’ll come home with you, right now. Okay?”

She raised her pinky finger. “Promise?”

He wrapped his finger around hers. “Promise.”

She shrieked in excitement. “I’ve always wanted to do that!”

Thankfully, Peter had a sense for direction. In about an hour and a half, he was able to walk all the way home. He paused on the porch though, terrified to knock. He was so scared and he tried not to show it again. He didn’t want Morgan deciding to spook Tony and out his ‘I can see ghosts’ secret without his consent. He could just imagine how terribly that would work out. Maybe he’d be sent to a psych ward. That's why he never told May when she was alive. She found out right after she died and was immensely surprised. But it was better to keep it a secret until he was good and ready otherwise.

“You, can, do, it!” Morgan chanted. “You, can, do, it!”

Peter smiled down to her and waved her off. “Go wait in my room. You’re distracting.” She giggled, but faded away.

He breathed deeply and raised his fist to the door.

She’s not gonna wait long. You have to do this. Now. Right now. 

Peter swallowed and tapped on the wood. He heard footsteps. They were rushed, another set hesitant and slow. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

“Peter?” Pepper gasped from the living room. “Oh my gosh! You’re safe!” She rushed past Tony and grabbed Peter into a hug. “I was so worried sick! You were gone for hours!” She leaned away to see him. “What were you thinking?”

Peter bowed his head and glanced hesitantly at Tony. “I-I’m sorry for running.”

Pepper clicked her tongue. “Come inside, sweetheart. Then we can talk about it.”

Peter nodded and followed her lead. 

Tony, who had his arms folded over his chest and a stern frown, shut the door behind them. They stopped in the entryway and Peter faced his adoptive father.

Pepper squeezed him again. “I’m glad you know your way around. I don’t know how you do, but at least you do.”

“You scared us,” Tony began. “We couldn’t find you anywhere. I was going to send out drones, but Pepper said to give you some time. Do you even know either of our phone numbers? What would you have done if you didn’t know your way back?”

I wasn’t planning on coming back. 

“I don’t know your numbers. I’m sorry, sir.” He stared at his feet, feeling his heartbeat rush. “I won’t do it again.”

Tony scoffed. “You better not. Next time you’ll be grounded, hard. This time…”

Peter stilled his breathing and tried not to show how shaky his hands were.

Tony sighed. “This time, we’re letting it go.”

Peter blinked and raised his head. “Wh-what?”

Pepper rubbed his back. “We believe what you said.”

Tony agreed. “I can’t punish you for getting in a fight for someone else’s sake if I expect you to allow me to do the same. You know, Iron Man and such. So, you’re not really in trouble. Other than the running away part. That was awful to experience. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”

Peter blinked. “Wh-what?”

Pepper chuckled. “We’re not mad, Peter.”

“Not mad?” He parroted. “Why?”

Tony quirked a brow. “Do you want us to be?’

Peter shook his head quickly.

“It’s okay, Peter,” Pepper said. She kissed his forehead and rubbed at the lipstick mark. “Just don't scare us like that again, okay?”

Peter let out a heavy breath, still shocked by the absolutely unexpected outcome. “I won’t. I promise.”

Tony stepped forward and opened his arms wide. “Come here, kid. Sorry I got mad at you and didn’t let you explain yourself. That wasn’t the best parenting.”

Peter didn’t react, unsure of what to say, and instead walked into his embrace. He glanced back at Pepper to see her encouraging smile, and he tried to relax in Tony’s hold.

Morgan was going to laugh in his face for being so worried. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

Chapter Text

After Peter ran up to his room, Tony sighed and met Pepper’s amused expression with a long suffering one of his own. 

She patted his shoulder and planted a kiss on Tony’s cheek. “I think you did great. Good apology.”

Tony sighed. “I can’t believe he came home on his own. Or that you totally called it.”

Pepper chuckled, wrinkles appearing at the corner of her beautiful eyes. “Oh, Tony. He’s a good kid at heart. He’s struggling, but he is getting better. Besides, you said he liked you this morning.”

Tony shrugged. “But does that really matter anymore? What if I messed it up with blowing up on him? I acted like-like my dad! I should’ve listened.”

“It wasn’t all your fault. His principal made it seem like it was all Peter’s fault.”

Tony shook his head and clenched his jaw. “That stupid principal.”

Tony remembered when he and Pepper enrolled Peter into Midtown High. Principal Morita was respectful and highly interested in helping the Starks. That was, until he received Peter’s file. He threatened that if Peter brought the kind of bad behavior he performed at the orphanage into the school, he would be expelled. Tony knew Peter liked the school, especially since it was obvious how hard the kid worked to get a scholarship. Tony just didn’t want to see the kid lose a great opportunity. 

“Howard used to blow up at me over everything. I can’t believe I did that right back to Peter.”

Pepper clicked her tongue. “Don’t worry, Tony. It’s going to be fine. You’ll just have to make up for it again.” Her features brightened. “Oh, I know! You should hang out with him tomorrow! I’ll go in to work for you.” Tony smiled in response and leaned in for a chaste kiss.

What in the world did I do to deserve you? 

“Good idea. Maybe we should also watch another episode of ‘This is Us’ tonight. That way we can make sure Pete’s okay.” 

“Perfect! I’ll go get dinner started. Redo the schedule for tomorrow. Double check it with Friday,” she reminded him.

Tony sighed and turned towards the basement door that led to the lab. “Will do. Friday, remind me to have you check the finished schedule.”

“Reminder set. Good luck, boss.”

Morgan did laugh in Peter’s face. Giggled, really, but she was mostly glad that he saw what she meant. Tony hadn’t punished him. He was upset, sure, but he hadn’t hit Peter. Maybe Tony would never actually hit him like Ben did. But maybe this just wasn’t drastic enough. Ben was sometimes lenient, too. It was terrifying when he would wave off one of Peter’s mistakes. Peter always paid for it later, so even now, he was nervous that Tony would snap in the future.

Peter didn’t want Tony to snap. He didn’t want to make his adoptive father prove to be just like his imprisoned uncle. But there was a possibility that Tony was just as bad, and Peter was tired of waiting around until that time came. He wanted to be prepared for it by already expecting it. So when Morgan smiled and told May that she was right that her dad wasn’t going to be mean, Peter reminded himself in his mind that it could still happen.

As Peter cleaned his room, made his bed, and set to doing more of his make-up packets, Tony and Pepper were busy downstairs making dinner. Usually it would have been done by now, since it was around six-thirty in the evening, but they had been too worried to prepare it earlier.

Peter felt guilty for worrying Pepper. Not Tony, for obvious reasons. He was kind of fine with Tony worrying about him. He deserved it. Pepper was different. She was so similar to May. She was kind, loving, and calm. Pepper didn’t seem like a threat. Maybe in the beginning she was scary, but over time she proved that she meant no harm. Peter was glad to have her. May was gone, whether she was a ghost or not. She wasn’t around like she used to be. And Pepper filled that hole, really well, actually. Peter loved Pepper. After so long of having no one—May had been dead for over eight months now—Pepper was the first person in his life to care for him so easily. Peter found it easy to care for her in return. 

Did he deserve Pepper? Probably not. Was he immensely grateful for her anyways? Absolutely. He didn’t want to disappoint her. Peter had to try harder to behave better. Then, she could be proud of him and, in turn, Tony wouldn’t get mad at him for a while longer.

Peter scanned his neat and tidy bedroom, his gaze stopping on the Spider-Man poster that was taped to his door. The poster was nothing like the shower curtain from the store all those days ago. However, they both showed his Spider-Man suit, his form crouched in his signature stance. Peter wasn’t scared of it. If he looked too long, it made him queasy, nervous, or guilty, but it didn’t bring up the feelings the shower curtain had. That had been too close for comfort, too large of an image. One measly poster was a decoration, a rare glance to see it. He was proud of himself for choosing it back then because it was like trying to help himself get better, to heal. Even though that healing was long from finished, it was nice to know he had done something to try to start it. He remembered how Tony seemed proud of him for choosing it, so that was another plus. He wanted Tony to like him and enjoy his company. He wanted Tony to be proud of him. He had wanted Ben to be proud of him, too. Maybe he was just desperate for some man to love him like his father once did. It was possible that no one ever would.

Peter hugged Moose to his chest and curled up on his bed. He rocked himself back and forth for a long while until Friday made an announcement.

“Peter, I was asked to inform you that dinner is prepared.”

“Okay. Thanks, Friday,” he chirped.

“Of course.”

Dinner and another episode of his adoptive family’s choice evening show was a great combination for a relaxing evening. When Peter retired to bed, it was easy to fall asleep. His mind wandered endlessly until peace overcame him.

Peter was in the park. Strangers passed by, faces blurred. Many of them weren’t alone. Parents were with their children. Teens were with their friends. 

Peter was alone.

Ghosts were there, too. They milled around aimlessly, looking at the living beings around them as they went on their way.

There was a distant shout. 

Once, twice, three times. 

It was getting louder and closer.

Peter turned around, gaze flicking from one person to another.

“Hey!”

Who is the voice coming from?

Peter stumbled as pressure met the skin on his back and he crashed to his knees. He groaned and looked behind him. A long, thick finger pointed right down at him. It came from a tall, pale man. His face was contorted in rage and he bared his teeth. “You!” He roared.

Peter flipped over and tried to scoot himself away. His back knocked against human legs. He heard people grumbling behind him. 

“Oh! Ouch!” They cried.

“Watch where you’re going!”

“Who is that peculiar boy looking at?”

Peter froze and looked towards the feet of the scary man. There were none. He was a ghost.

“You can see me,” the ghost hissed.

Peter nodded slowly.

A wicked grin scrawled across the ghost’s cheeks. His head tilted to the side and his eyes pierced into Peter’s soul. “Then you’ll watch me kill you.” He suddenly lunged forward, hands spread open wide. He screamed as Peter tried to get away. He ran into more people, tried to push past them, but cold hands grabbed him, yanked him back, and scratched against his throat. 

The cold fingers twisted tightly as they bound Peter’s airways shut. Peter coughed and thrashed.

“Stop!” He shrieked. He scratched at the man’s hands as his vision spotted.

“You deserve this!” The ghost screamed.

Peter felt chills run up his spine and tears wet his cheeks.

Snap! 

Peter fell.

Peter’s eyes opened and he clutched his throat as he gulped in air. His mouth and throat were as dry as they had been in the dream, his lungs trying to recover from the lack of air. He pushed himself up to lean against the railing of the top bunk of his bed. He blinked into the dark black of his room and listened to his racing heart.

Peter wiped the sweat off his brow. His bedroom materialized around him as dark inconspicuous shapes smoothed and lightened into furniture. Morgan and May weren’t there, but maybe that was for the best. He would never be scared of them. That wasn’t why. However, he thought waking up to an eerie light coming from their pale figures in the corner probably wouldn’t have helped him calm down from his nightmare.

He used to have nightmares about ghosts the most when he was little. Some used to really scare him. It was weird to have a dream about a ghost attacking him while he’s so much older, though. More so to touch him. Morgan was the only one who had ever touched him before yesterday.

How did she even do it? Morgan had no idea, and May was blown away at the news. Peter needed to find out why it happened. Surely there was an explanation! There was something there, a clue that would explain it. 

Was it because he was with her for so long?

No, because he’s been with other ghosts for much longer. Time didn’t matter.

Relationship? How Peter felt about the ghosts?

No, that couldn’t be it either. Otherwise, May would be able to hug him. Gosh, he wanted a hug from May right about now. A real, warm hug.

Peter froze.

May.

Peter had seen a ghost touch someone else once. She didn’t touch him, but Ben.

It was the night Peter ended up in the hospital with the three stab wounds.

His eyes strayed to the Spider-Man poster on his door. He shivered as memories drained himself of his previous thoughts.

He saw Ben, screaming and banging on the door, words slurred.

“Open this door! Open it now, right now, Peter! Or I… I’ll break it down.”

Peter wasn’t ever supposed to give Ben the key if he was drunk. That was the rule. That was Ben’s rule.

The door rattled in its frame. Ben took a couple steps back then ran straight.

Bang! 

Peter could hear the small particles of wood splintering and groaning under Ben’s force.

Bang! 

“Uncle Ben, I didn’t mean anything by it! I was just talking to myself!” Peter cried.

“You said you killed her!” 

Bang!

The door burst open and the large man stepped into the room.

“I’ll kill you right back,” he growled.

Peter cried and tried to escape him, but Ben was animalistic and feral. He wouldn’t quit. 

Peter’s memory blurred as pain erupted through his body.

“No!” May screamed, flying into the room. “Don’t touch my baby!”

She screamed as her fingers slipped right through Ben and Peter, not able to gather any purchase.

Peter curled into a ball in the corner as Ben pummeled him. Over and over again. He peeked past his fingers as May’s eyes flashed red. Peter gasped as May’s body was dipped in blood, her skin split open from massive gashes and broken glass, and she screamed as horrifying as she did when the other car’s lights flashed in Peter’s eyes. She rained claws on Ben’s back and he howled, bending over backwards as his skin bled.

Peter had escaped then. He grabbed his Spider-Man suit and ran as fast as he could.

Peter gagged after the onslaught of memories, nausea suddenly rearing its ugly head. He clutched his stomach and hissed in pain. It slowly subsided and he looked back at that Spider-Man poster.

He had completely forgotten about how he had managed to escape. It had been locked away behind a system of webs to protect him. The memory hurt to remember. May’s figure when she died had come back right before his eyes. She had hurt Ben to save Peter. 

Peter didn’t want to think about what he would’ve done if May hadn’t been able to help. He wondered how much more Ben would’ve made him suffer.

At least he had his answer. It was time or how intimate the relationship with a ghost that gives them the ability to become tangible. It was their own emotions as well as Peter’s. They built off of each other. When May attacked Ben, Peter was in so much pain and distress, suffering from crippling fear. May was fearing for Peter and trying to save him. Morgan was so unbearably sad that she had been able to manifest her emotions to make her stronger. 

Peter scoffed. Why hadn’t he connected the dots before? Strong ghosts could show their entire form if they decided. Their strength came from their emotions. May was only able to touch Peter when they both hit their extreme. Otherwise, May was always so mellow and calm.

It finally made sense. Maybe he could teach May to use her emotions, as well as his, to be able to hug him. Even if her touch continued to be as cold as ice. 

Peter sniffled and wiped at his nose. His senses perked when a knock gently reverberated through his door. 

“Co-come in,” he called softly.

Pepper, in the glory of a frilly and flowery nightgown stepped into the room. Her brows were drawn up in concern. “Hey, sweetie. Friday said you seemed to be in distress.”

Peter smiled lightly and crawled over to his ladder. As he lowered down with each rung, he said, “Yeah, I’m better now. Just a nightmare.”

Pepper walked further in the room and motioned for Peter to join her on the bottom bed. “Do you want to talk about it?” Her gentle hands wiped at his cheeks and Peter wondered why she looked even kinder in the darkness of his room.

Peter shrugged uncertainly. “Not really… I don't want to get a panic attack from talking about it, you know? I just calmed down from one,” he smiled.

She kissed his curls and opened her arms. “Want a hug?”

Peter nodded childishly and leaned into her embrace. “Sorry for waking you,” he mumbled against her shoulder.

She clicked her tongue. “No, no. I want to be woken up if you’re having a hard time. I want to lose sleep so I can help you. That’s my job. Besides, I love hugging you.”

Peter smiled against her nightgown as his cheeks warmed. “I like it, too,” he mumbled, embarrassed.

“Want me to stay until you fall back asleep?” 

He nodded in response.

They covered themselves with the spare comforter on the bottom bunk and cuddled closely. Pepper ran her fingers through his curls as she hummed softly.

Peter’s eyelids slowly drooped. He felt impressions of kisses into his hair, then the great warmth lain beside him quietly moved and left his room.

Chapter Text

Bright and early Friday morning, Tony dished chocolate pancakes on three plates. He bobbed his head to the beat of an AC/DC song Friday was playing for him and passed out silverware and drinks. Once the table was set, Tony tapped his chin and looked towards the living room. He had told Pepper and Peter to get up and eat fifteen minutes ago. They were supposed to be here by now.

“Friday,” Tony called. The music lowered to a soft hum to show she was listening. “Are Peter and Pepper coming down yet?”

“Yes, Boss. Peter is currently showing Pepper his outfit of the day.”

As the music resumed, Tony tilted his head down to hide his growing grin. He shook his head as he rubbed his beard, chuckling to himself.

And they call me the womanizer . 

When Pepper entered the kitchen, Peter following close behind, Tony pulled out a chair for her to sit.

“Thank you,” she smiled. 

“‘Course,” Tony said. He placed a kiss on her perfectly coiffed bun and gave her shoulders a loving squeeze. Then, he cast his gaze over to his adopted son. “Nice outfit. Gotta love those shirts.”

Peter, who wore one of his science pun shirts and a comfy pair of joggers, ducked his head to hide a smile. “Yeah, this one’s funny. But Pepper doesn’t get it.”

As Tony took his seat, Pepper scoffed. “Oh, thanks, dear. I didn’t need to be outed like that.”

Peter snickered around an “I’m sorry.”

Pepper shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I’ll never understand your shirts on my own.” 

“Yeah, if you still can’t after all these years you’ve been with me, there’s no hope for you,” Tony said, then stuck his tongue out at his wife.

Pepper gasped as she rumpled up her napkin and tossed it at Tony. 

“Yeah, only the younger generations can really understand it,” Peter said behind a mischievous grin.

Pepper gasped more dramatically. “I’ll have you know, Tony is older than me, Peter! Also, it is not pick on Pepper day. It is a ‘give me chocolate pancakes and wish me a good day at work’ day. No more insulting me for the rest of the morning!”

Peter laughed out loud, causing Tony to stop and look at him. Peter’s big brown eyes were bright and full of joy with his biggest smile yet slapped across his cheeks.

Tony smiled to himself as his throat tightened. He cleared it quickly and clapped his hands once. “So! Let’s eat before this gets cold.”

Pepper nodded in agreement. “Good idea.” She glared teasingly at Tony and Peter and stuffed a bite of pancake into her mouth.

“How long are you working today?” Peter asked.

Pepper hummed and held up one finger, trying to quickly finish her bite. “Sorry,” she said once she had swallowed. She cleared her throat. “Um… I’ll get off at around four. Just in time for dinner.”

“Hey, Pete. We could tag-team dinner tonight. Whatd’ya say?”

Peter met his gaze and pursed his lips. “Uh… sure. That could be fun.”

“Ooh! I’ll forgive you two for teasing me if you make me something really nice,” Pepper encouraged. 

Peter nodded. “Okay, then… I’m in.”

“Alright then. It’s a plan,” Tony smiled. 

After a tight hug and a peck on the lips, Tony walked Pepper to her car while Peter waited in the living room.

“He’s in a good mood today,” Tony chirped as he opened Pepper’s car door.

She hummed. “Even better to bond with. Just focus on being calm and encouraging. And you can’t go wrong with compliments. Kids love that. Or, well, Peter seems to really love it.”

“How do you know how to deal with him so easily?” Tony asked. 

Pepper grinned. “Because I’ve lived with you all these years. But, I’m not perfect. He gets mad at me and doesn't listen to me sometimes, too. I’m just very good at keeping a cool head.”

Tony frowned and tried to validate himself. “I can keep a cool head—“ Her knowing smile cut him off and he snapped his mouth shut. He dropped his head and nodded, humbled. 

Pepper chuckled and leaned into his line of sight. “Just try your best. I’m sure you two will have loads of fun.”

Tony straightened and nodded absentmindedly as he waved her off. “I know what to do today. I’ve got it all planned out.”

Pepper quirked a brow as her pretty lips pursed into a frown. “Just be careful, okay? And try hard. I really want to see you two doing better.”

“You got it, darling. Now, get going before I lose myself in your pretty eyes,” he fluttered his lashes. 

Pepper rolled her eyes, though Tony could tell there was a little bit of pink dusting her cheeks. “Bye, Tony. I love you.”

“Love you, too, dear. Don’t worry, everything’s going to be fine.”

After another sweet kiss, Tony shut her car door and waved her off. Then, it was just him and his kid.

Operation ‘bond because Pepper said so’ is a go. 

Much to the kid’s delight, Tony announced that they’d be working in the lab for the day until dinner.

“So, am I stuck in the ‘safe-zone’ doing homework again? ‘Cause, I don’t have any.”

Tony doesn’t doubt that. Peter turned out to be surprisingly diligent in doing homework. “Nope. How does a father-son science experiment sound? Safe one, of course. I’m all about safety. I am now, at least.” He chuckled breathily. “Anyway, what do you think?”

The kid had perked up instantly and bounced on his toes. “That would be cool! What experiment? Can we test your suits, or, uh—what about building a robot? I-I’m pretty good at that.”

In the back of the lab, Dum-E chirped and whirred over to stand beside them.

“Hmm. Interesting ideas and I’ll keep them in mind,” he promised. “But we need to begin with a lab safety lesson. The best way to do that is to start with something easy. Therefore, we’re going to build an emergency landing suit. Basically a deployable, inexpensive suit that can be sent into the air, attached to falling people, and safely get them to the ground.”

Peter’s brows scrunched together. “I, uh… I don’t think you know what an easy science experiment is.”

Tony shrugged uncaringly. “Oh, well. You in?” Peter nodded enthusiastically.

As Tony gathered all the supplies for their project, he instructed Peter to get all ‘safety’d up.’ By the time he was back to standing beside his main lab counter and dumping two armfuls of parts, Peter was wearing a big pair of safety goggles that took up half his face, plastic gloves tight on his fingers, and a massive lab coat that hung well below his hands and trailed close to his feet.

“Is this really necessary?” Peter asked, frowning. “This seems like it's more dangerous or a hindrance than keeping me safe from something.” In response, Dum-E spun his claw hand in amusement and Tony couldn't help but grin, too.

Tony understood his discomfort. In reality, he never bothered much about his own safety. Some things, sure, but this really wasn’t going to be a dangerous project. “Hmm… I still think you should get in the habit of wearing it. Pepper would kill me if you got hurt.”

Peter huffed and pulled at the lab coat sleeves. “Okay… where do we begin?”

Tony asked Friday to bring up a projection of the plan. He smiled to himself as he busied himself with looking over the projection. Peter leaned over the counter with rapt attention, nodding along to the explanation. Tony’s stomach flipped as he shared enthusiasm with his boy. It was nice to be in the presence of a like-minded individual.

It took three hours to finish just one of the emergency deployable devices, which was fine. Knowing now that it would come out correctly through the instructions, Tony could send it in to Stark Industries Research and Development. But, he would have to test the device first. That would come later.

“It’s so cool!” Peter grinned and bounced on his stool. “This could help so many people—you could use this for fires and-and floods or earthquakes! If you also build in a protective barrier to air up and surround people, this could be used in all sorts of situations, not just falling ones!”

Tony hummed, “Not a bad idea. Why didn’t you bring that up earlier?” He questioned.

Peter noticeably paused. “Oh, uh… I don’t know. Just-just thought of it, I guess.”

“That’s okay,” Tony reassured. “I’ve thought up good ideas after something has been built plenty of times. Just hafta work on it some more.”

Peter frowned and looked away, visibly curling in on himself. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean anything bad. You don’t have to change it.”

Tony furrowed his brows, his thoughts bringing questions to the forefront. “I want to hear your ideas, Peter. I want to. Okay? No need to be sorry.”

Peter eyed him like he didn’t believe him, but his demeanor did relax some. “So, are we going to take it apart now?”

“Oh, no. I need to synthesize a material that could withstand those types of disasters with Friday, first. That part’s for me to work on. You , however, can do your own little project or experiment.”

His eyes widened and he straightened. “Really? By myself?”

Tony chuckled. “Yup. I’ll be here to help if you need it, but you’re welcome to build what you want.”

Maybe there should be a restriction? Is that too lenient? Is this a mistake?

“Um…” The noise broke Tony out of his thoughts. “Could I maybe look at part of your suit then? I just want to see how it works.”

Tony grinned. “Oh, so you are interested in Iron Man after all.” Peter scowled, but it looked more playful than harsh. “Sure, kiddo. And, how about this. Work on one of my gauntlet rejects, make it better. Sound good?”

In reply, Peter nodded and waved Dum-E over to his counter in the lab.

Weirdly, as the experiment turned out, Peter found it much easier to work in the lab than on his group home bed. He hadn’t expected as much, because he’d been near Tony the whole time. That was why he still felt rather hesitant to make dinner with him. Close quarters and all that. But it was fun. Tony wasn’t frustrated when pieces wouldn’t fit together, or when Peter grabbed the wrong tool, or if he was too slow in doing something Tony had told him to. Tony had been completely different; seemed entranced by the project itself, looking blissful and at ease as he hammered, sawed, and glued. Even when one of the exposed wires shocked him, all he did was swear, then apologize. It was weird. No, foreign was the right word for it. It was foreign, because he couldn’t recognize the behavior, maybe because he hadn’t seen it in anyone else before. Peter didn’t know how to feel about it. Then, when Tony told him his idea was good and he wanted to hear what Peter thought, Peter decided he would feel happy because that made sense. 

In the corner of the lab, at a much smaller counter, Peter had taken apart and put back together the ‘gauntlet reject’ Tony gave him a few times now. Even though it was small and outdated, Peter really liked looking it over and messing with it. He had figured out how to get the thruster to change colors, hypothetically mostly (because he was worried Tony would laugh and say no if Peter asked him for some shaded glass or colored lasers), and had figured out how to get the gauntlet to turn on. That one isn’t hypothetical. In fact, he was working on it right then. Peter twisted a few wires into place, taped them together, then tinkered around with it a little more. His spider sense buzzed when there was a spark and he flinched. But it didn’t hurt. The stupid gloves did something for him after all. 

“Come on,” he whispered, sucking his bottom lip in between his teeth. He grinned as the gauntlet flickered to life then quickly died, and he frowned.

Cautiously, Peter looked behind him. Tony was at the main lab counter muttering to himself as he scrolled through various projections. He had spoken to Friday a couple of times, asked her some questions, but his attention wasn’t on Peter. That was important.

Peter faced forward and quietly took off the annoying lab coat, draped it off to the side of his project. He slipped off the practically useless gloves and the uncomfortable goggles next. He could see much better without the warmth fogging the glass of the goggles, and the tiny tweezers were easier to hold in his sticky fingers.

He knew safety was important, especially after Tony spent half an hour speaking about its importance and how it could help. But he was Spider-Man. He could stick to walls. He used to punch bad guys wielding knives. Some random zaps or sparks couldn’t scare him. That was how he justified his decision. It wasn’t a big deal. Everything on him had been in the way anyways.

Now that he had a better grip on the tweezers, he twisted the wires into their correct positions. Another zap. Peter winced.

Finally, the center beam brightened and stabilized. The gauntlet mechanically whirred softly as the beam powered up, preparing to fire. It wouldn’t, not without the correct actions to cause it to, Peter guessed. It was just storing energy into reserves.

Peter grinned and turned the armored gauntlet around in his hands. It no longer looked like a pure reject. It was beat up still, but it was functional. He had repaired one of Iron Man’s gauntlets.

Dum-E chirped, excited and encouraging as Peter showed it to the bot. He flattened his hand and carefully moved it into the gauntlet. It wasn’t snug, far from it. Tony had much bigger hands than Peter did. Still, it felt amazing.

Dum-E whirred as he moved his claw hand from the gauntlet to Tony. Peter smiled and nodded.

“Hey, Tony, look at this! I got it working!” Tony nodded as his body turned towards Peter, but his face stayed looking at the holographic projection. 

“Real nice, Peter. Good job.”

Peter’s smile faltered. “Are you going to look at it?”

“Yeah, I…” He blinked at the projection, then turned his gaze over to Peter. “Sorry, kid. Show me.”

Peter recovered quickly. “It’s storing power in the reserves and everything. There were just some wires disconnected and a few pieces loose. I fixed it!”

Tony smiled. “You did great, Pete. Looks awesome. However, I can’t help but notice your lack of safety gear. That could still go unstable any second now—“

“No, I fixed it. I made sure it would be okay, otherwise I wouldn’t have stuck my hand into it.”

“I understand that, Peter.” His tone was soft, chastening but calm. Still, Peter felt his stomach tighten. “But, your safety is too important to disregard. If my rules can’t be followed, you won’t be able to work in the lab with me.”

“But, it’s all too big and uncomfortable. I’ve built plenty of things without safety gear and I’m fine!”

Tony sighed and crouched down to Peter’s level. It doesn’t help him feel better. “It’s different now. You’re here now, not alone anymore. Those are the rules and they’re important. I’ll get some better gear ordered that’ll fit better. But, you need to get your safety gear back on if we’re to stay down here.”

Peter felt heavy as he nodded and returned to his safety gear. His stomach was heavy and his throat was tight, but he wasn’t shaking. After a moment, he realized he didn’t see Ben in Tony right then. He was different again, like when Peter had come back from running away. He didn’t yell at him for not listening to Tony, just explained the problem to him.

It was entirely and completely frustrating. Adult men in his life weren’t meant to be different.

Peter huffed and snapped on the uncomfortable goggles. Then, he picked up his lab coat and pulled his unarmored hand through the sleeve.

“Oh, wait, Pete!”

Peter’s spider sense spazzed and he flinched, turning around. Suddenly, he felt the gauntlet vibrate around his palm and a beam shot out. He acted fast and directed it away from Tony. The beam blasted into the wall and left a black smoking spot.

“Put your hand down!” Tony yelled as he ducked. “Put your hand down!”

Peter’s eyes widened as it whirred again, preparing for another blast. He ripped off his lab coat, bundled it up in the armored hand just in time for the beam to shoot. He cried out when a searing pain erupted in his wrist. His spider sense shouted in his head.

Hide!

But it was too late. Tony stumbled over to him as Peter let out a shout of fear and tried to move away. His hands gripped Peter’s wrist and pointed it to the floor.

“Keep it there!” He yelled. He ripped the scorched and smoking lab coat out of his hand and threw it to the floor. Dum-E sprayed it with fire retardant. Then Tony gripped the edges of the gauntlet and forced it off of Peter’s hand. He cried out in pain and saw blood drip to the floor.

“Crap, Peter!”

And Peter couldn’t stop himself, couldn’t stop himself from looking at the man. His face was twisted in fury, in rage. He handled Peter roughly as he yanked him to the sink on the side of the room and forced his hand under cold water.

“Stop,” Peter gasped. “Let-let me go!”

“Stop pulling,” he shouted. “You’re bleeding. What were you thinking? You could’ve killed someone! You could’ve gotten hurt!”

“I am hurt!” Peter shouted because he didn’t know what else to do. “I didn’t mean to! I-it just turned on on it’s own!”

Tony’s jaw clenched. “If you had just listened to me—“

Peter gasped as another sharp pain shot through his hand. Listening to instinct, he ripped his wet and bleeding hand out of Tony’s grip and buried it in his shirt. Tony whirled around and grabbed for him but Peter’s mind was screaming.

Get away get awaygetaway! 

He looked at the door of the lab as Ben echoed in his head and shouted at him.

“You stay right there! Don’t you dare move again!”

He had listened then, stayed there as Ben hurt him. Ben screamed at Peter, grabbed his hair and smashed his head against the wall, scratched at his skin. Peter screamed and cried, but didn’t move, because he wanted to be good, wanted to just obey and get a lesser sentence. It hadn’t done anything. Obeying didn’t help. He was here now, scared of Tony. Obeying didn’t help anything.

Peter’s feet moved as he hugged his hand to his chest. Tony shouted after him.

“Peter, wait! Please, stop!”

He couldn’t, wouldn’t. Ben took Spider-Man away from him. He wouldn’t let Tony take anything more.

He swung the door of the lab open and it slammed into the wall. His mind listed another offense to his crimes.

“You deserve it.” 

As he ran up the basement stairs, Tony shouted something different. 

“Friday, lockdown!”

Peter felt his fear turn desperate and he moved faster. The basement door was going to lock, he was going to be trapped there!

“No!” Peter screamed as he lunged and slipped under the metal seal. He rolled on the living room floor and slowly steadied himself. It was too late. He wasn’t in the basement, but he was still trapped in the house. The front door was sealed off, the windows blackened. Friday would never listen to him to let him out.

“No!” Peter screamed. He balled up his good hand into a fist and hit the ground. “No!”

He shook as his vision blurred. “I can’t-can’t,” he breathed, panicked. He shook his head as his heart pounded hard in his chest, his spider sense no longer good for anything, going off constantly in his state of complete fear.

Footsteps neared him, just behind the basement door. 

“Friday—“

Peter gasped and shoved himself to his feet, not waiting for Tony to get into the same room as him. He started for the stairs because there had to be something there. Something to protect himself with. At the top of the stairs, Pepper stood, her eyes wide and worried. 

“Peter, what is going on?”

He let out a sob and grabbed her, pulling her to the end of the hall, as far from the stairs as he could get.

“Don’t let him hurt me, please! I didn’t mean to! I didn’t, I promise!”

She shook her head, clueless, then her eyes settled on the blood dripping through his fingertips and soaking into his shirt. “Peter!” She shrieked and tried to look at it, but Peter shoved her hands away, too panicked to even realize his force. Tony was running up the stairs.

“No, no! Stay away! I didn’t mean to!” He pressed himself into the wall and pulled Pepper against himself. “Please, help me!” He shrieked.

But Tony was walking like he was approaching a scared animal, like he was going to pounce. Or maybe he was just being cautious, trying to stay calm. Peter couldn’t tell.

“Tony, what happened?”

He stepped closer and Peter screamed in terror. “No, no, no! Please, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Peter, calm down,” Tony shouted over Peter’s voice. 

Pepper shouted back, “Tony, just stay there!” 

“No, I’m trying to—he’s bleeding!” 

Peter waved his head wildly back and forth, cornered and freaking out, and slid down the wall, then begged, “No, don’t hurt me! I’m sorry! Please don’t! Don’t hurt me!”

And the hallway froze. Tony wouldn’t move, stuck in place, and Peter thought maybe he’d listen. Maybe Pepper would save him like May tried to. He pleaded out loud some more, now in fumbling whines and whispers, no more yelling.

Pepper lowered herself to the floor and turned to Peter, her features screwed up in concern. “Peter,” she whispered. “Peter, honey… we are never going to hurt you.”

Peter shook his head and whimpered. “Don’t lie. No more lies.”

Her concern pooled completely in her pupils, filling them up, and she crawled closer to him, touching his cheek. “We are never going to hurt you. Never. Not when we’re mad, or angry, or if you’ve made a bad choice. We will never hurt you.”

Peter’s gaze moved to Tony as he cleared his throat.

“No one is allowed to hurt you ever. No one, Peter.”

“Has anyone of us hurt you so far?”

Peter hiccuped and shook his head. “N-n-no, but—“

“No buts,” Pepper calmly stated. “We will never, never, never ever hurt you. We promise.” She turned her head towards Tony, meeting his gaze, and nodded.

Tony kneeled down where he stood, not making any move closer. “Peter, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, and Pepper’s right. I don’t want to hurt you ever. I was just scared of you getting hurt, I panicked. But, I shouldn’t have acted like that… I’m sorry, Pete.”

Peter trembled where he sat, still holding onto Pepper so he can know he’s somewhat safe. He doesn’t want to, but he nods, scared to do otherwise. He pursed his lips as his chin wobbled aggressively and choked as a sob tried to break through.

Pepper rubbed her thumb beneath his eye and swiped away more of his falling tears. “Oh, Peter,” she whispered, almost too quiet.

“Peter,” Tony began, bringing all attention back to him. “How long…” He opened his mouth to say more, but the words wouldn’t come. There’s water in his eyes and his strong demeanor was crumbling. He croaked, asking, “How long have you thought that we’d… that I’d hurt you?”

Don’t answer, he’ll be mad. He’ll yell. He’ll be mad. I can’t say. I can’t.

Peter shook his head and clamped his mouth shut. But, it was apparently an answer in and of itself, because Pepper gasped and realization dawned her features. 

“Peter,” she whispered, her voice quivering. “It… it was only ever your uncle, wasn’t it?” She didn’t wait for a reply. “It wasn’t just that one time, either… he hurt you for years.”

Pepper read him like an open book, so he didn't waste any more energy trying to stifle a reply, but as his mouth opened, all he could do was let out a sob. 

Tony’s body sagged and he dropped all the way to the ground, his features mourning his cluelessness. “You’ve been scared this whole time, haven't you?” It doesn't need a reply. Tony knew it by then. “That’s why you’re scared of…” His voice dropped off into nothing and Peter felt like he had been bad, like he'd disappointed them. They didn’t know before, but they knew now. They knew how bad he was, how much he deserved the pain. They knew how he used to be and the only way for him to get better. Ben had said it was the only way for Peter to learn. The thoughts made him tremble and shake and he was scared and worried and felt so small. He didn’t want to go back there, didn’t want for things to play out the same any longer.

Thankfully, Pepper pulled him away from the wall and into her embrace. He buried his face in her neck and sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

Tony crawled towards them and hesitantly reached his hand out. Apprehensive and soft, he rubbed Peter’s back and said, “It’s okay, Peter. It’s alright.”

After Pepper finished cleaning and wrapping Peter’s hand, they left him in his room to cry or sleep, whatever came first. He cried, still trying to be quiet, but doing it too hard to successfully stifle it.

Tony’s heart sunk and he winced at the awful sound of it. Of the pain and exhaustion and fear dominating those sobs. He couldn’t stand it any longer, when he was about to shatter himself, but he didn’t want to walk away and forget his adoptive son’s pain. 

Pepper pulled him down the hall and into their bedroom, closed the door, and planted herself in his line of sight.

“Why are you home so early?” Tony asked because it’s the first thing he could think of.

“They cancelled on me last minute. I came home and was going to our bedroom until the house went on lockdown.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “If it scared you.”

She nodded. “It did, but… What happened, Tony?”

He explained how the gauntlet malfunctioned and almost hit him, then Peter tried to stop it himself by covering it with a lab coat, causing the beam to burn the lab coat and, by proximity, burn the gauntlet and Peter’s hand. 

“I was freaked out and panicking. It scared him, I could see that, but I couldn’t calm down. I was on the edge of it, Pep. I was so close to an attack. Then he ran and I was scared he’d run away again and be gone for hours and I knew that wasn’t safe. Pep, I was just trying to help him and I scared him.”

She nodded, understanding.

“He thought…” his throat is tight. “He thought I’d… my dad, Howard… he thought…” he couldn’t finish the sentence, his mind starting to play scenes of his childhood that he tried to forget. 

Tony smiled at the reporters as Howard pinched his arm. 

Howard dragged him everywhere, squeezing Tony’s small hand in his binding grip.

Tony hid in his room when Howard came home to hear of another tantrum Tony had thrown. He begged and pleaded for his father to get another nanny. 

“Not this one, dad, please!”

He had shoved Tony away and left him with the graying woman. She paddled his bottom for being rotten, put tabasco sauce on his tongue when he was mouthy, and slapped him when he disobeyed. Nanny Penelope made Tony hurt. Howard never stopped her. Never comforted him. Never kissed the pain away. He might as well have hurt him, too.

Pepper tore him out of his memories. “He had a nightmare last night… Tony, I think he still has so much to tell us. There’s still so much we don’t know. We can’t keep guessing and waiting for him to panic before we know to change. We can’t wait for him to come to us any longer.”

Tony nodded, exhausted and regretful. “Okay, we’ll talk to him about everything. And listen,” he decided, because that’s what Howard never did.

Chapter Text

The first thing Peter realized when he had calmed down after an hour and a half was how pathetic he had acted. He had literally begged Tony not to hurt him. It was his moment of greatest weakness, the only time he showed Tony how truly broken and weak he was. So much for pretending he was tough and unfazed before. Then he’d practically used Pepper as a human shield, but not so she would take the hits instead of him. If Peter had thought that was possible, he’d have taken all the pain himself. However, Tony showed great love and gentleness towards Pepper. Peter knew Tony wouldn’t ever risk hurting her. It was something he learned to do because of May.

“If I’m home and he comes to you, you come to me. He will not get through to you if I can help it,” May had said.

“What if he hurts you?”

“He won’t—“

“He might—“

“Peter,” May sighed, pleading with her eyes. “Ben isn’t like that. He would never hurt me. He hurts you because that’s how he was raised. He doesn’t think it’s wrong. I know, so you come to me and I’ll protect you.”

Spider-Man was a hero, beloved by Queens for caring for the lost, homeless, and victimized. But Spider-Man’s hero was May. She fought for his safety even after death, further shown when she managed to become tangible as a ghost to stop Ben.

Thank whatever deity that was out there that made it so that Pepper could come home hours before her work-day ended. Tony hadn’t hurt Peter, nor even tried, but Peter could only shiver at how he would've acted if Pepper hadn’t been a barrier between him and Tony. Probably would’ve outed himself for his super strength, one more reason for his adoptive parents to want to get rid of him. As if they didn’t have enough reasons already.

Peter was abused, broken beyond repair, and traumatized; slow to obey and even slower to trust. He was everything Ben would’ve beat out of him, it was like he was asking to get hit. But why did he have such a hard time being obedient for Tony and Pepper?

Maybe it was his defense mechanism: be as awful as he could so nobody expected better from him. That’s what he had done at the orphanage, too. That’s why May stopped hanging around him so much. He tried to scare the other kids away from him, keep them at a distance so he couldn’t get attached and have their relationships with him used against him. He never listened to Melissa, which was actually entertaining part of the time. She was stuffy and fake,so it was nice to see her true colors bleed through. Potential adopters were her greatest enemy when it came to the possibility of them being around Peter. He always did whatever he could to scare them off. He hadn’t had the chance when Tony and Pepper adopted him, because they blindly took him. They had read his file, talked to the adults who knew him, and decided they wanted him. They knew he was the one without hearing Peter’s input. Honestly, it was terrifying, shocking, and so abrupt. But as he looked back to everything that had happened in this house, he couldn’t say he hated it. Didn’t enjoy it all the time, but there were moments in time that everything was right. Everything was as it should have been when Tony helped him pick some funny shirts, Pepper helped his nightmares when she cuddled with him, without him even needing to ask. That one was really nice. When Pepper came to him and hugged him or played with his hair, it was like a feeling of calm took over him. He was warm and felt safe and loved. It had been so, so long since such gentle touches were used on him. 

Now, Peter felt embarrassed, weaker, and scared. Tony and Pepper could get rid of him or back off and give him too much space or start acting just like—

No, he couldn’t think that. He couldn’t imagine them acting like Ben. They were just too different. 

Still, he was terrified that the little good that had happened here would be ripped right out from under him, like a rug, and he’d be left unstable once more. 

May, as supportive as ever, said that everything would be okay. “The Starks are in this for the long run.”

“How do you know?” Peter asked. 

“They’re talking about you right now, trying to figure out how to help you.”

That was reassuring. 

Morgan, sad, worried, and contemplating, leaned into Peter’s side and said, “You haven’t believed me this whole time. You didn’t believe that Dad wouldn’t hurt you. Why won’t you trust me?”

“It’s not trust, Morgan. It’s…” Peter sighed and wrapped an arm around her cold form. “I’m always going to be scared that adults will hurt me, that’s just how I am from now on. It’s not that I don’t believe you or trust you, but I’m automatically trying to prepare for the worst. A lot of bad stuff has happened to me.”

May nodded in agreement, kneeling down in front of them on the floor. “It’s what people do when bad things happen to them, sweetie. It’s a survival instinct. However,” May paused. She set a cold hand on Peter’s knee and leaned towards him with a gentle smile and concern evident in her gaze. “They have proven themselves over and over, Peter. And Pepper is so caring and she loves you. Tony loves you, too. They talk about you all the time! They talk about everything they know about you. They see how wonderful you are behind all your walls. But most of all, they treat you like how I’ve always wanted someone to treat you since I’ve been gone. I want you to be happy, safe, and loved and these people are doing it. They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty good at it. I think it’s time to push past all your worries and fears and go all in, Peter.”

“That’s a lot to ask,” Peter frowned. “I don't know, May…”

“They have my trust and approval, honey.” She stood and walked to where he sat on the side of his bed. A firm, slender hand gently squeezed his shoulder as she crouched down to his height and made unwavering eye contact. “I trust them. They have proven they deserve a chance. You’re never going to heal if you let your memories keep you from enjoying those around you.” 

Peter’s chin wobbled as he blinked against the tears gathering in his lashes. “I’m still scared, May.”

“That’s okay, you’re human. But trust me, they are good. Good , Peter. I’m certain of this.”

Peter remembered hearing her with this tone and seeing her act in this matter twice before. The first was when Ben and May announced that they’d be getting married. She had asked for his permission to be his step-aunt. Told him that she promised to always be kind and love him, that she’d work really hard to be a good aunt to him.

The second time was when she finally learned about the extent of the abuse Peter had been and still was suffering a few months into her marriage to Ben. She had told him how immensely she loved him and how he was not bad. He wasn’t a horrible child and he was allowed to make mistakes. She told him that she would never hurt him. Told him to come to her for protection, because she would do everything in her power to help him.

May was nothing if not genuine. Peter knew he could trust her with his life.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

She raised her brows as if to ask ‘are you sure?’

“I trust you. And you know more about them than I do by now. I’ll give them a chance.”

Morgan and May were very happy to hear that, but Peter was still overwhelmed with anxiety. If he was going to do this, he needed to talk to his adoptive parents.

“Friday, can you please tell Tony and Pepper to meet me in the living room? I need to talk to them.”

“Pepper and Tony have been alerted. They are on their way.” Friday’s voice was gentle, as if she knew what he was planning to do. Maybe she did.

When his adoptive parents met him in the living room and sat across from him on the couches, Peter noticed their strange behaviors. For one, Tony looked like a muzzled and kicked puppy. His eyes were red and the sag in his face looked bad. He sat slouching, trying to be as short as possible. Pepper still had her air of confidence around her, wielding the peacemaker attitude that kept her so amazingly calm. Still, she, too, dialed down her aura of authority quite a bit. They were leaving everything up to Peter. That was probably for the best. They probably had no clue how to talk to him about all this. If it had been someone else, Peter wouldn’t have known what to ask either.

“How are you doing?” Pepper asked. “Are you hungry?”

Peter shook his head. Crying always made him lose his appetite. That was why he had declined dinner an hour earlier when he was still, well, sad.

“No, I, uh… we need to talk. I can’t do—I-I can’t keep—“ he huffed out a harsh breath, frustrated, and looked away from the patiently waiting pair.

I can do this. May said it’s time. I need to do this. 

Peter shifted in his seat, trying to sit up straighter and soak in some of Pepper’s confidence. He set his hands in his lap and played with his thumbs as he continued. “I can’t keep everything in anymore. It won’t help me… us. So, I wanna talk so we can start-start over or do better after this. I don’t know. I just…” He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed deeply. When he opened them, his parents were still there, waiting for him to continue. His throat tightened as his chin wobbled. He croaked, “I need help.”

“Hey, Petey! How’s my little man?” Ben scooped Peter into his arms and carried him into the apartment after a kiss on his cheek.

“Miss Lacey told us to make a picture of whatever we wanted. I drew you and me!” Peter wiggled in Ben’s hold until the man set him down, then he quickly slipped off his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. He shoved the paper into Ben’s hand with a huge smile. “Do you like it?”

Ben’s brows raised and he nodded as he examined the fine workmanship of the six year old. “It looks very nice, Petey. Very nice.”

Peter grinned and made grabby hand motions until Ben returned the paper. Ben ruffled the boy’s messy brown curls and patted his head. 

“Go put your stuff away and come back out. We have a new movie to watch.”

“Okay!”

When Peter returned, Ben picked him up and held him on his lap as they watched the newest Disney movie. Something with a talking rat and a chef, or whatever. Ben wasn’t exactly sure. Movies were adult nap times.

After a couple hours, when the clock was nearing four in the evening, Ben set up some toys in Peter’s room for him to play with. He gave him snacks, a sippy cup of juice, and dressed him in pajamas.

“Okay, Petey. I’m going to have my friends over and we’re going to be rowdy in the living room. We’re going to have adult play time, okay?”

Innocently, Peter nodded.

“Do you remember the rules?”

Peter paused. “U-um… when Uncle Ben is rowdy, my door stays locked and I keep the key until it’s time to wake up.”

Ben grinned. “That’s right, Petey. That’s exactly right. So, you’re staying in here. I’m going to lock the door when I leave, slide the key under the door, and you’re going to keep it safe until morning. Do not give me the key for any other reason, you understand?”

Peter nodded confidently.

Several hours later, when Ben and his friends were watching the game on TV and had gone through three packs of beer, Peter cried for Ben, even though he knew the rules. Ben paid no mind to him. Peter cried and screamed Ben’s name until he peed himself and no longer needed his uncle’s help.

Ben drank the night away and never thought about Peter until he was sober. Peter’s bottom was bright red after breakfast, not only because of the overnight rash his soiled clothes gave him.

“Mr. Klein said you skipped three classes today. Called to see if you were sick. Want to explain what happened?”

“I-I-I was really sick. I-I texted you and asked you to come get me. Did you not get it?”

Ben frowned. “I got it. But your schooling is important and I don’t want you turning into one of those kids that smoke and do drugs. You hear me?”

Peter nodded jerkily. “Yes, sir. I-I was just in a-a lot of pain. I went to the nurse’s office and the bathroom. I wasn’t purposely skipping—“

“Why were you sick?”

“I don't know. It just came to me.”

“I doubt that. You were fine this morning. You fake all these symptoms all the time. You know, when you were in elementary, you called home sick all the time. I had to take you to countless doctors to find out what was wrong, but there was nothing.”

Peter stepped forward, on the defensive. “That-that’s not true. It was real, I never fake anything! It was anxiety attacks, Ben. And they were affecting me physically.”

Ben growled. “Anxiety isn’t anything but a tale. Back in my day, when I got nervous, my dad whooped me every time I tried to stay home. You should be glad I don’t do that to you.”

Peter flinched. “Ben, it… I’m not lying, okay? I don’t lie. You taught me never to lie. I-I remember.”

Ben raised a brow. “Really? What’s the punishment for lying?”

Peter gulped and held the straps to his backpack ever tighter, his hands beginning to ache. Quietly, he responded, “You-you’ll hit me.”

“That’s right. You’ll be grabbing a stick outside if you answer wrong. Now, why were you really skipping classes?”

“Those three classes had tests that I wasn’t ready for, so I skipped so I’d have more time to prepare,” Peter lied.

Ben seemed to believe him, but resulted in calling each of his teachers to tell them Peter skipped and would like Peter to lose all points for the day. Then he hit Peter after dinner and a beer. 

“Stop hitting me!” Peter shouted as he shoved Ben away. He breathed heavily as adrenaline raced through him. “You’re abusive, Ben! You’re a monster! My dad was nothing like you, ever! He decided to be different—you didn’t! You’re just like your dad!”

“I am so much better than my dad,” Ben roared. “You haven't seen me do anything that my father did. And your dad!” He yelled out in frustration. “He’s the reason you’re like this! He’s the reason you can’t do anything right! He’s the reason you’re so worthless! You’re lucky he’s dead!”

Peter gasped and stumbled backwards. His chin quivered as he reached for the wall behind him.

“If he were here, you would’ve never amounted to anything under his care. I’m making you better, I’m making sure you learn and grow! Me! I’m the only reason for any of your successes!”

Peter shook his head slowly, then rapidly. “No… no, no. I’m good because of myself. You haven’t done a thing for me. You’re just like your dad... You’re so awful! May should’ve never married you! I hate you!”

“Peter, why was none of this ever reported before? Did no one really know?” Pepper asked.

The quivering boy stayed silent, exhausted from the retelling of his traumas. At least Tony knew the answer.

“It doesn't—can’t work like that all the time, Pep… Some people may have tried to help him, but it takes so much evidence for it to be considered. No one ever questioned Howard. No one ever thought he could do such a thing.”

Pepper was pale, almost gray, as she trembled in her seat. Tony was rather pale as well, though it was more hidden because of his naturally tan skin. His hands were shaking, though; had been since the first story and had yet to stop. It reminded him too much of his childhood. The only thing that protected him now was knowing he was a grown man, Howard was dead, and nobody could tell him what to do except Pepper. But Peter was still small, young, and living in the thick of it. He had nothing to shield him from the horrors others placed upon him, just a hope that no one would want to hurt him again. No wonder the kid talked to himself when he was alone. Tony remembered being so lonely for years and years.

“I-I don't know if I can tell you any more tonight. I’m spent and… any more is too much,” Peter explained.

“Of course, Pete. We understand,” Tony assured. He gently tapped Pepper, stealing her for the present. The faraway look in her eyes faded and she blinked at the room. When her gaze met Tony’s, he could see her doubt and lack of confidence in the moment. She nodded to him as if to say he was better equipped to continue the conversation.

“Peter,” Tony began. He clasped his hands in his lap and spoke soft and calm. “We need to talk about how to help you feel safe. From what you’ve told us, Pepper and I have a general idea of several of your triggers, what should be avoided if possible, and how we should work together to keep our home a safe place for you.”

Peter nodded. “You-you’re not much of a drinker, are you?”

Tony’s stomach twisted. “I… I am, especially several years ago. I’ve been working on limiting alcohol ever since we decided to have kids. And I will never drink in front of you.”

Peter frowned, seeming nervous. “I-I don’t care if you drink…”

“No,” Pepper interrupted. “We will never drink in front of you, nor will we ever lock you in your room. And if we plan to attend a meeting with alcoholic beverages, we will not partake and we will make sure you know about it.”

Peter lowered his head. “Isn’t that too much to ask?”

“No,” Tony responded firmly. “This is small, easy. It’s the least we can do. In fact,” he raised a finger to pause the conversation. “Friday, create two protocols. First: Peter is never allowed to be locked in a room by someone else. If that happens, sound an alarm, let him out, and contact Pepper and I immediately. Call it Protocol: Land of the Free.”

“Done, Boss. The second one?”

“If there are alcoholic beverages wherever Peter is, notify him. If someone he knows is drinking, tell him. If he is uncomfortable and needs an excuse to leave, give him one. Also, if someone ever shows behavior that may lead to violence, evacuate Peter immediately and seal the other guy as far away from Peter as possible. Name it Protocol…”

“Rowdy,” Peter suggested, a small smile growing.

“Protocol: Rowdy.”

“Of course. I have also integrated these protocols into Avengers Tower for future use,” Friday said.

Tony grinned. “How’s that, kiddo?”

Peter looked to the side to hide his own grin. “I-I like it. Thanks, Tony. Thanks, Friday.”

Pepper chuckled lightly. “Isn’t a whole evacuation a little much?”

Tony waved her off. “It’s there for him to use if he wants it. Better safe than sorry.”

She smiled and met Peter’s gaze. “You’ll soon learn that Tony is rather overprotective, especially if he’s given a chance to be.”

Tony shrugged, still grinning. “Again, better safe than sorry. You good with it, Peter?”

“Yeah. And-and I really appreciate this. For listening and believing me.”

Tony’s chest constricted as he tried to hide his distaste for the possibility of it being otherwise.

“I love you, Peter,” he stated firmly. “I’m going to protect you for as long as I live.”

“So will I,” Pepper said.

By the time everyone went to bed, three more protocols had been made. Protocol: Barricade meant Peter could go into any room (unless it was dangerous inside) and ask Friday to lock the door. It would only open if Peter was hurt, in danger, or he had requested it. Not even Pepper or Tony could unlock it. That one made Peter really happy.

Protocol: Stand Down made it so that if Friday noticed Peter beginning to show signs of panicking, intense fear, or overwhelming feelings, she could help Peter and the other party separate and cool down. That meant if something like the lab accident happened again where Tony and Peter were panicking, Friday could stop them both before it escalated dangerously. 

Lastly, Protocol: Discipline meant that if Peter had done something deserving of discipline, Friday would be the one to suggest what to do by searching in her database for appropriate punishments including grounding, no electronics, time out, among others. Then, Peter and his parents would have to agree on the punishment. That one was incredibly relieving to Peter, especially once he learned what each meant. He even wondered if he’d actually learn with such minimal punishments. Tony and Pepper assured him that he would because he was a wonderful kid and didn’t deserve pain as punishment, ever.

Before final goodnights were said, Pepper and Tony met Peter in his room with a phone in their hands.

“It’s for you,” Tony said as he handed it over. “It’s the newest model, not even on the market yet.” He smoothed his hair as he grinned pridefully.

“We decided it was time for you to have one,” Pepper explained. “We trust you and we figure the media will find out about you eventually.” She shrugged. “Might as well start slowly introducing you to it now.”

“Thank you, Pepper. Thank you, Tony. It’s really cool!” He turned the phone in his hand and felt the sleek smooth casing and watched as the light reflected on the unblemished screen. “I’ll be sure to be careful with it and not do anything stupid.”

Tony laughed. “Well, gotta tell you that I’ve put in some safety measures to help with that,” he winked and continued. “Friday is completely integrated in your phone, has all the same protocols and whatnot installed, everything. Also, it has a tracker and an emergency mode, both to keep you safe and help us know where you are. Sound good?”

Peter nodded enthusiastically, albeit exhausted. “Thank you! I really really appreciate all of this.”

Pepper smiled sweetly and leaned down to place a kiss on his head. “We’re happy to do it, sweetheart. We love you. Get some sleep and try not to play on that too late tonight.”

“I won't.”

Once she left, Tony strayed behind and whisper-yelled, “Totally play with it. I won't tell.”

Peter giggled as Tony left, and opened his phone to download some apps. He stayed up until midnight setting up Instagram and taking some selfies of himself, then accepted a sudden follow request from someone called @NedAmongMen. Peter proceeded to chat with him until he passed out, and nobody knew except Friday. 

Chapter Text

Saturday morning at Avengers Tower went from quiet and calm to rowdy in a matter of minutes. It started off with team breakfast at eight. Sam and Steve sat on the bar stools behind the kitchen island, Natasha and Clint at the table beside each other, and Vision and Wanda on the other end. Breakfast was waffles, eggs, bacon, and ham. Apparently they liked their protein. There was harmony and peace, which was nice after the latest mission that had them staking out for days. Not having to hide in shadows and able to enjoy the warm sun that filtered through the giant windows was especially pleasing.

Then, Rhodey arrived.

“I’ve got news,” he announced. “Everybody, attention over here. Yup, at me. Look at me.” Once he had everyone’s eyes on him, he held up his phone with a grin. “Tony just told me that he is taking the weekend off!”

The team blinked.

“Good for him?” Steve furrowed his brows. “But, why is that so important?”

Rhodey’s grin widened. “It means he’s in a good mood and will most likely be with Peter all day. I think if we really push it, he’ll let us visit.”

Clint’s eyes widened. “Woah! Really?” At Rhodey’s nod of affirmation, Clint punched the air. “Yeah! Let’s call right now!”

Steve stood and raised his palms placatingly. “Hold on just a minute. We’ve still got the rest of the mission debriefing to do. Today isn’t the day.”

To that, most of the team groaned.

“Killjoy,” Natasha muttered.

Steve sent a frown in her direction.

“I already accounted for that,” Rhodey said. “Not everyone needs to be there. So some of us can go while the rest stay here.”

“What?” Sam shouted. “No, no, no . I am not sitting this out. Stark is finally a dad. This is once in a lifetime! I have to see him first.”

Clint scoffed. “You’re kidding, right? What makes you think you deserve to go?”

Sam glared at him and said, “For one, I’m not an idiot goofball likely to set Stark off. And, I’ll actually leave a good impression.”

Clint glowered. “I’ve got kids of my own. I’m sure the kid will take to me much better than you. You’re hardly ever fun.”

“Hey!” Sam shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “I’ll have you know—“

“Ugh, boys!” Natasha stood and shut them up with her icy glare. “I think if you’re going to fight and complain, you shouldn’t see Peter until the last possible chance.” With a deep intake of breath, she sat back in her seat and turned to Steve. “Rhodey has a point. How should we decide who gets to go?”

“Hmm,” Steve hummed. “Not to make anyone feel bad, but I think Wanda and Vision should stay here.”

Wanda, still quiet, simply nodded, though seemed reluctant. 

“You need more training in debriefing, so I think it’ll be a good experience for you,” Steve explained. “And Sam,” he turned to him.

Immediately after, Sam started to slouch with a defeated sigh. “Alright, I’ll stay, too. Can’t do anything without your right hand man, right?”

Steve smiled and nodded. “We’ll still have fun here, promise.” Next he turned to Rhodey. “And I’ll also stay so I can supervise the debriefing.”

“Ohh, yeah!” Clint celebrated. “Uncle Clint is ready to par-tay!”

Sam sighed and, when no one was looking, stuck his tongue out at the archer.

“Okay,” Rhodey clapped his hands together once. “Sounds like a plan. Nat, want to come?”

She smiled. “Sure am. Be ready in fifteen.” She stood and sauntered towards her room.

Tony let out a grumble under his breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Pepper, next to him, giggled as she made their bed.

“It’s happening, Tones. We’re already on our way,” Rhodey said, the smirk in his voice evident.

“You know, this is betrayal. I tell you good news in good faith, hoping you wouldn’t go and blab to everyone. I was planning a family weekend!”

Clint snickered in the background and Tony heard his easy reply, “We are family!”

“Yeah,” Rhodey agreed. “Come on, Tones. Get with the program or you’ll be disappointed when we arrive.”

Tony sent a pointed look to Pepper, to which she shrugged.

“I think it could be fun,” she whispered. “Besides, Peter’s stuck with us for half of next week, too. This’ll be a good change of pace after the last few incidents.”

“Incidents,” he muttered. “More like disasters.”

Rhodey cleared his throat over the phone. “Can’t hear you, Tones. Did you say disaster?”

Tony rolled his eyes as much as they could roll and sighed obnoxiously. On purpose, of course. “Fine, I’m ‘with the program’ or whatever. But, just… there’s some things you should… I don’t know—“

There was static and movement on the other end, then Natasha’s voice cut him off. 

“Tony, whatever you’re worried about, spit it out. We want this experience to be as fun for him as it will be for us.”

Gently, Tony sighed. “No sudden movements, okay? And-and don’t pat him or anything. Oh, don't let him have any lemon or peppermint—he’s allergic. Uh…” He paused and looked over to Pepper. “Am I missing anything?”

She tilted her head up to the ceiling in thought, then looked back at him. “Oh! Don’t be super loud and scare him. That won’t help anything.”

“You got that?” Tony asked the trio on the phone.

There was a long pause and Tony imagined all of them looking at each other in the car.

Great job on keeping it on the down low, Stark.

“Just try your best, okay?” he snapped. 

“Tones.” Rhodey was back. “We understand. We’ll watch for any other boundaries to help Peter have a good time.”

A whisper, “is it that bad?” Clint.

Tony swallowed. “Okay, thanks. If there’s an issue, we’ll be around. See you soon, ‘Kay?”

“Sounds good, man. See you!”

After he hung up, Tony tossed his phone on the newly made bed.

“You know what sounds like a really bad idea? Letting two spies meet Peter after such a disastrous day yesterday. I can’t imagine a better way to get the kid to clamp up and crawl back into his little hole.”

Pepper hummed sympathetically and rounded the bed to squeeze his tight shoulder muscles. “It’s going to be fine. Besides, Clint has experience with, well, you know. And they both love kids. Better yet, I’m sure Rhodey will be a great mediator. He’s pretty socially intuitive, you know.”

Tony nodded. “Sometimes too good. Always knows when I’m going to tick someone off.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, well, that’s why you’ve made it this far. Couldn’t have without him.”

He sighed. “Yeah, guess you’re right.” He smoothed his bed hair back and huffed. “I’ll go let the kid know.”

“Tony,” Pepper called, stopping him from leaving their room. Her brows were creased with worry, her pink lips twisted into a small frown. “It’s going to work out somehow. We’re going to figure it out.”

He studied her features for a moment more, then gave a short nod. Feeling downright dejected, he half-heartedly waved and shut the bedroom door behind him.

There was now a process to talk to Peter, at least for Tony. He hadn’t told Pepper about what he thought up.

Step one: limit surprise appearances as much as possible. No popping into the room, shouting a hello, or suddenly appearing beside him. This morning, it was to knock on Peter’s bedroom door.

Tony sucked in a deep breath and tapped his knuckles on the wood before a small ‘come in’ came through. He gently grabbed the doorknob and twisted.

The brown mop of curls Tony had grown to love turned his way and a small smile accompanied.

“Hi, Tony,” Peter said. He pushed off from laying on the floor and set aside a few metal components. “How-how are you?”

Step two: leave plenty of space, let Peter choose to close it.

Tony stood just inside the room and shrugged easily. “Feeling good. How are you?”

Peter nodded jerkily and shifted on his feet. “I-I was working on my spider robot,” he gestured to the project strewn across his floor. “I want to make it so that it flies quieter and can take pictures. So-so I’m working on getting a camera set up.”

“That sounds interesting. You should show me how it works sometime.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Peter smiled. “When I put it back together, I’ll let you know.”

Tony sucked in a soft breath and exhaled slowly.

This is awkward. 

“So, uh, I’ve got news. Got any plans today?”

The kid’s face brightened and he quickly pulled his new phone out of his pocket. “I stayed up last night, ‘cause you said I could,” he glanced at Tony then back to his phone. “And, you know that kid that Flash was being a jerk to? The one I stood up for?”

“Oh, yeah. I remember.”

Peter grinned. “I created an Instagram account and he followed me. Look!” He crossed the room and shoved the phone into Tony’s face. A series of messages lit up the screen, white on the left belonging to @NedAmongMen, the blue on the right belonging to Peter. He swiftly scrolled through without reading any messages and chuckled.

“Looks like you two have been going at it for several hours. What time did you go to bed last night?”

Peter slipped his phone back in his pocket and shrugged sheepishly. “Uh, late.”

“Great, how specific,” Tony said sarcastically and winked. 

Peter giggled. “One of the things we talked about is if we could hang out. I was gonna ask you at breakfast, but now works, too. So, can I? Hang out with Ned?”

Tony sucked in a sharp breath. “Well, problem is some of the Avengers are coming over today to meet you. Didn’t even give me a chance to say no this time. They’re already on their way. How about you play with him tomorrow?”

“Hang, not play. But, sure. That sounds okay, too.”

“Great!” Tony grinned. “They’ll be here in a little while—only three of them are coming, so no need for crowd control. Dress to impress and be on your best behavior. Sound good?”

“Okay, uh… I’ll put on a nice shirt and pants, and see you down there?”

“You got it, kiddo. See you soon.”

After Tony left the room and closed the door behind him, he breathed out a long sigh. 

“Okay, that’s done,” he whispered. As he made his way downstairs, he said louder, “Friday, order some breakfast from that pancake place downtown. No lemon, mint, or peppermint flavors. Oh, and no strawberries.”

“Got it, Boss,” Friday responded from his phone. “By the way, you’ve been doing wonderfully this morning.”

He sighed. “So I’m not the only one noticing that I’m freaking out. Any tips?”

“From my research into how to treat victims of abuse, children suffering from neglect require love and appropriate physical affection more often. Perhaps you should embrace him.”

He hummed. “But that could be too much for him right now. He’s scared of me. If I touch him, I could freak him out.”

“It is possible to scare him in any situation, depending on his take to a particular reaction. You cannot expect to limit all stressors.”

But I can still try to limit some.

“Okay, Fri. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the help.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Peter was anxious. Excited and nervous, a little bit overwhelmed, and anxious. He was just about to meet three Avengers! Part of him kept whispering about his hair style or his wrinkled clothes. The Avengers were celebrities and world-renowned heroes, and he was just some kid. He needed to look his best, but not too good that it looked like he was trying too hard.

“Wear the sweater. It fits you really well,” May said as she waved her hand through the long-sleeved maroon sweatshirt. It looked really comfortable.

“But, is it too casual?” Peter took it out of the closet and fit it against his chest. 

May shook her head. “No, it’s adorable!”

Peter shot her a glare, pouting his bottom lip. “Not adorable. Handsome or something. I’m not a little kid.”

She rolled her eyes. “Peter, just wear it. I promise, you’ll look fantastic in it, and you’ll be comfortable. Win-win! It’s perfect, if I do say so myself,” she smirked.

He chewed his bottom lip until he agreed. “Okay, fine. But if we’re going with comfortable, then I’m wearing my joggers. They don’t look casual anyway.”

“I don’t know why you’re worried about looking casual. You’re just going to be here, at home.”

“You just don’t get it, May. These are the Avengers. Besides, Ned said he would gladly die a million times to meet them. It’s important.” He pulled his pj shirt over his head and tossed it onto his bed.

“Whatever,” she sighed.

“Hey!” Peter turned his body away from her. “Turn around!”

May snickered and whipped around. “Sorry, didn’t mean to look!”

Peter eyed her suspiciously and took his pants off, then swiftly pulled his new outfit on. “Okay, you can turn around. Like it?”

“Aw,” May gushed. “You look so cute! The sleeves are too long and they go over your hands. You look like a little boy!”

Peter gasped, betrayed. “That’s why you said I should wear this?” His voice squeaked in a high-pitch at the end and he forcefully lowered his voice before he continued. “I’m taking it off right now!”

“No!” May flew across the room and dove right through him, sending chills throughout his body.

“May!” Peter whizzed around and glared at her. “I hate it when you guys go through me like that. It feels weird.”

“I’ll do it again if you try to take it off.”

Peter puffed out his bottom lip in a pout and folded his arms over his chest. “That’s mean.”

She adjusted her large round glasses on her nose and smiled sweetly. “I’m telling you, it's for the best. You’ll look absolutely lovable in that.”

He huffed, but relented. “Fine. In return, don’t make me look weird or act weird in front of them by trying to talk to me. I want them to like me.”

She shrugged. “Promise, though I can’t speak for Morgan. Good luck with her,” May winked.

Peter sighed and turned towards his door. “She’s probably with Pepper. I’ll see you later, May.”

“Are you sure this is the right house?” Clint asked as he leaned on the center console from the back seat. “It looks… homey.”

Natasha chuckled under her breath as Rhodey rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t you remember how big of a deal they made this?” Natasha asked. “Tony almost bought the whole neighborhood to get the adoption agency to allow them to take a kid.”

“Mm-hm,” Rhodey confirmed. “It was all thanks to Pepper that they just bought this one. I promise you, this is the one.”

As Clint unbuckled his seatbelt, he responded, “Just don’t think it looks like a Stark residence should look. I mean, look at it! It isn’t even a mansion!”

Rhodey couldn’t help but nod. “Surprises me, too.”

Yeah, Natasha thought. This is much more inconspicuous than Stark’s ever been.

As they all piled onto the porch, they looked around the rest of the front property. On the porch, there was a long porch swing, some outdoor furniture, and pots of plants lining the railing. Well-managed flowers, bushes, and trees decorated the edges of the lawn and made patterns that cut through the plainness of the green grass. The three couldn’t help but notice that that looked most like a Stark thing than anything else they could see. Tony was nothing if not extravagant. 

Rhodey knocked on the front door and waited patiently. 

“D’you think I could get Stark to recommend his lawn service to me? Laura wants the front to look less like a farm.”

Natasha furrowed her brows. “I thought Cooper’s job was the lawn?”

“Well, it is. But Cooper won’t touch the weeds no matter how many times she tells him to. Just conveniently forgets.”

Natasha smiled lightly. “Lucky he’s cute.”

Clint shrugged and laughed quietly. 

The trio stilled when they heard the locks click open on the other side of the door. The knob shifted and the door swung open.

“Hello! Come on in,” Pepper welcomed them. 

The trio voiced their separate forms of polite greetings and stepped into the massive living room of the Stark household. It wasn’t as large as Avengers Tower’s was, but it was plenty big. 

“Heyo,” Tony called from the kitchen. He carried a stack of plates into the living room and set them on the coffee table. Behind him was the newest addition to the family. Peter Stark. 

Peter was everything Tony had described him as. Small-looking, nervous, and could definitely be mistaken as Pepper and Tony’s biological son. The resemblance was uncanny. Brown hair like Tony, brown eyes like Tony, and freckles like Pepper. The most obvious differences were the curly hair and lack of instant confidence.

Peter carried several glasses of ice over to the coffee table as he glanced at the Avengers. Once he set them down, he slowly walked towards them, wringing his hands in front of him.

“Uh, hi. I-I’m Peter.” He offered a shy smile and thrusted his hand towards them.

“O-oh,” Rhodey looked at the hand then offered his own. “Handshakes.” He looked at the other two Avengers. “Handshakes a-are good.”

Natasha nodded with an encouraging smile, trying desperately not to roll her eyes.

Don’t make the kid feel bad.

Clint shoved his hand towards the boy and stepped closer to him. “Great to meet you, squirt! I’m Clint, otherwise known as Hawkeye, which is an Avenger. So, I’m an Avenger. Cool, right?” He chuckled nervously as the boy shook his hand.

“I-it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Barton, sir.” Peter turned towards Natasha and offered his trembling hand.

She accepted it, much more gracefully than the two goofballs, and smiled kindly. “I’m Natasha, but you can call me Aunt Nat.”

His big brown eyes widened. “O-oh. Okay, um… Aunt Nat.”

She nodded to show he had said it right. Peter smiled a little larger.

“So, with personal introductions out of the way,” Tony squeezed into their odd circle and patted Rhodey’s back. “It’s my turn to introduce.” He grinned with his flashy white teeth and a mischievous glint in his eye. “Peter, meet James Rhodes, my longest friend. Rhodey for short.”

Rhodey shot up a finger and stuttered, “uh, Uncle Rhodey is good.”

Peter nodded along.

“He’s the best guy to get some sound advice from. Especially if you don’t think my advice is—“

“Safe or non-idiotic. Don’t listen to him about how to get a girl, or how to act at parties. Promise, he’s not qualified at all,” Rhodey smirked. 

“I’ll remember that,” Peter chirped. 

Tony rolled his eyes, but continued. “Our red-headed beauty over here is our resident assassin, world renowned spy, and pure gremlin.”

“Hey!” Natasha snapped. She glared daggers at him with a pursed frown. “Don’t say that to a kid!” she hissed.

“I-I already knew that,” Peter interjected. “The assassin and spy part, I mean.” As she turned her attention back on him, Peter gave a small smile. Then, with an almost unnoticeable glance towards Tony, he said, “Also, I just wanted to say that you’re my favorite Avenger.”

As Clint and Rhodey voiced their respective complaints, Natasha’s sleek brows lifted and she smirked smugly as she looked back at Tony. “Huh. Didn’t know I could like him even more.”

Tony glowered. “Don’t forget about the ‘gremlin’ part. That was supposed to insult you.”

She shrugged and pretended to dust off her left shoulder. “I’m Peter’s favorite Avenger. I’m officially invincible.”

Tony huffed and shifted his attention to Clint. “Clint Barton, our expert archer and eye in the sky. Never misses his target, so if he means to shoot you, count yourself hopeless.”

Peter chuckled. “Want me to call you Uncle Clint?”

Clint’s face, frowning from the earlier admission, burst into a grin as he nodded enthusiastically. “You’re catching on!”

Peter shrugged as he giggled.

“Yeah, play it up, Peter,” Tony said. “Don’t think I’m going to let you get away with that.” Peter’s face twisted to one of regret and hesitation before Tony quickly smiled gently and winked at the boy, then headed back to the kitchen. The split second look washed away and Peter recovered his smirk.

“I told him when he first adopted me that I didn’t like Iron Man. It bugs him,” Peter explained.

Natasha raised a hand for him to high-five and praised, “I like it. Keep doing it and you’ll be a gremlin, too—“

“Which isn’t a good thing!” Tony shouted over his shoulder. “Also, soda’s in the kitchen. Come pick your poison.”

While Clint and Rhodey broke off from the group, Natasha shook her head and whispered, “It’s really not. Though it’s pretty hard to get such a title. If you ever manage to, let me know. I’ll teach you some cool spy stuff.”

Peter’s big eyes brightened and he rolled onto his toes. “Really? Will you teach me how to sneak and throw knives? Or shoot a gun?”

She shrugged. “I have no problem with it. But it stays our little secret.”

“Of course,” he responded seriously. “I won't tell anyone ever.”

“Good. Now let's get some drinks.”

Peter: Ned! Dude! Black Widow just told me that she’ll teach me cool spy stuff!

Ned: Woahhhhh! SERIOUSLY?!?!? Lucky, dude! Teach everything to me after you learn.

Peter: I will, but don’t tell anyone about it. It’s a secret.

After a very hearty breakfast, of which Clint felt like he could explode any second over, Tony and Pepper cleaned up as they told everyone else to relax and have fun. Clint decided that that was his cue.

“Hey! Before we do anything else, I have an announcement to make.” He stood and made sure his audience of three were all looking at him. “I brought gifts.” With that, he quickly turned around and left the house. He popped the trunk of the car the Avengers drove over and gathered plentiful bags and gift boxes. Juggling them perfectly, he re-entered the house with ease, and, to show off a bit, bowed before Peter like Thor had once done in the past in greeting. “Here’est thou Peter, thy gifts.”

Peter, the cute and totally not like Tony at all kid that he was, shifted in his seat and helped take the large bundle of gifts from his arms. “You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“Of course I did! I have to win your favor and be your favorite Avenger!”

Nat scoffed. “Like anyone has a chance against me.”

As Clint sent her a playful glare, Peter mumbled quietly, “You don’t need to do that. I already like you.”

When Clint turned to face the boy, Peter’s face looked oddly regretful and… sad.

“I was kidding, kid. But, I wanted to bring gifts so you could have something from me and I could make a good impression. Wanna check them out?”

Apprehensively, Peter looked around at those with him, then nodded slowly, forcing a small smile. “Wanna help me open them?”

Clint grinned. “Sure, squirt!”

Nat and Rhodes leaned in from where they sat to watch the other two boys open and arrange the stack of presents. There was a Nintendo Switch console with two accompanying Switch Lites, an Xbox One, and a Wii. Then, they opened six games: Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Mario Kart racing, The Sims 4, Wii Sports Resort, Animal Crossing New Horizons, and the Avengers Extreme Battle Special Edition Combo Pack 1-3.

“Woah! These are, like, the most popular games on these systems! How did you even get all this? Especially Avengers Extreme Battle? They made only, like, fifty of these!”

Clint grinned. “I got one for free. Being the coolest Avenger and all has its perks.”

Peter smiled up at Clint and stood. “Can-can I hug you?”

As a response, Clint opened his arms wide. Peter leaned into him and squeezed tightly. 

“This is a lot, and-and it’s unexpected, and I wanted to thank you. Like, seriously thank you. So, thank you.”

Clint chuckled lightly as he gently patted Peter’s back, then quickly stopped when he remembered Tony’s request. “You’re welcome, squirt. I’m glad you like them.”

As Peter pulled away, his face looked more apologetic. “I, uh… I’m sorry if I made you feel bad before… I-I just don’t think I deserve all this.”

“Well, you do—“

“But, you don’t even know me. Or you didn’t until you came here. You could’ve ended up spending all this money on a mean kid, or something. I’m not the best.”

Clint rested a hand on Peter’s shoulder reassuringly. “You’re part of the family now. Besides, this technically isn’t all from me. Everyone pitched in to pick the best stuff for you, I just took all the credit,” he chuckled. “And don’t tell Tony, but we used his credit card to buy all the consoles.”

Peter quirked a smile and laughed lightly. “Thank you, Uncle Clint.” He leaned past Clint. “Thank you, Aunt Nat and Uncle Rhodey.”

Everyone smiled sweetly and voiced their separate responses.

“Now, without further ado, let’s get this party started!” Clint shouted and picked up two of the consoles to set up above the fireplace. Then, he paused. “Wait… you guys have a TV, right?”

Peter nodded. “Uh, Friday? Can you ask Ton—I mean, my dad to come help? We’re not sure how to set up all this stuff.”

“Of course, Peter. However, I would like to inform you all that I have contacted Tony about the use of his credit card. He told me to tell Natasha, Rhodes, and Clint, that your monthly allowance has been lessened.”

“Oh,” Peter sucked in a sharp breath. “Sorry guys.”

“Ha! Jokes on him, ‘cause we don't have allowances… so that means we are still just plain poor.” Clint breathed shakily and pretended to cry.

“Do you get paid for superhero-ing?” asked Peter.

“Nope,” Rhodey replied. “Well, not by Tony at least. But all merch created in our image gives us a return.”

Clint agreed. “It’s not always a lot, but it helps.”

After Tony arrived, he showed the Avengers all of his cool tech hidey-holes, and set up all the consoles. Then the four of them sat on the couch to play. Peter was squished between Natasha and Clint, Rhodey sitting on the other side of Clint. They turned on Mario Kart Racing.

“This is so fun!” Peter squealed as he shot a shell at Princess Peach. “I’ve never had a gaming system before.”

Clint’s eyes widened. “Wait, really?”

Attention unwavering, Peter nodded. “Never could afford it.”

Clint swallowed as he refocused his attention on the TV. He shook off his hesitance and worked to bash into the side of Peter’s character, Toad. “Just better for me. Gonna beat your a—butt! Sorry, I meant butt.”

Natasha scoffed. “Nice save, Dad.”

He shrugged. “My kids hear it at school. Sometimes I slip. I probably shouldn’t worry about it, ‘cause Tony’s got a potty mouth.”

Peter perked up and glanced at the archer. “What? He never swears in front of me.”

Clint watched from the corner of his eye as Peter jumped when Rhodey guffawed. Clint rested a hand around his shoulders and rubbed gently, quickly calming his nephew down.

“No way, ha! You have— you hafta be kidding me. Tony?” Rhodey slapped his knee. “Now that’s a load of—“

“I’m serious,” Peter furrowed his brows. “Harold has almost sworn a couple times, but I don’t think Tony’s even slipped once.”

The superhero trio’s expressions contorted. “Harold?” they voiced.

Peter rolled his eyes. “Happy.”

“Ohhh.”

Rhodey shook his head. “No way, that’s… that’s impossible.”

Once Peter passed the finish line just after Clint and Natasha, he set his controller down to look at Rhodey head-on. His gaze narrowed and he frowned. “Dad said you’re his best friend. How could you be if you don’t even think he could be capable of censoring his language around his own kid? You should be supportive.”

Clint stiffened as the tension in the room thickened quickly. He swallowed and looked to Natasha for advice.

“I am his best friend,” Rhodey responded. His dark brows were furrowed and he looked somewhat flabbergasted, “We’ve been friends since college. And I think he’s capable of quite a bit, but…” He cast his gaze to his lap and shrugged slightly. “I just didn’t think he’d change so much for a kid.”

“He has changed quite a bit,” Natasha added. “He stopped drinking so much, and Steve always reports that Tony goes to bed at reasonable times whenever I ask how he’s doing. I don’t think any of us really thought he could do it, especially when all his attempts in the past failed. But, he has proved us wrong.”

“You must be one special kid, Peter,” Clint grinned.

Peter looked away from the group and pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Thanks, but it’s not because of me. I never even knew he had those problems, which means he stopped before I was even in the picture. It’s all his own hard work.”

Rhodey hummed and nodded slowly. “I think you’re right, Peter. And, it’s my bad that I didn’t believe in him. Thanks for helping me think differently.”

They shared a look, each smiling gently.

“Thanks, Uncle Rhodey. Sorry if I was rude.”

Rhodey waved him off as Natasha stood.

“Alright,” she began. “I’d say it’s time for a break. Anyone want a drink refill?”

Rhodey couldn’t believe it. This kid who came to them shaking in the knees had corrected him and stood up for his best friend. To say the least, that was entirely unexpected.

Tony had mentioned over some late night phone calls how he and Peter hadn’t made progress that day, or the day had been disastrous. The kid who told Tones that he would never love him or even like him, the one that said he hated him, Peter who fought tooth and nail against everything his adoptive father asked of him. That kid, Peter, stood up for Rhodey’s best friend and told Rhodey to straighten up. 

From what he knew, Peter was as stubborn as Tony, but had the sweetest heart in Pepper’s opinion. Maybe this was why the couple waited so long for the Avengers to meet their son. There was too much happening, too many bad events filling their days as a family. Bringing more people in would’ve made it worse. But Rhodey could see their hard work, because this was the sweetness Pepper described. Peter, who got into a fight with his only friend at his new school to save someone he didn’t even know, who made paper snowflakes and gave them to Pepper to decorate her office with, who told Tony that he actually liked him after a car ride to school. That kid, that Peter, was Rhodey’s wonderful nephew. He couldn’t have asked for a better boy to join the family.

Much later in the day, while Peter and Clint were busy setting up Peter’s first Animal Crossing island, Rhodey and Natasha sat with Pepper and Tony at the kitchen dining table to enjoy an evening snack.

Tony swirled Mountain Dew in his wine glass, feeling fancy in front of his friends. “So, you’ve lasted this long. Must mean the kid’s okay, right? What did you think?”

Rhodey grinned hugely. “Amazing, Tones. That kid couldn't have been any better.”

Pepper clicked her tongue. “Aww! Really? He was polite and everything?”

“Oh yeah. He was calm and somewhat shy for most of today, but he opened up more when we started to play games.”

The group looked into the living room to see Peter laughing as he and Clint wacked island residents with their nets.

“He’s such a good kid,” Rhodey sighed with a sweet smile. He turned back to the group. “He even told me off for a comment I made—“

Tony’s eyes widened. “What? Oh, no. How come I didn’t hear about it ‘til now? Friday?” he directed his question to the ceiling, but Rhodey was quick to explain.

“No, no! It was fine, I’m glad he did. Peter said you’ve never slipped one swear word since he’s been here, and I didn’t believe him.” Rhodey rubbed the back of his neck. “I actually laughed at him and told him there was no way it was true.”

“Yup,” Natasha confirmed. 

“And Tones…” Rhodey shook his head in disbelief, but his smile was still large and evident. “He stood up for you, Tones. Said that you’d been good to him and all that.”

“Really?” Tony asked.

Rhodey nodded. “That kid isn’t who you first brought home anymore, Tones. You two have been really helping him.”

“Not even I knew the extent of his… circumstances,” Natasha said. “But I knew he was a challenge. If it weren't for you, he would've fought any potential chance to be adopted until he aged out. I think it’s pretty safe to say this is the best place for him. You two are wonderful parents.”

“And what you’re doing is working. You’re getting through to him,” Rhodey finished.

Pepper, who had tears in her eyes and was trying to keep them at bay, and Tony, who refused to let any tears show but still sniffed, looked at their boy in the other room with watery smiles.

Tony couldn’t believe it. His son, his own kid was finally starting to really be part of his family. Tony couldn’t wait until the rest of his family could meet the boy that he loved already.

Chapter Text

Around ten on Sunday morning, Peter, Pepper, and Tony were gathered in the living room discussing plans for the day. 

“Oh, please, Tony! It’ll be, like, so uncool to have a babysitter,” Peter explained.

“He’s not even a babysitter, Peter. He’s part of our security detail. He’s your bodyguard for the day,” Tony explained.

“No,” Peter whined. He looked between his parents, then settled on Pepper with a desperate expression. “Please, Pepper! I promise, I won’t do anything stupid, and I’ll let you know where I go. I-I’ll even make sure to answer every phone call and text from you guys!”

Pepper chuckled and shook her head lightly. “Oh, Peter.” She and Tony shared a look, then returned to facing Peter. “Okay, fine. Happy’s off the hook.”

“For today, only,” Tony insisted. “But I will be tracking you the whole time, whether you’re in a store or on the street. You hear me?” As Peter nodded unceasingly, Tony added, “Take your phone with you everywhere. Even in the bathroom. I mean it.”

“Okay, okay! I understand and I’ll do it. Now can I go?”

“How are you going to get there?” Pepper asked. 

Peter shrugged. “I was gonna walk to Queens.”

Pepper sighed, looked overburdened with great exhaustion, and rubbed her temples. “Alright, Happy will drive you to Queens, then leave you alone. Deal?”

Peter huffed. “Fine,” he groaned.

In the end, Peter had to dodge Pepper’s comb and hairspray and Tony’s suggestions of weapons that looked like everyday objects to just get out the door. Even in the car, Happy interrogated him like crazy.

“Who is this guy? Do I know him? Where did you meet him? I need to run a background check on him before you step out of this car.”

“Happy!” Peter snapped. “I promise, it’s fine. It’s just a kid from school, okay? Please, stop worrying about me.”

Happy looked at Peter in the rearview mirror, his brows raised. Then he shook his head, as if shaking his incessant worrying away. “Alright, fine. But, one more question. What happened to calling me Harold?”

Peter furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side. “Wha—oh, yeah. Um… I just decided I liked your nickname. That’s all.”

Happy hummed as he gently bobbed his head to the beat of the radio. “Okay, that’s not, like, abrupt or out of the blue at all.”

Peter settled him with half a glare. “It’s not weird or abrupt. I changed my mind for an actual reason.”

“What made you change your mind?”

Peter ducked his head as heat rushed to his cheeks, the lie on the tip of his tongue. “It-it’s just, I learned that everyone else calls you Happy, not just Tony. So, I wanted to, too. So I could fit in.”

Happy scoffed a laugh, but thankfully didn’t pry.

Hopefully, Happy wasn’t a human lie detector or something. Actually, maybe he was, because that would just be another reason Tony hired him above anyone else. He’s already apparently super skilled, too. It wouldn’t be that out of the ordinary. Still, hopefully he wasn’t able to tell a lie from the truth.

The tires squealed to a stop and Happy cut the engine. The curb they were parked at had a small yellow house looming over the sidewalk. On the old, worn front steps, Ned was bouncing on his toes excitedly.

Peter smiled gently and reached for the door handle.

“Ah, ah, ah. Run your plans by me again.”

Peter threw his head back in a groan and settled back in his seat. “We’re going to Delmar’s, then his house. At two, you’re coming to pick me up and the day will be done. Is that all?”

Happy smirked at Peter’s displeasure and turned back to Peter, something alight in his eyes. “Have fun and be safe. And…” He paused, as if deciding what to say next. “I want you to know that if you ever need help, some time away from anywhere, or someone to talk to, I’ll be there for you. Okay, kid?”

Peter blinked. Slowly, a smile stretched at his cheeks and he couldn’t even try to hide it. He fist-bumped Happy’s hand resting on the front passenger chair in front of Peter with a short, “Thanks, Happy.” Happy grinned in reply and unlocked the doors. Peter shut the car door behind him and waved one last time before Happy drove off.

Ned’s enthusiasm helped Peter move on from the touching moment and center himself in this one. So, when Peter made it up the porch steps he easily welcomed Ned’s excited hello. 

“Hey, dude!” Peter offered his fist, to which Ned immediately bumped back. “Thanks for inviting me, and sorry I was late.”

“Dude, do you think I care? I’m just so glad you’re here! I could hardly sleep last night!”

Peter laughed. “Me neither, I was really excited, too. Are we going to Delmar’s now?”

“Oh, yeah. Come on.”

The pair started off on the sidewalk and crossed a few streets to get out of the small neighborhood area in this part of New York.

“By the way, I just…” Ned wrung his hands together in front of him and glanced at Peter shyly. “I wanted to say thank you in person, not just over text again. It was really, really nice and cool what you did for-for me. I haven’t met anyone that was brave enough to stand up against him.”

Peter gave a small smile and rubbed the back of his neck. “I-it’s no big deal—“

“It is,” Ned insisted. “It’s a big deal to me. Peter, you’re the only one who helped me. Not even the teachers did, or the principal! Flash’s dad funds so many school projects that they don’t want to upset him. Flash always tells the teachers that if they mess with him, his dad will pull the funding.”

Peter frowned. “That’s not right. That’s completely wrong.”

Ned agreed. “But that’s how it is.”

“The principal is a jerk to me and wouldn’t believe anything I said to him. I think maybe I could talk to my dad to help me talk to him. He keeps calling me by my last name instead of my first.”

Ned tilted his head in question. “What’s wrong with your last name?”

Peter blinked. “Oh, well, I-I’m adopted. By my new family, but Principal Morita keeps calling me by my last name because he knows I don’t like it.”

“Oh… was your last family… you don’t have to say if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Peter waved him off. “Don’t worry, i know. That family was really hard for me to live with. Not all of them, my Aunt was awesome. But… after she died…”

“It got worse,” Ned finished for him. Peter nodded. “That happened to my grandma when she was young. Her dad was mean to her whole family, and when her mom left, it got so much worse.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ned shrugged. “And-and not to say that I know anything about what you went through, but Grandma… when she talks about it, she says it gets better, so much better. And she’s much happier with her life, now. So, maybe that can help you feel better?”

Peter smiled. “Thanks, man. I’ll remember that.”

Ned shrugged, brushing off Peter’s sincerity. “Anyway, you should totally talk to your dad. Principal Morita only listens to adults.”

“Yeah,” Peter frowned. “That’s basically what all adults do.” 

“So, was that guy that drove you here your dad?”

“Oh, no. That was my, uh… my family’s driver, I guess? But, everyone my new dad introduces me to tells me to call them ‘aunt’ or ‘uncle’ so maybe he’s eventually going to be my uncle, too.”

“Wow. Your family has a driver… that’s really cool!”

Peter chuckled. “Thanks. My parents were going to have him follow us around all day, but thankfully I talked them out of it.”

Ned chuckled. “Man, do what you gotta do. I don’t care either way.”

Peter smiled.

Almost as soon as they entered Delmar’s, Peter’s phone started panicking in his pocket. It vibrated and rang incessantly. Gently, Peter tapped Ned’s shoulder as they stood in line and gestured to his phone. 

“I’m sorry. They wouldn’t let me come unless I promised to take every call.”

“Hey, no worries. Go ahead,” Ned said.

Peter smiled gratefully and stepped out of line and into a more secluded part of the store. “Hello?”

“Hey, kiddo! Get to Ted’s safe?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Ned, Tony. And you’d know if I wasn’t safe.”

Tony chuckled on the line. “You’re right. Probably would’ve sent six suits to get you outta traffic if I needed.”

Peter giggled. “Yeah, really laying on the down low there. No one will ever guess I was important to you.”

“Maybe that’s how I should get you home. When you’re done hanging out, I’ll send a suit right over to carry you home. How does that sound?”

“No, don’t. That would be insane, and I’ll scream that I’m being kidnapped.”

“Aw,” Tony whined in mock hurt. “Just ‘cause I want the world to know I care about my son?”

Peter chuckled and shifted his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he walked the aisles of Delmar’s. “Please don’t. I could be dropped and I’d most definitely die.”

Tony barked out a laugh and the phone received static and movement from his end. Then, when Tony sighed in contentment, there was a silent pause. 

“I do, though. You know that, right?”

Peter furrowed his brows. “Know what?”

“That I care about you. I do, Peter. So much. I loved seeing you so happy yesterday and I want to always make you happy. I love you, Peter.”

“Is today just my day or something?”

“What d’you mean?”

“Ha-Happy said something similar, too.”

“Oh… you know, if that’s what it takes to get you to feel safe, I’ll tell you everyday. I love you, Pete.”

Peter swallowed and pressed the phone to his ear with his hand once again. “I love you, too, To—Dad.” After a moment, he cleared his throat. “Um, thanks for checking up on me. Just can’t get enough of me,” he joked.

Tony snorted. “Yeah, kid, that’s it.” 

Peter laughed. “I’m just kidding. Thanks for checking up on me, but I’m seriously okay.” 

“Alright. Well—“ 

“Oh, wait. I-I wanted to ask something.” 

“Yeah, bud. What is it?” 

“I, um… I was wondering if I could tell him, Ned, who I am? Then-then I’d have some practice before we, you know, make me go public?” 

“This is the first time you’re hanging out with him, though, Pete.” 

“Well, yeah, but when we do the press conference introducing me to the world, complete strangers will know who I am. I’m telling you, this is good practice. Besides, I don’t want to have another friend start off with, well, lies about myself.” 

“Okay, I see your point. Go ahead, kiddo. And if he reacts badly, feel free to shoot me a text and I’ll come right over.” 

Peter smiled to himself. “Thanks, D-Dad. Um… and thanks for letting me come out and for-for yesterday.” 

“Of course, kiddo. Have fun, okay? I love you.” 

Peter swallowed. “I-I love you, too. Uh, bye.”

After both Ned and Peter got their desired sandwiches, they were on their way back to Ned’s house. 

“I seriously love Delmar’s,” Ned gushed. “Everything is so good!”

Peter swallowed a massive bite and nodded enthusiastically. “It’s the best! No matter where I go, I can’t find anything as good. My aunt and uncle used to take me here all the time. It was actually where my uncle took my aunt on their first date. And, they got married, so it just proves that Delmar’s is fantastic!”

“My family comes here all the time, too. Whenever I have spare money I try to come after school to eat. How come we’ve never met each other before Midtown?” 

“I-I don’t know… New York’s big, I guess.” Ned nodded. 

“Sometimes I can’t even comprehend how big… I went on a vacation to my grandma’s house in Idaho and towns are much smaller over there. Really gave me a change in perspective.” 

“How small was it?” Peter asked. 

“Hmm…” Ned pointed from Delmar’s, which was disappearing in the distance, over to the building they were next to. “From there to here. I mean, everything was also a lot more spread out, but if all the buildings and houses were right next to each other, that’s how big the town was.” 

Peter tried to imagine it, really tried. But it just didn’t seem possible. 

“Wow… that’s small. How does anyone live there without feeling lonely? I can’t imagine.” 

“Yeah,” Ned sighed. “My grandma is pretty lonely sometimes, but she has lots of friends visit all the time, so that helps. In those small towns, it’s easy for everyone to know everyone. My grandma says her house is ‘gossip central’ because they all talk about everybody in town. I don’t even know everyone in our history class!” 

“Yeah, me neither. I know Flash, you… the teacher, I guess… and the one girl that always talks to you in class. What’s her name?”

“Michelle. She’s cool and weird. Maybe a lot weird, but I’m her friend so I must be pretty weird, too.”

Peter chuckled. “Then so am I.”

After a few more streets, they entered Ned’s house.

“Mom! We’re back! We’re going to my room.”

“Alright, have fun!” Ned’s mom yelled back. “Don’t close your bedroom door, though!”

Ned sighed and hung his head. “Okay, Mom.” He looked to Peter and explained, “We have a family rule that if friends are in our bedrooms, we can’t have the door closed. For safety, I guess.” 

“O-oh. That makes sense.” 

Ned shrugged. “It’s kinda annoying. Anyways, my room is right…” He turned down the hall and opened a door decorated with tons of pictures of Star Wars ships and lightsabers taped to the door. “Here!”

The bedroom, which was probably smaller than Peter’s back at home, had dark blue walls with white star stickers on the ceiling and the top edges of the walls. His window had long, dark blue curtains that dragged on the floor and blocked out any light from outside. A twin sized bed was pushed into a corner, a dresser standing next to the headboard, and a desk on the other side of the bedroom door. His closet was open and clothes were spilling out, some strewn across the floor.

“Sorry for the mess. I think I forgot to clean up.” Ned entered the bedroom all the way and started to pick up all his clothes.

Still looking around curiously, Peter shook his head absentmindedly and muttered, “Don’t worry about it.”

The coolest part of Ned’s bedroom, probably, was the TIE fighters, Millenium Falcon, and Republic battleships that hung from a clear string attached to the ceiling, spinning idly with the still air in the room.

“This room is so awesome,” Peter whispered. When he looked back at Ned, he grinned massively. “This is so awesome!”

Ned chuckled and looked away. “Thanks. I’m glad you like it. Do you like Star Wars?”

“Are you kidding?” Peter asked. “Who doesn’t?”

Ned’s face split into a smile and he bounced excitedly on his feet. “Heck yeah! Did you know they are working on the next part of the series? I’m so excited to see it!”

“Woah, really? I-I didn’t know about that… when is it coming out?” 

Ned’s eyes widened. “Dude, you didn’t even know? How could you not? It comes out in December. Literally two months away!” 

Peter quickly sobered. “Oh, that’s cool. Um… we, uh, didn’t watch much TV at the orphanage… is why I didn’t know.” 

“Oh, I… I’m sorry, man. I already forgot. Were you in the orphanage for a long time?”

Peter nodded. “But, don’t worry. I haven't really told anyone other than you or Flash. It’s not common knowledge.”

Ned nodded understandingly. “I won’t spread it around.”

“I, uh… also haven’t ever told anyone who my parents are, either.” 

Ned quirked a brow as they both sat on the edge of Ned’s bed. 

“Why not?” 

“My parents told me to keep it a secret, but I asked them if I could tell you.” 

“Whoa, secret identity,” he said, awestruck. He shook his head rapidly. “Hold on, wait. Why do you want to tell me? We just became friends.” 

It wasn’t like Ned was wrong. They had just met on Thursday. 

“Well… why shouldn’t I? You’re obviously much better than Flash and… and I don’t want to keep it secret anymore. I don’t like having lots of secrets.” 

“Yeah I get that. It can be tough making sure not to tell them to someone on accident.” Peter nodded

It’s always been hard just to keep Spider-Man a secret. Any more secrets quickly become too much for me.

“So, you can go ahead and tell me and I won’t tell anyone. But, only if you want to.”

“I do,” Peter confirmed. “I, um… I don’t even know how to do it without seeming stupid… but, do you know Tony Stark and Pepper Potts?”

Immediately, Ned’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “No way,” he whispered.

Peter chuckled to himself and nodded. “They adopted me.”

Ned blew out a heavy breath and looked at the carpet of his room. “Wow… I’m friends with Tony Stark’s son.” He lifted his head, looking at Peter again. “I’m friends with Iron Man’s son!”

Peter smiled. “I tease him sometimes that I don’t like Iron Man and it bugs him so much.”

“Do you like Iron Man, though?”

Peter shrugged. “A little. Not as much as Black Widow and Spider-Man.”

“Dude, same! You know what? Your dad being part of the Avengers makes a lot of sense. Remember yesterday when you said Black Widow said she’d train you?”

Peter nodded until his eyes widened. “Oh crap! I totally didn’t realize how weird that was until now.” 

Ned laughed. “Yeah…”

“Wait, but you believed me right away? Why?” 

Ned shrugged. “I don’t know. I just didn’t think to wonder if it was a lie or made up. I don’t know.”

Peter laughed. “Well I’m glad you know now, so there won’t be any future confusion.”

Ned chuckled. “So which one is your favorite favorite superhero?”

Peter thought. “Probably Spider-Man. Black Widow is pretty awesome, but I think I’ll always like him more.”

Ned shook his fists in excitement, his body shaking as well. “Yesssss! Dude, Spider-Man is the coolest hero! The Avengers are awesome, but, Peter, he’s just like you. Spider-Man takes care of all of us who are struggling, who can’t get help from the big heroes. He cares about every single person, and I really admire that. You’re a hero just like him.”

Peter smiled sweetly. “That really means a lot to me, Ned. Thank you.”

“Just being honest.” Ned faced forward again and sighed quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked. 

“I wish he was still around,” Ned admitted. “Did you know that I’ve seen him twice? Once in January this year, and once in April. But, no one has heard of him or seen him since May. No one in the news reports about his rescues or good deeds. It’s all just about where he’s gone, why he’s gone, and if he’ll ever come back. There’s a lot of theories on why he left.”

Peter nodded solemnly. “I… I miss him, too.”

“What’s your theory?” Ned asked. 

Peter glanced at him, then settled his gaze on his lap. “Maybe he died,” he whispered. “Maybe something really bad happened and it killed him, or made him not want to be a hero again.”

“A lot of people think that. But… a few months ago a woman came out to the news and said she had been saved by Spider-Man on May 3rd. There were all these guys that were trying to hurt her, and Spider-Man came to save the day. But, when the bad guys stopped caring about her, they chased after him and… she said he was stabbed over and over. An ambulance came around and took Spider-Man to the hospital. She said she knew his face, his age… some guy that helped him knew, too, but she didn’t remember who the other guy was. So, there’s two people out there who know Spider-Man’s identity.”

“They didn’t tell the news?”

He shook his head. “She said he saved her life, and in return she’d take his secret to her grave. But, that was his last rescue.”

“Then, do you think he’s dead?”

Ned frowned, a determination settling on his face, unwavering belief furrowing his brows. “No. I know he’s not dead.”

“How, though?”

“I just do. It doesn’t feel right, to think that he’s dead. I just know he’s out there. Hurt, or scared, or healing. Or something, but he’s out there.”

Peter nodded, his chest constricting. Daringly, he asked, “Do you think he’ll ever come back?”

Ned fixed his gaze on Peter, his tone serious. “Maybe. But even if he never does, I’m still going to be thankful for what he’s done. For the world, for New York, and for me. He made a true difference and I want to be like him someday.”

Peter swallowed against the lump in his throat and tried to give a small smile. When it wobbled, he looked away and pointed to a Lego set on Ned’s desk. 

“When are you going to build that?”

Ned grinned. “Right now.”

Chapter Text

Peter snapped upright from beneath his covers, chest heaving with quick, shallow pants. Briefly, his eyes searched the room erratically until they landed on his slightly opened door. 

“Friday, protocol barricade!”

Immediately, the door swung shut and a mechanism hidden within the door frame clicked into place, sealing the entrance. 

Peter pushed himself off his bed, slapping and kicking away his covers before he settled onto the floor beside the window seat. Pale blue light filtered in from the curtains and shone over his distressed features. He wrapped his arms around his knees and pushed his back against the wall, trembling slightly. 

Morgan popped up out of nowhere and sat a few feet away from Peter. 

“Are you okay?” She whispered. 

The noise, especially after nightmares, was always turned up too loud. Morgan was sweet for remembering. 

Peter glanced at her, then returned to staring at a specific patch of carpet he could memorize as he calmed. Jerkily, he nodded his head. 

“Was it about Ben?”

He shook his head and, unable to control himself enough to whisper, spoke at a normal volume, stuttering, “I-I don’t even know any-anymore. I just woke up a-and I knew I was scared. I think I was fighting something, but I’m not sure what.” He sucked in a long, measured breath. “I think I felt fake pain on-on my shoulder, and maybe that’s what woke me up.”

She nodded, as if understanding, and scooted a little closer. “Are you still scared?”

He shrugged and glanced around his room again. “I feel like I should be, but I can’t think of a good reason to be. I don’t even remember the dream.” He huffed in frustration and hugged his knees a little tighter. 

“Then just don’t be,” she suggested, tilting her head to the side. Her short brown hair swayed and caught little flakes of light from the window. It shone through her, illuminating her whole form. “Just stop being scared. You don’t need to be, so tell your mind that you’re okay, and it’ll listen to you.”

He considered her, then focused once again on the patch of carpet that looked so interesting. He made a pattern for his breathing. 

Breathe in for seven seconds, hold for four, breathe out for eight seconds. 

7-4-8. 

7–4–8. 

7… 4… 8.

His senses slowly dialed down and the tingling on the back of his neck quit screaming at him. It buzzed against his nape, telling him to be wary.

Morgan leaned in enough to enter his view, dark brows scrunched up in concern. “Peter, are you feeling better?”

Peter nodded, keeping his breathing steady. “Yeah… yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for helping me, Morgan.”

Her pale face lit up in a smile and she rushed forward to give him a big hug. “I love helping you,” she said against his chest. 

Peter petted her back and set a gentle kiss on top of her hair. “Love you, too.”

A gentle ping from the ceiling caught his attention, Friday’s new way to warn others when she plans to talk so she won’t scare everyone as much. It was mainly designed to sound after a stressful moment, so as not to get someone back into a panic attack. Tony really was looking out for Peter.

“Peter, are you alright?” Friday asked.

“Yeah, I’m much better. Thanks for checking on me, Fri. You can unlock my door now.”

“Door: unlocked.”

As Morgan sat up, she moved right back into Peter’s vision. “So, are you going to go back to sleep?”

Peter frowned and looked to the side. “No, I’m gonna go get a drink, I think.”

Tony hummed a gentle tune as he moved about the kitchen. He grabbed two glasses, filled them with milk, then set out to get the unopened package of chocolate chip cookies out of the pantry. 

In all honesty, Pepper knew nothing about them, and Tony was adamant that it stayed that way. His late night sugar eating was apparently a bad habit. It was better than all of his other habits he fought so desperately to break. Sure, the sugar made him a little softer on the edges, but that just meant better hugs, right? 

The rest of his secret sugar supplies were stashed behind granola bars, bags of trail mix and raisins, and the occasional packages of nuts. It was the perfect disguise.

After breaking open the package and setting four on two plates, he carried them over to the table. Just as he went back and grabbed one of the glasses of milk, a voice popped up behind him.

“Oh, hi, Dad.”

Tony went ramrod straight and bit a yelp back in his throat, though his hold on the glass loosened considerably in the midst of his start. Just as he noticed it slipping, he gasped and tried to catch it, only to let it slip through his fingers.

“Crap!” He startled. 

Remarkably, right before it could hit the ground, it stopped, suspended from the air by a small hand.

“Ha! Just in time!” Peter grinned. Apparently, in his haste to catch it, he had slid his body across the kitchen floor and managed to catch its bottom with perfect precision. It was… surprising, to say the least.

“How did you even catch that?” Tony asked, eyes widened and mouth agape. “Weren’t you over there?” He pointed to the opening of the kitchen, several feet away.

As Peter righted himself and steadied the glass that sloshed milk against the sides, his cheeks turned red. “Well, I-I was already on my way over. I have socks on, you know? You just didn’t hear me, I-I guess.”

Tony furrowed his brows, not sure if he should dwell on the kid’s obvious anxiety, or keep gawking at him. He shook his head as if to push away his shock, then stepped closer to the boy.

“Are you okay?”

Peter nodded as he set the glass on the counter. “Ye-yeah, I’m fine.” He dropped his hands back to his sides and looked up at Tony. “Are you okay?”

Tony leaned away, amused at the boy’s worry for him. He smiled and ruffled Peter’s bed hair. “I’m fine, kiddo. Just been waiting up for you.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “What, really? Wait, why?”

“I’ve told Friday to wake me or Pep up if you’re ever panicking or something. But, by the time I got to your door, you activated the protocol, which—“ he immediately raised his hands in a placating manner, “Is not a problem, at all. I’m glad you feel safe enough to protect yourself.”

Peter opened his mouth to argue or apologize, probably, but Tony was quick to continue.

“I was not put out, I promise. I just told Friday to let me know when you were okay so I could bring you up a snack and check on you,” he smiled. Then his face contorted into a scowl as he glared up at the ceiling. “Which, by the way, thanks a lot, Fri.”

“I apologize, Sir. However, Peter was planning to head down so I decided there was no need to alert you.”

“Yeah, and it almost cost me a ton of milk and a whole glass.”

Peter chuckled, hiding his grin behind his hand. “Sorry, I guess I really shouldn’t have been so quiet. I, um…” He hid his hands behind his back and swayed left and right nervously. “I-I actually thought there might be a robber, or-or something, so I tried to sneak in here really quietly and see.”

“What? Peter! If there was ever a robber, you should run away and come tell me! Not go to the robber.”

Peter shrugged. “I think I could’ve fought him off.”

Tony scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Oh, and what makes you think that? You’re as thin as a twig.”

Peter frowned. “Hey, I’m strong. I could beat you in an arm wrestle!”

Tony chuckled, enjoying the conversation too much. He shook his head and sighed. “Oh, Pete. Please… for the love of everything good in the world, don’t try to ever stop a robber on your own. Please.”

Peter caught Tony’s smile and mimicked it, leaning on the counter with a mischievous air about him. “You don’t even know what I can really do.”

Tony shrugged. “You’re probably right. You stood up to that Flash kid, maybe you could take down a whole robber. But, for my peace of mind, don’t.”

Peter sighed, as if the request was unfair. “Okay, fiiiine.”

Tony smirked and shook out Peter’s curls again before directing him to the milk and cookies. “So, feel up to a snack and a little talk?”

The nervous air to the boy immediately returned and he meekly followed Tony back to the table. 

Once they were both sitting, comfortable and dipping one of their cookies into their glasses of milk, Tony continued.

“What happened in the nightmare this time?”

Peter leaned his elbow on the table and bit off a soggy portion of the cookie, white pigment coating his mouth. “I don't know. Just woke up scared and didn’t even remember it.”

Tony hummed, nodding his head. “That’s alright, that’s normal.”

Peter raised a brow, seeming like he didn’t believe Tony. “Really?”

“Sure, kid. Happens to me all the time. Sometimes those sorts of dreams even put me into a panic attack. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

He watched his boy dunk his cookie into the milk some more. “I just don’t like feeling so scared. Especially when I’m, well, you know… safe.”

“Do you truly believe that?” Tony asked. 

Peter pondered for a bit, then nodded. “Yeah, I do. You guys have been…” Peter let out a heavy sigh and swallowed. He rolled his eyes as they grew wet and turned the other way. “You guys have been so kind and loving to me, and it’s been so… so long,” he croaked. He dug his knuckles into his eyes while Tony reached over and set a gentle hand on his son’s shoulder. 

“Pete, it’s okay to cry. You don’t have to hide it.”

Peter sucked in a shaky breath and glanced at Tony, tears glistening on his cheeks. “I never thought I’d ever be safe again,” he admitted. 

Tony’s chest constricted and his heart thumped against his ribs painfully. He smiled gently at the boy and rubbed his back. 

“I love you, Pete. So much. A lot more than I thought I ever could. I’m really glad you’re part of my family.”

At that, the boy stood. His chair screeched against the kitchen tile. With pursed, trembling lips, Peter wrapped his arms around Tony and hugged him tight. He let out a soft cry as Tony’s arms held him. 

“I love you, too, Dad!” Peter cried. 

Tony huffed a watery laugh and blinked at the tears in his own eyes. “‘M never gonna get tired of that.” He placed a soft kiss on Peter’s curls and patted him soothingly. “You’re getting better, Peter. Already, you’re getting so much better. You’re going to keep healing and getting stronger, and Pep and I will be with you every step of the way. You’re not alone in this, okay?”

Peter nodded against Tony’s neck and sniffled. “I hate being so scared,” he whispered. 

“Me, too. You know what helps me be brave?” He gently pressed on the boy’s shoulders, silently directing him to stand up straight so he could see his face. 

“What?”

“I remember everybody who can help me. When I had to be an Avenger for the first time, I didn’t think of my team as my allies, just annoying coworkers. I only had Pepper then, but even she was far away. But now, when I wake up with nightmares about that wormhole, I know I can turn to Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, any of my team… and now, I even have you. It’s not just you and Ben anymore, kiddo. You’ve got a ton of us who have your back.” He ruffled Peter’s curls with a soft, loving smile. “Remember us when you’re scared and it’ll help you know that you can get through anything.”

Peter gave a small smile and sniffled. “I-I’ll try to remember.”

Tony nodded and gestured for him to sit again. “Now, come on. Let’s finish up this package.”

Tuesday fell under Peter’s continued suspension. He ended up with hardly anything to do for most of the day until evening, when fun arrived. 

Tony parked in front of Ned’s house as Peter burst out of the car. 

“Ned!” He yelled, a massive grin stretching his cheeks. He bounded up the front steps and rapped on the front door. Not even a second later, Ned came out, also excited.

“Dude! I’ve been waiting all day!” Peter exclaimed. “I can’t wait to show you the Tower.”

“I can’t wait to see it,” Ned squealed, bouncing on his toes. “Oh—I didn’t forget. Ready?” Ned stuffed his hand in his side purse as Peter nodded rigorously, buzzing with energy. As Ned’s hand whipped out of the bag, so did a huge lego Death Star box.

“Oh my gosh! You actually got it! How did you even afford this?”

Ned pulled on a smooth smile. “I’ve been saving for six months. Plus, my mom pays me sometimes to go get groceries for her. You like it?”

Peter scoffed a brief laugh. “I love it! Dude, I gotta get my dad to get us some more lego sets after this. We could—Oh! What about a Millenium Falcon? Or speeders! What if we could build speeders and get my dad to help make them actually work?”

“Peter! Why didn’t you think of that earlier? That’s the best idea ever!”

Two sharp honks pulled the boys’ attention over to the sleek, black vehicle. Tony Stark, who sat in the driver’s seat, waved for them to get a move on.

Peter chuckled and waved back slowly. “Sorry, he’s just really excited to show me the Tower.”

They stepped off the porch and started their walk over to the car.

“Wait,” Ned said. “You haven’t even been to the Tower yet?”

Peter shook his head. “Remember? I told you. We live in a normal house outside of the tower. Mom and Dad didn’t want to adopt me and dump me in the tower right away. They wanted to be ‘discreet’ and help me get comfortable in a ‘normal’ environment or whatever.”

“Living with a billionaire is anything but normal.”

Peter laughed. “Right?”

As the two boys climbed into the backseat, Tony turned around as much as he could to see them.

“Hey, Ted. How are you?”

Ned, of course, just widened his eyes and looked at the hero in disbelief. He leaned towards Peter, shaking with excitement and whisper-shouting,  “He knows my name!”

Peter immediately frowned, shooting Tony a chastising glare. “It’s Ned, Dad.”

Tony flashed a grin as if to say he absolutely knew his friend’s name.

Peter rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help his smile. 

“You ready to go?” Tony asked. 

Ned snapped his gaze back to the man and nodded. “Yes, sir! I have everything ready. And I promise I won’t take any pictures without asking for permission first.”

Tony chuckled. “Don’t worry. Take as many pictures as you like. Just don’t tell anyone Pep and I don’t live in the tower anymore, or that we have a son.”

As Tony turned back around and pulled onto the busy street, Ned twisted in his seat to look at Peter with furrowed brows.

“Wait, I thought you told me they were your parents because you wanted practice before you told the world. Are you still going to keep it a secret?” He whispered.

Peter nodded. “Not forever, though. Just a little while longer.”

“How much longer?”

“I think we’re waiting until there’s no one else to introduce me to. So, maybe two weeks at the most?”

“Oh, yeah. Are we going to meet all the other Avengers tonight?”

Peter shrugged. “I hope so. I hope you get to talk to Black Widow. She’s so nice,” he smiled. “And Clint is so funny! And Rhodey is really good for advice. And, maybe if everything goes well, you can ask for their numbers!”

Ned gasped, “Really?”

Peter nodded. “I get to text Black Widow every night!”

Ned sighed dreamily and relaxed into the back of his seat. “Your life, man… it’s amazing.”

Peter gave a small smile and faced forward, his stomach suddenly churning.

I hope I actually deserve it… I’m doing better now, right? I’m a better kid. 

Peter frowned and folded his arms over his chest. “So, uh… Dad? What, um, what are the plans once we get to the tower?”

Tony glanced at Peter through the rearview mirror. “Well, most of the team is still coming back from a trip, so the rest of the team is going to give us some space until everyone’s together. So, you two can do whatever you want. But, at dinner, you two should be able to meet all of the Avengers at once.”

Ned clapped excitedly and bounced in his seat. “So cool! I think I’m gonna die, this is just too much goodness. It’s so great!” 

Peter chuckled and rolled his eyes playfully. Ned laughed and then they fell into easy conversation. They talked about what Ned was doing in school, what Peter was going to inevitably need to catch up on, and the gossip that had been going around about the fight. Apparently, Peter was quite the popular kid. Everyone, ‘and I mean everyone’ knew his name. 

By the time they were finally pulling up to the tower, the boys were so enthralled in their jokes, giggles, and back-and-forth conversation that they didn’t even notice their surroundings until the car parked and the engine shut off. When they looked out, all they could do was marvel. Not because it was cool or anything, but because it was so dark. Other than the lights within the car that shone out the windows, the parking garage might as well have been a black hole. 

“Woah,” Ned breathed, fogging up his window. 

Peter searched the endless dark for anything visible, stomach starting to twist in knots. Images of pale gray faces appearing from the darkness filled his mind, drops of blood from empty eye sockets or the rotting teeth in a dead man’s mouth filled his mind. He shuddered and leaned away from his window, back pressing into Ned. 

“D-Dad, why’s it so dark?”

“Rhodey mentioned that the power started glitching yesterday… I bet it’s that. Just unfortunate it has to freak out now.”

Peter looked at him in the rear view mirror. “So-so everything’s okay? No pranks a-and no danger?”

Tony furrowed his brows as he looked back at the boy. “It’s okay, Pete. I promise. I’ll get it working. You two just stick close to me, okay?”

Peter swallowed as he looked back out the window. 

Nothing good ever came from complete darkness. He really didn’t want to leave the safety of the car. But when he looked over at Ned, he saw his friend was completely over the moon. 

“Haunted Tower,” Ned whispered against the window, reaching behind himself to tap Peter incessantly. He turned and met Peter’s gaze with a sparkly smile. “Haunted Tower! That’s the coolest thing ever!”

Peter chuckled nervously and nodded. As he opened his door, he told himself to suck it up and stick close to Tony. It would be fine. Nothing bad could come from the dark anymore. He was safer now.

The trio’s footsteps echoed off the walls of the cement parking garage. Tony had his phone out, shining a flashlight in front of them as the boys trailed behind him. 

“Peter, remember the episode in Star Wars the Clone Wars—have you seen Clone Wars?” At Peter’s nod, Ned continued. “Remember when Ahsoka had to help all those clones that had that, like, disease infecting them? And it was so scary? That is like this! I brought some lightsabers, so if you want, sometime today, we could battle in the dark! That’d be so cool!”

Peter nodded and smiled wobbly, reaching forward to take Tony’s hand. Immediately, his dad’s hand encompassed his and squeezed comfortingly. 

Ned leaned a little forward and tried to meet Peter's eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Peter breathed shakily. “Just, uh… the dark makes me nervous.”

Thankfully that was all the explanation Ned needed. He furrowed his brows and smiled in concern. He patted Peter’s back, then kept on walking.

After a minute, Tony paused in his trek across the garage and made a sound of recognition. 

“Here it is! Just had to get to the right place,” Tony explained. “Hold this, would you?“ Tony passed the flashlight back to Peter as he opened the breaker box and flipped some switches. After a few seconds, the massive light fixtures above them flickered on.

“Ha! All better,” Tony said, turning around to face the boys. “Friday, run diagnostics, please. And check on the team. How long was the power out?”

“Thirty-five minutes, Boss,” Friday immediately replied.

Tony nodded, pursing his lips and looking somewhat displeased. “Well, not horrible. Fix it, Fri. This is a bad first impression.”

Peter chuckled lightly and clicked off the flashlight. “It’s still awesome, Dad. Don’t worry.”

Tony grinned and slung an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Now, how’s about we get up to the penthouse and you two can play—“

“Dad!” Peter hissed. “Hang! We hang!”

Ned laughed, which only served to make Tony smirk.

Peter shortened into a slouch and let out a heavy breath. “Don’t encourage him,” he said, sending a playful glare to his friend.

Once at the penthouse, the boys quickly burst out of the elevator to excitedly gawk and drool at every inch of their surroundings. From the floor-to-ceiling windows, sleek couches and fireplace, to the massive TV above said fireplace. They ran around, checking everything out like kittens exploring their pens. 

They loved the balcony the most. Not only did it have a hot tub, a lounge table and chairs, and a waterproof tv, it had the most amazing view. Sixty-eight floors high, looking out above all of New York, it was hardly a common occurrence. It was magical.

“This is what Padme saw out her window in Star Wars Episode II… I can’t believe we’re even up so high,” Ned said.

Peter nodded absentmindedly, breathing airily as he took in the view. “This is… amazing.”

When Ned turned to face him, a particular excitement settled in his gaze. 

“Hey! D’you think this is the view Spider-Man got to see whenever he swung around the city?”

Peter shook his head. “I wish.” Then, with a flinch, he sputtered. “I-I mean, I bet he wishes! I’ve never, uh, you know, seen a picture of him standing or sticking on Stark Tower, so, uh… Maybe he never did.”

Ned nodded easily, turning back out to the city air. “We might be a little luckier than Spider-man…”

Peter’s gaze fell on his friend after that comment, considering his words. 

Was Peter better off than Spider-Man? Well, when Spider-Man existed, so did Peter Parker, the adopted son of May and Ben Parker. The abused boy who could never catch a break from the violence his uncle wrought down on him. Spider-Man battled villains and criminals daily, as well as his own family member. Peter almost wished that this Peter Parker character could never be connected to himself. He wished the last name wasn’t his to ever claim. Even if he was Peter Stark now, there would always be people who remembered him as Peter Parker. But maybe that wasn’t as horrible as it seemed. Maybe he could simply use it as a sign as where he came from when he looked at where he was now. 

Was Peter Stark better off than Spider-Man?

Most definitely. 

Spider-Man didn’t have Ned or May, Morgan, Pepper, or Tony. He never had a safe space to hide when his mind became terrified. Peter Stark did. Peter Stark had people who loved him and looked out for him, as well as a great school, and a team of heroes as his friends. Sure, there was still more to be added to his group, but that only made him even luckier. 

By six o’clock, Pepper had finally finished her meetings and come to join Tony in the common floor kitchen, three floors below the penthouse. 

“Oh, that smells amazing,” she exclaimed, clapping her hands. “What are you making?”

Tony spun around as Pepper's heels clicked behind him until she was just close enough to snatch her at the waist. With a fast peck on her lips, he pulled back with a goofy grin. 

“Hey, darling. I’m making my famous fettuccine alfredo. Or, as everyone else calls it—“

“My recipe that Tony stole,” Natasha interrupted, sending a playfully icy glare at the billionaire. With a large package of noodles in hand, she sauntered into the kitchen to steal a warm embrace from Pepper. 

Pepper squeezed her in return, smiling sweetly. “It feels like it’s been forever. Peter won’t stop talking about how much he loves you!”

As Natasha’s face forms into an expression of fondness, Tony is quick to correct. 

“Like. He’s never said love, just like. Right, Fri?”

“From what I can remember, he has said he loves Ms. Romanov since before he met her, however I’ve noticed he says it less in your presence, Boss.”

Natasha chuckled at that, smirking. She clicked her tongue and shrugged. “I just have a way with kids, Tony. That’s what it is.”

Tony is quick to grumble and roll his eyes before returning to the stove to stir the sauce. 

Ten minutes later, the group expanded with Steve, Rhodey, and Sam coming in. 

“Woo,” Sam shouted. “That heavenly smell is de-lic-ious!” He clapped his hands together once then rubbed his palms as he came to sniff the entrees. 

Steve nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as he came to surround the island as well. “It smells really great, Nat… Tony.”

“Where’s the kids?” Rhodey asked as he grabbed a stack of plates. “Would’ve thought they'd be out here by now.”

Pepper agreed. “Right? They came and were so excited to meet everybody, but now I think they’re playing games in the guest room.”

“Yeah. Fri, could you—“

“No, could I go get them?” Steve asked. “I’d really like to introduce myself.”

Tony rolled his eyes as he waved him off. “Whatever, Cap. Do your duties to your heart’s content.”

After a quick nod, Steve made his way to the elevator. On the way, Clint and Wanda turned back around to tag along. Three floors up and the elevator opened up to the Stark penthouse. 

“Any special greeting you have in mind?” Clint asked, raising a brow to the two avengers beside him. 

The two made faces of confusion so Clint was quick to clarify. 

“This is your first impression with Tony’s only kid, and the kid’s friend. Currently there’s a bet on who can turn out to be the favoritest by Christmas. Natasha’s in first. You’ve gotta make this memorable or he’ll just see you two as two other avengers on Nat’s team. Huh?”

Put like that, Steve and Wanda are quick to get to thinking. So, after another detour bringing the trio to Wanda’s floor, then Steve’s, and back to Stark’s, they’re ready to greet the unsuspecting teenagers. 

Step one: lights. 

Wanda asked Friday, very kindly, to turn off all the main lights. Night lights and lamps stayed on. 

With a gasp through the doors, the trio shoved their mouths into their hands to stifle their sniggers. 

Step two: special effects. 

In a few seconds, black fog with red zapping static swam beneath the door and filled the bedroom. Then, Friday played lightning and thunder sounds from her speakers, making the lights flash in tune with the lightning. After a shriek from an especially loud crack of lightning, the guest bedroom door slowly opened. As it creaked, more fog and darkness met the boys outside. 

Quickly and quietly, the boys stood to go for the door, whispering to each other. 

“What is happening, dude? Did the power go out again? I didn’t even think it was raining earlier!”

“I don’t think it is raining. I think Friday is freaking out. We’ll just get to my dad and he’ll—“

“No!” Wanda screamed, suddenly coming to stand on the threshold. Her red eyes glowed villainously as her hands raised to spread more fog. The boys scrambled away, unable to make out her true identity in the darkness. 

As another strike of lightning broke through the speakers and the lights flashed, Wanda lunged forward with a hiss. 

“Oh my gosh!” They screamed, tripping over each other to get to the farthest corner of the room. 

“You have no escape,” she stated in her thick accent. “You poor boys. All alone up here,” she cooed. Then, her expression shifted, her brows falling as her mouth twisted into a frown. “No one to save you.”

She raised her hand as red lightning struck from her fingers, eliciting another blood curdling scream from the boys. But before anything could get to them, Steve flipped in, only to stop in front of the boys to deflect the lightning with his shield. He grunted against the power of it, bringing a hand to push the boys further behind him. 

“Stay behind me! I’ve got you.”

Then, “Oh my gosh! It’s Captain America,” squeaked from one of the two, voice going higher and higher with his excitement. 

Wanda had to hide her laugh in a shout of battle. But, as she increased her power, so did Steve increase his force. He groaned against the pushback, before the groans turned into a shout. He angled his shield just so and the lightning deflected right back at Wanda, seemingly rendering her unconscious. 

“Friday, lights,” Steve called. With the penthouse fully lit, Steve turned to greet the boys with his winning smile. “How was that?”

Immediately, the thinner of the two jumped forward. “Oh my gosh! Cap—Mr. America, I-I mean, Mr. Captain America sir, that was amazing!” 

The other boy nodded wildly, looking otherwise catatonic. 

Wanda, finished with her scene, also stood to join the group. “I hope you enjoyed my performance, too?”

Peter nodded and stepped towards her. “It’s so great to meet you Ms. Wanda. Your powers are so cool!”

She chuckled, looking away as a deep blush filled her cheeks. 

Clint also joined the group, walking in like he was the coolest one in the place. Once in front of the larger boy, he put out his hand. “Hi, kid. I’m Peter’s uncle. Uncle Clint.”

Steve raised a brow. “He calls you uncle?”

Peter nodded, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “Everyone that came last time asked me to call them my uncles or aunts.”

Wanda’s eyes snapped wide open. “Really? Then please call me Aunt Wanda.”

Steve grinned smoothly and jutted a thumb towards himself. “Go ahead and call me Uncle Steve.”

Peter nodded, his cheeks burning. “I-It’s great to meet you guys, Aunt Wanda and Uncle Steve.”

Immediately, Wanda cooed. “Aw! I love how that sounds!”

Eventually, after a long introduction to Ned, because he was practically in shock, the group finally made it to the common floor kitchen. By the time they made it, all of the other avengers had gathered. 

Peter was greeted with tight, warm, comforting hugs as everyone made their rounds to him, even the ones he already met. Ned got some forced hugs from his end, but mostly some handshakes and slaps on the back. 

With dinner set and ready to be eaten, everyone sat together in the living room. The two boys were sent to sit at the table and chairs in the corner, looking out at New York. Everyone else sat on the couches and bean bags. 

“Peter, this is so cool,” Ned whispered around a mouthful. “Thank you so much for letting me come!”

Peter smiled. “Of course, Ned. You’re my friend. It’s no big deal—“

“It is a big deal,” Ned cried. “I might as well have died and gone to heaven. This is amazing!”

Peter chuckled, shaking his head at his friend’s antics. “I’m just glad you’re here so I don’t have to do this alone. I mean, my parents are great and really supportive, but look at them!” He pointed to the couple on the end of the long leather sectional. Pepper and Tony were caught in conversations with Natasha and Steve, waving their hands wildly as they spoke back. Sam and Clint were quick to join them, throwing insults and jabs with no heat behind their words. 

“They’re with their family,” Peter said, smiling softly. “I mean, they’re so happy and they’re having fun. I don’t want to keep them from that.”

Ned nodded his head slightly. “Well, it’s really not your fault. You know that, right?”

Peter shrugged. “Sure, of course I do. But, it’s just, seeing them in their element like this? Makes me feel kinda bad that they’ve been kept from their team for so long.”

“They were taking care of you, Peter! That’s their job!”

Peter waved him off with a quick, “I know, I know!” Then, with a short sigh, he continued. “I’m just glad I’m not keeping them from this anymore tonight. I’m glad they’re having fun and not having to worry about me. I’m glad you’re here, Ned, so I don’t have to be alone.”

“D’aw,” Ned blushed. “I’m just glad to be your friend and to actually know you. You’re, like, the coolest person in the world.”

Peter managed to look away before he could heat up too heavily. “Thanks, man.”

As conversation died so everyone could focus on eating, Tony turned on the TV to one of the new movies of the year: The Martian. 

“Hey, are you sure this is good for the kids to see?” Sam asked, using his fork to point at the screen. 

Tony chuckled. “Of course. There’s nothing wrong with this.”

Sam furrowed his brows, deep brown eyes flicking from Peter and Ned to the billionaire. “Tony,” he said through a slightly closed mouth, as if he was trying to keep the teens from hearing him. “It says the f-word.”

Tony rolled his eyes and set his utensils aside. “Peter, are you and Ned mature enough to hear the movie swear and not use the same swears?”

Ned nodded quickly. “Of course, Mr. Stark! I would never swear!”

Tony flashed a grin to Sam and shrugged. “They’re old enough, Rocket Man.”

Peter quickly swallowed and nodded. “You don’t have to worry, Uncle Sam. We hear worse in the halls at school. Besides, this movie? It’s definitely worth it. Have you seen it yet?”

Sam shook his head. “Can’t say I have.”

That only seemed to spur the kid on. “You’re going to love it! The guy gets to go to space and he gets stranded! And he has to survive—“

“Spoilers!” Natasha screeched. 

Peter blushed, snapping his mouth shut. “Sorry,” he chuckled nervously. 

Steve let out a short laugh. “Don’t worry about it, son. Glad to see you comfortable with us.”

Rhodey wholeheartedly agreed. “Can’t wait to see you here all the time, Pete.”

After Ned had to go home, Peter, his parents, and the Avengers started to settle down for the evening. The plan was to go home, too. But with full tummies and exhaustion weighing on them, the Starks decided a night at the penthouse wouldn’t be too bad. 

Peter excitedly showed everyone the pictures he had on his phone of the barely begun lego Death Star, then happily rambled on and on about how much he loved Star Wars. 

Then, the team played Uno with a stash of Oreos set aside for everyone who won. Which, after four rounds, ended up being Natasha, Natasha, Sam, then Wanda. Peter, however, swore he would’ve won if Wanda hadn’t given him a plus four card. And, despite knowing he wasn’t supposed to, when he had casually leaned over to see her cards, there was not a draw four in them at all. He called her out for cheating, but obviously couldn’t offer proof without incriminating himself. 

Oh well. 

Steve turned out to be really funny. Despite the many PSA’s Peter’s seen of the ‘star-spangled man with a plan,’ nothing could’ve prepared him for Steve’s humor. Steve was quite devious, but not as obvious as Clint. He stole two of Sam’s Oreos and expertly lied when Sam asked him where his stash went. Then, he also planned carefully so he could give Natasha a stack of four plus twos in one go. That’s why she lost the third round. 

Sam, on the other hand, was almost as civil as Rhodey. Except he was quite a jokester, too. In fact, he seemed to really like to tease Peter. He rubbed his fist into Peter’s hair and attacked him with tickles when he was least expecting it. He was more like a big brother than an uncle. Especially when he tried to make sure the team wasn’t going to traumatize the kid with any swearing or anything. Peter really appreciated him. Peter also loved hearing about Sam’s volunteer work at veteran counseling centers. Just like Natasha with her volunteer hours at the local orphanages, Sam was trying to be more than just an Avenger. It was really admirable. 

Wanda was like a sister almost right away. Closer to his age, she knew most of the memes and jokes Peter told her. She happily sat next to him to trash talk the team, and shared her stash of licorice she stole from the kitchen. Then, she shared a few Oreos with him and wrapped her blanket around the both of them after the games had tired everyone out. 

By the time the team started saying their good nights, Peter was as happy as can be, soaking in all the affection the team offered him. He hugged each of his declared aunts and uncles as they all went off to bed. Back in the penthouse, Peter couldn’t help but recount his favorite parts with his mom on his parent’s bed. 

Pepper clicked her tongue as she smiled lovingly. “I’m so glad you had fun, baby. Nothing scared you at all? It was all just good?”

Peter gasped. “Oh, I forgot to say. When Steve and Wanda came to get us for dinner, they staged an attack and it was terrifying! I really thought it was real for a little bit. And Wanda raised her hands like Chancellor Palpatine—I didn’t even know she knew about Star Wars, I was so impressed—and she shot lightning out of her hands! Though, I’m not actually sure if it was real or not. But, still! It was so cool!”

As Tony joined his family on the bed, he grabbed Peter by the shoulders to force him to lay down on his back. “Breathe, Peter. Breathe.” Peter giggled and squirmed as Tony was quick to dig his fingers in his son’s armpits, then switching to his sides before the boy could catch his wrists. 

“Ah! Da-hah! Dad, stop!” Peter giggled and reached a hand for Pepper to take. “M-Mom, help me!”

Wrinkles appeared at the corner of Tony’s eyes as he smiled so big. “Breathe, Peter,” Tony laughed, unrelenting. “I just want you to breathe!”

Peter threw his head back as he still tried to grab his dad’s wrists. “I-I’m tryi—Dad! I-I can’t br-breathe!”

Finally, Pepper, having giggled to herself, signaled for Tony to stop. “Come on, honey. You’re going to make him puke.”

As Tony let up, the boy panted heavily as he sucked in large gulps of air. His face was red but a smile was plastered to his mouth. Peter, ready to continue the conversation, flipped over onto his stomach and faced his parents, who were getting comfortable at the headboard. 

“I’m so glad you had fun, baby. We were wondering what took you guys so long to come to dinner,” Pepper explained. 

“Hah, sorry,” he chuckled lightly. “I can’t believe how nice it is to know so many people!” With a pause, he found himself drawing swirling shapes into the bedding. Much softer in tone, he said, “I can’t believe how lucky I am to even be here… I mean, Ned has a family.” Experimentally, he looked up to glance at his parents, then gazed back down at his hands. “The same family he was born into. A-and, I know that’s such a great thing to have and he loves his life, but I think maybe I’m even luckier than him. You know?” 

Pepper nodded, though said nothing. 

“My parents died when I was six. My… my aunt, May, died in a car accident when I was almost fourteen. Then, Ben went to prison for everything… he did.” Peter sucked in a deep breath and bit his bottom lip as images filled his mind. “I was stuck in an orphanage for months with people who hated me, who wouldn't give me the time of day. But, you guys popped in and said I was worth loving, even-even though I was so mean and horrible and… sometimes I think I still don’t deserve everything. Having the Avengers as my extended family, you guys for my friends, Midtown Tech as my school. I’m just so lucky when Ned deserves it so much more than me. Or, other orphaned kids deserve this… and not me.” He slowly shifted his gaze to his parent’s worried and shocked expressions, a guilty pang hitting him within his chest. 

Pepper clicked her tongue and crawled over to meet her son. Her soft, warm hands came and cupped his cheeks as she gazed into his eyes. “Oh, honey… you do deserve good things, all sorts of good things—“

“I’d be happy to spoil you rotten,” Tony admitted. “And I can, too.”

“But, Peter… Ned has good things in his life that he's happy with, and sure, maybe he’s a bit jealous, which is warranted, you are pretty lucky, as am I, if I do say so myself. But, honey. You need to understand that you will always deserve good things and happiness and joy. You deserve to be treated kindly by every person you meet. You deserve to be loved and cared for. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your mom.” She stared at him for a moment to make sure her point was across. “I think that you have so much, and deserve so much, because you’ve suffered so much and have tried to be a good person anyway. I know things were hard for you in the orphanage, and you acted out sometimes, but that doesn’t mean you should have to pay for it for the rest of your life.”

“Well, I-I guess I know that, but… Mom, sometimes I get so caught up in the things I’ve done and what Ben used to do to me for any mistake I made and I sometimes think that maybe I deserved it. Not-not all the time,” he quickly amended. “But sometimes, maybe I did, you know, deserve it.”

Pepper frowned as she drew away, sitting back on her bottom to look at her son. “Oh, Peter.”

Tony was next to join in, coming to sit beside his wife so he could be closer to his son. “I used to think things like that about what my dad did to me, too. But, in reality, no one ever deserves to be hit because of a mistake. No child ever deserves to be hurt by someone they trust or love because they did something wrong in someone else’s eyes. It was never your fault, and you never deserved it, Peter. Not even once.”