Chapter Text
Peter had been sleeping for an hour or so when the news came.
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Rhodey had escorted the shaken teen to one of the many bedrooms in the Sanctum, and left him.
When the door had closed, leaving Peter alone with his head, he'd heard Rhodey speaking with someone.
"Kid's fine," Rhodey said. "Shaken. He'll be good. Even better after Tones wakes up."
"Man, I can't wait to go home and celebrate." Sam's voice was gleeful
"There's no home to go to," a somber voice, Wanda's, had softly murmured.
"Course there is," Sam rebuttled. "Cheer up, you just helped save the universe. Does no one actually realize what just happened?" Sam laughed. "We just saved the fucking universe."
"Easy, Sam. I'd bet anything the kid's listening to every word we say." Rhodey chuckled.
"What a punk."
Wanda had giggled.
Peter had heard their footsteps gradually soften as they left.
The teen had slumped over on the soft sheets of the bed and drifted to sleep.
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An hour of sleep before the news came.
Furious knocking, rapid and heavy, as though someone was trying to break down the door.
"Up and at 'em, Spider-boy!!" Clint's voice shouted from the other side of the door. "Your old man's awake!"
Peter had never jumped out of bed so quickly in his life.
He went flying out the door, nearly tackling Clint in the process. He raced down the flight of stairs, Barton trailing behind.
He caught up with Sam, Bucky and Steve, who were all quickly making their way to Tony's room as well.
"H-he's awake already?" Peter breathlessly asked. "How long was he asleep?"
"Six hours at most," Sam answered. "Doc said he'd be under for at least a day. We don't know what happened."
"Well, he's never been a heavy sleeper, now has he." Steve smiled.
They arrived at Tony's door in seconds, only to find the door open and a cluster of people obstructing their view.
Peter, small and nimble, pushed past Wanda, Bruce, Carol, Thor, and Quill. He'd barely had the time or energy to wonder how they'd gotten here before him.
He pushed to the front of the crowd.
Pepper and Rhodey were sitting by the bed.
Brown eyes met Peter's. Healthy and alive. Full of pride, relief, and love.
An enormous grin crossed the mentor's face.
"Hiya, Pete."
Peter sniffled, swallowing back his tears.
"H-hey, Tony."
Peter didn't catch the way Tony's eyes lit up when the boy called him by his first name.
On the other hand, Tony didn't remember when the boy had called him "Tony" while he was sitting motionless on the battlefield as the teen assumed his mentor to be dying.
"Hate to tell you this," Tony shifts, trying to push himself into a sitting position with Pepper and Rhodey's assistance. "But you've got five years worth of homework to catch up on."
Peter laughs from his heart, letting a few stray tears spill.
Steve pushes forward and stands next to Peter.
"Mornin', Cap'n." Tony smirks.
"Feeling better?" Steve asks, pressing his lips together to suppress an idiotically large grin.
"Loads." Tony gazed warmly at the super soldier. "Mind helping me up, Spangles?"
Pepper tried to protest. "Tony, I don't really think that's a good id-"
"Darling," Tony cut her off. "I promise, I feel like a million bucks."
"How?" Carol Danvers chimed up from the doorway. She smiled, viciously intrigued. "You held the power of all six Infinity Stones and you're playing it off like a bicycle crash."
"Maybe he's half planet on his father's side." Drax grumbled.
"Shut up, Drax." Quill scolded.
"All that matters is that everyone is alive." Wanda's words rang through the air so all twenty other Avengers could hear . "And we can go home."
A family was found. Everyone could feel it. It didn't matter if they'd only known someone for a few hours or ten years, they were family.
Tony,
Pepper,
Rhodey,
Peter,
Steve,
Sam,
Bucky,
Clint,
Wanda,
Bruce,
Thor,
Scott,
Stephen,
T'challa,
Carol,
Quill,
Drax,
Rocket,
Groot,
Mantis,
Nebula.
And they were never going to let each other go.