Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"When he looks in my eyes I hope he can see
That my dad's a hero to me."

            “…And I am Iron Man.”

            Snap.

            Within a moment, Thanos’ whole army was disintegrating into dust, much like Peter had done in front of Tony five fated years ago, and then Thanos himself was gone, ashes on the wind. The stones in Tony’s glove were pulsating, glowing, sending crackling power coursing through him, and then they were gone. There was a burning pain on the side of his face, and he stumbled to lie against some rubble. Every breath was labored, but he was still breathing. Hang on, Tony, hang on, he kept telling himself. For Pepper, for Morgan, for Peter. He let out a grunt as he settled into place. The battle was over. He could rest. His eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment before he was shaken awake again.

            “Mr. Stark—Tony! Tony, can you hear me?” It was the panicked—and wobbly—voice of Peter, who sounded like he was on the verge of tears. “Tony, it’s me, it’s Peter. We won, Mr. Stark. We won.” Tony’s eyes opened slowly and he winced as he tried to sit up more. Sure enough, Peter was crying. His brown eyes were watery. Pepper and Rhodey ran over a moment later, and Tony could see the momentary panic in Pepper’s eyes. He tried to flash her a smile, but even that took too much effort.

            “We…won?” Tony grunted, and Peter nodded. He bit his lip. “Are you—are you okay, Pete?” he asked. Even now, even when pain was pumping through him with every beat of his heart, he was worried for Peter. The kid was his responsibility, after all.

            “I’m fine, Mr. Stark. Don’t strain yourself too much! You’re not in any condition to be talking!” Peter shouted. Pepper put a hand on his shoulder and stepped past him to lean down next to her husband. Her hand came up to rest on Tony’s cheek.

            “FRIDAY, run a vitals check,” Pepper ordered. Her bottom lip quivered, but she kept one firm hand on Peter’s shoulder.

            “Vitals are steady,” the AI answered after a moment. “Heart rate is a little high, but he is alive.”

            “Oh, thank God,” Pepper murmured, her head going to rest on Tony’s shoulder. “We have to get you out of here and to a hospital, now. Or at least make sure your condition is more stable.” She stood up after a moment to survey the destruction around them. “Peter, stay with Tony. Rhodey, come with me. We’re going to find Stephen.” She glanced at Tony. “I’ll be right back. I love you.”

            “Love you, Pep,” Tony replied quietly. Pepper and Rhodey then vanished back into the chaos, and he was left alone with Peter. “You too, Pete.”

            “Wh-wha?” Peter appeared to not have completely processed what Tony said, or hadn’t heard it. He wiped some of the tears from his eyes and sniffled. “What did you say, Tony?”

            “I said I love you, kid. You’re like a son to me. I think it’s about damn time I told you that,” Tony said with a tired grin. “After we get back to normal, I have someone I want you to meet.” It was only fitting that Peter should finally meet Morgan. Peter put his arms around Tony and let himself cry, until Pepper, Dr. Strange, and Rhodey came back and moved Tony out of the battlefield.

            Tony had been placed into a medically-induced coma for three weeks after the battle to allow his body to heal. He had extensive burns and scarring on the right side of his face and his arm needed time to heal as well. Pepper had been by his side the whole time, and Peter had been visiting as often as he could. On this particular day, he had brought some flowers and he set them on the table next to Tony’s hospital bed.

            “Has his condition changed at all?” Peter asked Pepper as he came and sat in a chair next to Tony’s bed. He put his hand atop of Tony’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. Pepper shook her head.

            “He’s been steady, but no change in the status of the coma. I think they’re going to check on him again and then take him out of it today. He’s been healing pretty steadily,” she replied. Peter gave her a smile as she came to his side and ruffled his hair. “Tony really does love you, you know. It’s not often that he says it, but he shows it in how he treats you.” Her fingers in Peter’s hair were comforting, and he found himself closing his eyes, almost falling asleep.

            “I know. I love him too. I think of him as a father figure and I don’t know what I would have done if I lost him.” Peter felt tears well up in his eyes again. In that moment it had seemed like Tony would die, and while having him in a coma wasn’t ideal, it was better than the alternative.

            “It’s okay to cry, you know,” Pepper said, and Peter did. He had cried so much over the past three weeks, and he felt as if he didn’t have any more tears left in him, but still he cried. He cried until his eyes hurt and until he was shaking, and until the pained noise of his sobs had quieted. He loved May, he always would, but Tony had filled a void in his life that nobody else had. He owed so much to Tony, and he just wanted to be able to say it—

            “Hey, kid.”

            The hand that Peter had been holding squeezed back, and when he lifted his head, he saw Tony grinning at him, eyes bright—either with happiness or with tears—and that set the wave of tears off anew. Pepper moved around to the other side of the bed and ran her fingers through Tony’s hair before giving him a kiss on the forehead, leaving Peter to hug Tony tightly yet again.

            “You look like you’ve seen better days,” he commented, and Peter sniffled. Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “How about meeting that person I said I wanted to introduce you to?”

            Without a word, Pepper left the room, as if she knew exactly what he was talking about. After another moment or two, she returned, carrying a little girl with dark hair and dark eyes, who was looking at Peter curiously over Pepper’s shoulder. “This is Morgan,” Pepper said with a smile. “She’s my and Tony’s daughter.”

            “Is this my brother?” Morgan asked, and Peter’s eyes widened a little. Tony just smiled.

            “Yeah, yeah he is,” Tony replied. “This is Peter. He’s the one I told you the bedtime story about.” Peter’s gaze flicked to meet Tony’s, and the older man winked at him.

            “Oh, I have some stories of my own about our dad,” Peter countered. “Let me tell you one…”

Chapter Text

            Peter had fallen asleep at Tony’s hospital bedside in the chair that he had pulled up, and his head rested on the bed, atop the thin blankets keeping Tony warm. He had told Morgan multiple stories about Tony that had her giggling for hours, until she had gotten tired and fallen asleep on his shoulder. He had handed her off to Pepper, who took her home, and promised she would be back after calling Happy to babysit her.

            This left Tony as the only one awake in the room, alone with his thoughts. Somehow, he had survived the snap. That alone had seemed impossible, given how it had nearly killed Thanos, and how it had caused Bruce to need his arm in a sling for a long time. But he wasn’t about to complain. He had survived. He was able to see Pepper again, he was able to continue mentoring Peter, and he was able to continue being a father to Morgan. It was more than he could have ever asked for.

            Peter’s breathing was slow and soft, but then it became strained. He shot upright, panic in his eyes. His breathing was heavy at the moment, but it calmed as soon as he locked gazes with Tony. “What’s wrong, Peter?” he asked. “Bad dream?” Peter nodded and tried to steady his labored breaths. Poor kid, Tony thought to himself. The dreams of everything had to be terrible He was only fifteen by the standards of time that had passed when he was gone, and had been through more than anyone his age should. Tony lifted his good arm, the one that wasn’t stuck in a sling, and put it on Peter’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

            “Yeah. It’s been so frequent lately that I think I’ve gotten used to it.” He shook his head to clear it and forced a smile. “I went back to school recently. All my friends…vanished like I did before, I guess. I don’t know what to think. And I’m still having nightmares about the whole recent battle thing. I’m glad you’re alive, but I can’t help but dream about things being different. Bad different.” He rested his chin on his hand and grimaced. “I know I’m worrying May but I just…don’t want to drag her into it.”

            Tony sighed. “Peter, you should talk to your aunt. She loves you and she’s worried about you. I informed her of things after the first snap, and now that you’re back, you’re acting distant. I can’t say that I blame you, given what you’ve been through, but you shouldn’t shut her out. She’s already lost you once before.” He let out a pained grunt as he forced himself to sit up straight. “Pepper told her you’d stay here overnight, by the way.”

            Peter didn’t say anything right away, as if he didn’t know how to respond. There were dark circles under his eyes, and Tony frowned. “C’mon, talk to me, Pete. What’s up?” Peter gestured with one hand to the burnt side of Tony’s face, and then his hand dropped back to his side.

            “If I had just managed to get the stones to the van when I was supposed to, you wouldn’t be all scarred up like this. You might still have use of your arm. Especially if we don’t know what kind of damage the stones did to it.” Peter exhaled out a shaky breath. “It’s my fault that this happened.”

            “Peter, look at me,” Tony ordered, voice stern, and Peter did; no matter how much he tried to avoid it, the no-nonsense tone of the billionaire’s voice forced him to obey. Tony’s touch on Peter’s shoulder tightened, a firm squeeze. “None of this is your fault. You did what you could and I’m proud of you for it. Things turned out okay, and we were able to win. That’s the important part. Keep in mind that this was the one ending in which we would win. It had to play out this way, otherwise none of this would be possible.” The only noises in the room aside from Tony’s voice were the steady beeping of the heart monitor, and Peter’s nervous breaths.

            “Mr. Stark—” Peter began, and Tony shook his head.

            “It’s just ‘Tony,’ and you know that,” he countered. “We’re well past the whole ‘Mr. Stark’ thing. I don’t want you blaming yourself. Understand?” Peter nodded, but it looked like he wanted to say more beyond that, however, he didn’t. To reassure Peter that he wasn’t mad, Tony smiled. “Get some rest, Underoos. You need it. And if you have another nightmare, I’ll be right here to talk about it with you when you wake up. Or not talk about it, if that’s what you prefer.” That finally got a slight grin out of Peter.

            “Okay, thanks Tony.” Peter glanced around the hospital room at the drab, uniform colors. “How much longer do you think you’ll be stuck here?” he asked. He hated seeing Tony hooked up to all the equipment and hated seeing him in pain whenever he so much as moved. It was so unlike him to not be walking around making sarcastic—but teasing—comments at every Avenger that he passed. It was so unlike him to not be walking around his workshop tinkering with something, be it a new AI or some modification to a suit.

            Tony rolled his eyes a little, and then closed them, resting for a moment. “I don’t know. Hopefully Pep can convince them to let me out of here soon so that I can get home to Morgan and start messing around with suits again. I’ve already got some plans in mind for both mine and yours.” Peter’s eyes grew wide as Tony said this, clearly a little surprised.

            “Like what?” Peter asked. Tony chuckled.

            “If I told you, it would ruin the surprise, now wouldn’t it?” he countered, and then laughed as Peter began to pout. “I’ll just say, soon you’ll be back in action as Spider-Man, and I’m sure you’ll like it. I’ll help you out when I can. On patrols, whatever else. You’re not gonna be stuck dealing with things alone, I promise you that.”

            Peter finally gave Tony a genuine smile, the biggest one that he had seen on the kid’s face in a long time. “You mean you’ll go on patrols and stuff with me?” he asked, excited. Tony nodded.

            “When I can make it, anyway. I’m a busy guy, you know,” he responded, but he made sure his voice was warm, to let Peter know that he was just teasing. Peter closed his eyes and rested his head on Tony’s good arm, and fell asleep before long. Tony did the same, resting for just a moment or two.

            He had the feeling that Peter would like what he had in store for his new suit.

Chapter Text

            It had taken at least two more days, but Tony was eventually discharged from the hospital and given a clean bill of health. He was given some medication for pain and had to keep his arm in a sling for a while, but he was now at home with Morgan and Pepper again, as it all should be. He had sent Peter back home to May with a pat on the shoulder and an order to be honest with her, and to call him if he needed anything.

            Tony was currently sitting on a chair on the porch, drinking from a cup of black coffee as he looked out at the lake. It was early morning—sometime around six a.m. according to F.R.I.D.A.Y. He hadn’t been able to sleep. Nightmares were just as frequent for him as they were for Peter. God, things could go from happy to sour in a moment. The door opened and Tony jumped, slightly surprised by it, but he relaxed upon realizing it was just Pepper. She frowned a little, but then smiled as she came over to stand next to him, running her fingers through his hair. “Couldn’t sleep,” he muttered. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

            Pepper shook her head reassuringly. “You didn’t. And you don’t ever need to apologize for waking me up, you know that. Morgan is asleep still.” With her other hand, she touched his cheek. “Your face is healing up pretty good. You’ll have some burn scars, but I think it makes for a badass fashion statement. Tony Stark, the man who saved the world,” she teased. Tony gave her an eyeroll and a half-grin. “How’s the new suit for Peter coming along? I haven’t seen much of it.”

            Tony smiled. “I changed the color scheme and gave him a new A.I. He’ll still have access to…Karen…if he puts on his old suit, but for this new one, I wanted to…well…” He sighed. “I had been working on it for a while even before he was brought back, as more of a comfort project. I made an A.I. based off myself before the time heist in case he was brought back, and something happened to me. Obviously, nothing did, but I’ve put so much time into it that it’d be a waste to ditch it.”

            Pepper’s expression was unreadable, but it softened after a moment. “I’m sure he’ll love it. Are you going to have him come over today?” she asked. Tony shrugged.

            “May said he hasn’t been wanting to go back to school. I guess it’s been tough for him to adjust, and he still has panic attacks pretty frequently. He told me while I was still in the hospital that they happen randomly, and he doesn’t want to have one of them occur at a bad time.” He rested his head in his hand. “I want to be able to help him, Pep, but I just don’t know how.” He had set the coffee down, unfinished, his attention elsewhere now.

            “Just being there for him is enough, I think,” Pepper said. “There may be times when you may not be sure about what to do, given how you grew up, but you’ve done fine with raising Morgan, so I’m not too worried about how things are for Peter.” She smiled. “Besides, you’ve let him know plenty since he was brought back that you care about him.”

            Tony was about to say something, but then his phone began to buzz, interrupting his thoughts. “Hold on just a sec, Pep.” Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned as he looked at the caller I.D. It was Peter’s aunt May. Tony tried to keep his cool. It was so early in the morning, and he doubted she would call him at this time of day unless it concerned Peter. Hopefully this didn’t send the condition of his heart awry. Tony hit the ‘answer’ button and spoke. “Hello, May? What’s up? Is something wrong?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm. Already, his mind was racing with fear at the possibilities. What if Peter had gotten into trouble, or gotten hurt, and he didn’t know, all because he was just sitting out here on the porch having coffee? From beside him, Pepper frowned.

            “It’s Peter. He wasn’t in bed when I went to check on him, and his window was open. I think he may have slipped out, but I don’t know where he went,” she said, and her voice was panicked, in contrast to Tony’s. Well, someone had to be calm here. “I know you can figure out where he is based off the suit. I don’t mind if he stays at your place for now since I have work all day today, but please just let me know if he does. I know that you just got out of the hospital, though.” It did help that May knew about Peter being Spider-Man sometimes. While she wasn’t always fond of it, and hadn’t been fond of Tony at first, she had grown to accept it, as well as Tony’s place in her nephew’s life.

            “Thank you for letting me know,” Tony said simply. “I’ll find him, and I’ll call you as soon as I can.” May said a quick ‘thank you,’ and then hung up. Tony let out a long sigh. “Apparently Peter left his house at some point this morning and hasn’t been back since. I’m going to go see if I can track his suit, and then I’ll go get him and bring him back here.” Tony stood up. “Gotta go get suited up after I figure out where he’s at.”

            Pepper sighed but followed Tony inside, bringing his coffee cup with her as she did, setting it on a table in their living room. “Be careful with your arm, Tony,” was all she said before she gave him a comforting kiss on the lips. Tony nodded, before descending downstairs into his workshop in the basement, where the new suit was sitting on one of his worktables. It was complete, thank God. Tony grabbed it and put it in a bag, before sitting down and pulling up his computer screen that contained all the information and files regularly sent to him by Karen.

            “F.R.I.D.A.Y., track Peter’s location and give me coordinates,” he ordered, hand tensing into a fist on the keyboard.

            “Sure thing,” the A.I. responded. Within two minutes, the coordinates had been delivered, and popped up on the screen in front of Tony. “Peter is in the Queens Botanical Garden, not too far from Kissena Corridor Park.” Tony took note of that and then quickly got into one of his suits, being careful with his arm. It was awkward having to put his armored arm in a sling once he was inside the suit, but he would manage. Once outside of the house, he took off in the direction of New York.

            “Also, give me live coordinates on his location, just in case it changes.” And sure enough, the A.I. displayed the coordinates, and Tony was on his way.

            The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon when Tony dropped down into the botanical garden. There were flowers every which way around him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if his allergies were going to act up if he stayed here too long. He stepped out of the suit and then readjusted his arm back into the sling, wincing as he did so. He did have to admit, the garden was pretty, and it wasn’t a surprise that Peter would pick somewhere like this to go to get away from everything. The problem was that he had left without telling his aunt. Tony looked around and eventually, sitting up in a tree, he saw Peter. He was in his Iron Spider suit, holding a flower that he had probably picked from somewhere in the garden—even though that probably wasn’t allowed.

            “Hey, kid,” Tony said, raising his voice just enough so that Peter could hear him. “You scared your aunt May and me shitless by running off, you know,” he said, crossing his arms as he moved to stand beneath the tree. “You should at least leave a note or something. You know how this whole thing goes.”

            Peter sighed, and then hopped down from the tree, the mask disappearing after a second or two. “Sorry, Tony. I was just having a really bad night, and…I just needed to patrol for a bit, take my mind off of things.” He ran a hand through his sweaty hair to smooth it back, although the effect was almost comical since it looked more like a series of spikes than anything else.

            Tony took his phone out of his pocket and texted May.

            found him.

            He then put the phone away and sat down on a bench, motioning for Peter to join him. The boy shivered in the early morning cold, and Tony took off his jacket and slipped it over his smaller shoulders. “I know it’s rough, with the panic attacks and the nightmares. Especially at your age. You’re already going through so much in regards to well…all the changes that everything entails. And on top of that, you’ve got the added burden of still physically being fifteen mixed with the fact that technically five years have passed.” Tony heaved out a long sigh. “You know, I dealt with panic attacks too, for a while. And anxiety in general. I will admit, I still do” Peter’s eyes widened just a little.

            “Really? You did, Tony?” he asked, and Tony nodded.

            “I had some points after you ‘got all dusty,’ as you put it, where the guilt of not being able to do anything was so strong that it woke me up at night. Some nights were worse than others.” He put an arm around Peter’s shoulders and pulled him in close. “I know you may feel terrible, or worried about whatever, but I’m here for ya, kid. I’m not going anywhere. I do have something for you, though.” He reached for the bag and handed it to Peter. “Open that.”

            Peter glanced up at Tony in confusion, but opened the bag. His brown eyes got huge as he saw just what was in the bag. It was a new suit, with black accents on it instead of the usual blue. “Take off the Iron Spider one and try this on. It has a new A.I. You can access Karen still if you use either of your other ones, but this one has something special in store for you.”

            Peter threw his arms around Tony. “Thank you, Tony!” After releasing his mentor, he switched suits, pulling the mask back over his head.

            “Hey, kid,” the A.I. said, and Peter let out an audible gasp. The voice was Tony’s. “I’m modeled after Tony, but you can just call me D.A.D.”

Chapter Text

            Peter took the suit off shortly after, reeling from the surprise of the new suit. The last thing he had expected to hear when putting it on was the voice of Tony, even with his mentor in front of him. Why was it his voice? What was going on? Why had Tony made an A.I. based off himself if he was here? He glanced up at Tony, whose eyes were a little sad. “What was this for, Tony?” he asked. He put it back in the bag, pulling Tony’s jacket tighter around him.

            Tony gave a tired laugh. “I started working on that while you were gone because of the snap. I was doing it initially as a comfort project over those five years to take my mind off the fact that you were, well…” He trailed off, but they both knew the word that he didn’t say, for fear of triggering some sort of anxiety within Peter.

            Dead.

            “Toward the end of all that time, and before the time heist, I figured if we were successful in bringing everyone back, it might be a good idea to put that in there in case I didn’t come back. That way there could be…some trace of me left for you.” Tony waved a hand in some vague gesture that looked like it was meant to encompass everything around them. There was a slight, almost undetectable wobble to his voice, but Peter didn’t comment on it.

            Instead he just gave Tony yet another hug, glad that everything was okay. He knew that before, Tony had never been one to hug much, except for probably Pepper, but Peter had the feeling that after everything Tony had been through, that had changed. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.” Without meaning to, he had slipped back into the old name for Tony, though the older man didn’t seem to mind too much, as his focus seemed to be elsewhere.

            “I think I might try to get back into patrolling again more,” Peter continued. “I’ve kind of been out of the loop for a while, with everything else that’s been going on.” He clutched the bag with the new suit in it closer to him. “I’m a little nervous though. Does that seem silly?”

            Tony shook his head, as if finally jolted out of whatever thoughts he had been having. “Not at all, Pete. Even though…he’s gone, there’s still people out there willing to do evil, willing to do harm to innocent people. There always will be.” He ruffled Peter’s hair affectionately. “I am proud of how you handled everything, even though you’re still just a kid, and even though to you it may seem like you’ve messed up in the past.”

            Peter frowned. “I’m not a kid, I’ve taken on Vulture, Thanos…” His voice faltered despite himself. He still hadn’t told Tony about what exactly had happened with Vulture. It was too stupid, too minimal compared to everything else with Thanos, though the trauma from both had stuck to him like a spider on a web. He had the feeling that there were things that neither of them were saying, because of the sheer weight of it all, like if they vocalized any of their fears, that might make it real.

            Tony shook his head. “Pete, you’re still just a kid. You’ve seen so much, been through so much, but you’re a kid.” Peter knew, despite his argumentative reasoning, that Tony was right. And while the Spider-Man part of him felt damn near fearless, felt like he could do anything, the Peter Parker side of him felt afraid, felt the suffocating worry of being trapped somewhere he couldn’t escape, felt the suffocating worry of vanishing into ash and never being able to see May, Ned, MJ, Tony—

            “Pete, hey, Pete.” Tony’s voice was firm, and he gave Peter a slight shake, mercifully coaxing him out of the spiral that his mind had just been on. “Stay with me, buddy. Don’t go into an anxiety spiral on me now.” He stood up and motioned for Peter to do the same. “We’re going back to my place for the day. I’ll take you back to your place in the evening, but May’s got work. You can spend some time with Morgan, whatever you want. But the last thing I need right now is you getting stuck in your head.”

            Peter had to admit, the D.A.D. AI would probably be helpful for times in the suit when he needed Tony’s reassurance or voice to snap him out of something in the times that his mentor couldn’t be there, or when he couldn’t reach him. He gave Tony a sheepish grin. “Okay, okay. I got it.” He watched for a moment as Tony fiddled with his watch. “What are you doing?”

            Tony crossed his arms and gestured to the sky. “Calling another suit for you. Getting back to my place would take far too long if we walked.” After just a few minutes, the suit landed and opened up for Peter to get into. Tony touched his arc reactor and the nanotech suit he always had on him covered him. Peter balked at the sight of the suit, as cool as it was. Because that meant getting in the suit, which meant he might be trapped, which meant he’d panic, which meant worrying Mr. Stark—

            “M-Mr. Stark, I don’t think I can get in there,” Peter replied, shaking his head to and fro. It became more and more vigorous the more he did it. He could feel his breathing speeding up, could feel his heart pounding and God, it was made so much worse by the fact that he had enhanced everything and his Spidey sense had alerted him that this was coming.

            “What’s wrong, kiddo?” Tony asked, the faceplate of his suit disappearing as he met Peter’s gaze. “Talk to me, no bullshitting stuff.”

            Peter bit his lip. He felt like if he kept biting it any more, he’d draw blood. “I don’t wanna be stuck in it. I won’t be able to breathe. I’ll be trapped.” Tony’s eyebrows drew together in a frown as he appeared to process this. “After the Vulture incident…with the plane and everything, he dropped a building on me. I was stuck and couldn’t breathe. Nobody was coming.” He shuddered at the memory.

            “Shit, kid. Was that when you didn’t have the suit?” Tony asked. His hand ran through his hair, a frustrated gesture. “My God, I’m so sorry, Pete.” His voice faltered, and he grimaced. “I know it’s tough, but this is the only way I’m gonna be able to get you back to my place. Can you brave it so I can do that much?” he asked, taking a paternal tone. It was one he only ever used with Peter and Morgan.

            Peter forced his breaths to slow. “I—I—”

            Tony stepped forward and put a comforting hand into Peter’s brown curls. “I’m not gonna let anything bad happen to you, Pete. Do you trust me?”

            The warm touch of his mentor’s hand atop his head was steadying and helped to bring his focus back to the present, to his words. “I do.” Of course. Of course he trusted Tony. Why wouldn’t he? Tony had always been there to help him. Except in that moment when it had seemed like Tony would die—no. He wouldn’t go down that road. Not another spiral. “I think I can do it,” Peter replied, and Tony gave him a grin, ruffling his hair.

            “There ya go. I’ve got you.” Tony’s faceplate reappeared, and then Peter forced himself to exhale and then inhale slowly, kicking out the last of the panic. He was okay. He would be okay.

            He got inside the suit and the momentary wave of panic washed over him before Tony’s voice broke through the worry. “Remember, I’ve got you. It’s all good.” Peter calmed down. Yes, he’d be okay. Tony’s thrusters fired off, and then Peter’s did automatically. It wouldn’t surprise him if Tony had basically put this suit on autopilot just to keep it on course. The two then took off into the sky, leaving behind the botanical garden.

            They managed to fly for a little while undisturbed, but neither of them expected the sudden whizzing noise that passed their ears. A bullet.

            Neither of them suddenly expected Peter to drop out of the sky.

            Tony stopped abruptly, but his thrusters had already sent him much, much farther than where Peter had dropped. “Shit, shit, shit,” Tony cursed.

            He looked down at the ground about where Peter had fallen, but there was no sign of him. What there was, however, was a dark van that was already speeding off in a direction that Tony couldn’t track.

            He’d lost Peter. Again.

Chapter Text

            The last thing that Peter remembered was flying along next to Tony, and then falling out of the sky. It had been so abrupt that he hadn’t had any time to react. He guessed he must have been knocked out, or something, because now he was in the back of a van that was hurtling over some sort of bumpy road. He had presumably been pulled out of the suit Tony had lent him, since he was now just in his regular clothes, and his hands were bound behind his back.

            As much as he wanted to give in to the fear of the unknown yet again, he forced himself to be calm. The back of the van was empty save for his backpack that still contained the new suit from Tony. Somehow his kidnappers had been stupid enough to leave his backpack full. What idiots. If I could just get my hands free, I could get into my suit and kick their asses. Unfortunately, there was no way of doing so.

            God, he wished the suit was nanotech like Tony’s was. It would make life so much simpler. If—no, no—when he got out of this, he would talk to Tony about making all of his suits into nanotech. He couldn’t see the driver of the vehicle since there was a wall dividing the back of the van from the front, one that would probably not break easily even with some kicks or punches.

            He didn’t want to cause a crash, but he also definitely didn’t want to be taken to wherever they were trying to cart him away to. Things would get worse when the car stopped, undoubtedly. There had to be some way to get out of this without needing to wait for Tony to come bust him out. He was Spider-Man. He was an Avenger. For God’s sake, he had gone toe-to-toe with one of the galaxy’s most dangerous villains and had come out of it alive (albeit after being dusted for five years). He had fought Captain America and had survived so many other things. No, he wasn’t going to go quietly. As soon as they open the door, I’m kicking them in the face. Peter scooted over towards his backpack and leaned down, touching his elbow to the inside. Maybe if he was lucky, the Iron Spider suit would react to his touch and snap around him.

            Sure enough, by some miracle, the suit did, and covered his form. Karen booted up, mercifully. “Karen, send my live coordinates to Mr. Stark,” Peter ordered quietly. Might as well get a head start and help Tony find him. “And activate the spider legs, will you? Thank you.”

            “Of course, Peter,” the A.I. responded, and the four golden appendages shot out of his suit, going right through the metal of the van. He could hear the driver and whoever else was up front scuffling around and reacting to the sound, since it wasn’t all that inconspicuous. Then it occurred to him that he was basically strong enough to throw a bus, and that he could just yank apart whatever was keeping his hands bound, provided it wasn’t too strong. With that he focused and then pulled quickly. Mercifully, it was just rope keeping his hands together, and it snapped quite easily.

            Best not to keep Mr. Stark waiting. With that, he grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder before using the spider legs to continuously smash against the back doors of the van. They were locked, which was a bit of a pain. But by some miracle—yet another one—there was the telltale red glow of a laser from the other side of the door, burning through. “Karen, is that who I think it is?” he asked, and he stifled a cheer when she replied.

            “Yes, Peter, it’s Mr. Stark,” the A.I. confirmed, and right at that moment, the back doors of the van flew off their hinges, clattering somewhere onto the bumpy road, quickly left behind as the car continued on its path. Sure enough, flying right behind the car was Tony. If it was possible for a gold titanium alloy suit to look furious, his did.

            “First these assholes take my suit and get rid of it, and then they take my kid to boot,” Tony grumbled, voice sounding a little robotic from inside his suit. “I’m not happy.” He gestured with one arm to the area around them. “Can you websling off of stuff around here? I don’t have a suit to fly you with. We’re going to destroy this van and get the hell out of here.”

            Peter nodded, bracing himself on the inside of the back of the car. His leg had been aching due to the bullet or whatever had hit him, but he had to get out of here. And hopefully afterward, avoid getting kidnapped again. Whatever was going on that was leading people to try and kidnap him couldn’t be good. Ignoring the pain coursing through his leg, using the spider legs to launch himself forward, Peter jumped out the back of the truck and then shot his web onto a nearby tree branch, resting for a moment on the side of the tree when he slowed down. Tony was still flying after the receding car, and then there was a massive BOOM as he launched a blast from the gauntlet on his hand and the van exploded.

            The thrusters on Tony’s suit fired off almost immediately as he flew back around and collided with Peter as he covered the younger boy’s body with his own as protection from the explosion. Peter let out a cry of pain as Tony’s weight came down on his injured leg. He was, however, thankful for the protection from the flying shrapnel. Undoubtedly, the people that had still been in the van were dead. That didn’t mean that they wouldn’t still send people after him.

            Tony waited to sit up until the explosion had gone away. “Shit, kiddo. What happened? You let out a pretty nasty noise after I landed on you,” he muttered, faceplate retracting so he could get a better look at Peter, whose mask did the same. He put a warm hand atop Peter’s head and absentmindedly ruffled his hair as Peter sat up, wincing when he put too much weight on his leg.

            “When they shot me down, they got me in the leg. I don’t know if it got stuck in my leg or if it went through. Hell, I don’t even know what they did with your suit, Mr. Stark.” He had to resist the urge to let out a laugh when his mentor glared at him for cursing. Tony grimaced.

            “Karen, how is he doing?” Tony asked. Karen then spoke up.

            “Peter has a gunshot wound in his leg and some fractured ribs, along with a minor concussion from his fall, but other than that, he is all right,” the A.I. replied. Tony let out a sigh of relief before standing up and extending a hand to Peter. “Let’s go. Morgan’s waiting to play with you, Pete.”

            Peter hauled himself to his feet after grabbing Tony’s hand and then pulled his mentor into a hug. “Thanks for coming to get me, Tony,” Peter whispered into his shoulder. He squeezed him tightly—he had almost taken Tony for granted after all of this, but then upon seeing him with the Infinity Stones, and snapping, and burning, he wasn’t about to do that ever again. Any time he had with Tony should be treasured, and he was going to treat it accordingly from now on.

            Tony squeezed him back just as tightly. “Always, kid. Always.”

            Nothing felt more relaxing than a hot shower after an explosive battle. Peter let the water wash over him, taking his time. Tony had taken care of the wound and instructed Peter to clean up. May was at work still, and Tony had called her on the way back to his and Pepper’s house to let her know that Peter was going to be spending the day with them.

            She still had her difficulties accepting some parts of the superhero lifestyle that he was living, but she was very accepting of Peter spending time with Tony and his family, thankfully. It was almost as if—dare he say it—they were co-parenting him. Peter had to stifle a laugh. It was so weird to think of. And his classmates, Flash especially, didn’t believe he actually had an internship with Stark Industries. The only one who knew was Ned, who also liked to tease Peter about his son-like relationship to Tony.

            From the other side of the door, there was a banging, and Peter jumped just a little. He had anticipated it, but it still startled him. “C’mon, Petey! Hurry up!!” a voice coaxed.

            It was Morgan.

            “I’ll be out soon, Morgs!” Peter called, letting out a quiet laugh to himself. “I’ll play with you when I’m done and dressed, I promise!”

            At least he was safe. Tony was safe. He’d come back for him just like he said he always would. Peter had been so fortunate; he almost didn’t feel like he deserved it. Leaning his head against the shower wall, Peter closed his eyes and let the hot water fall over his body, washing away the scrapes, bruises, and pain. Tony was okay. Peter was okay. Tony would always come back for him.

            Thank you, Mr. Stark--Dad. Thank you so much. I love you.

Chapter Text

            Peter stepped out of the shower and dried off, before getting dressed. His mind was still running a million miles an hour, and he had to force himself to calm down. All of his senses were dialed up to eleven again, and he opened the bathroom door. “Hey, Tony?” he asked, voice wobbling just a little. “Can you turn down the lights?”

            Morgan had been waiting outside the door for Peter and she grabbed onto his leg, hugging it. Tony came around the corner and nodded. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., turn down the lights, please.” Peter relaxed as soon as the lights dimmed, and he ruffled Morgan’s hair.

            “Thanks, Tony,” he said, and his mentor came forward and put a gentle hand in his curls, and Peter closed his eyes. He felt safe—safe and tired. “Morgs, I’ll play with you for a little bit, but I had a long night and I think I may take a nap. Is that okay?” he asked. Morgan looked up at him and pouted but nodded.

            “I guess that’s okay, Petey,” she said with a sigh. “Daddy, you’re coming to play too,” she said. Her tone of voice indicated that she was not about to let Tony argue with her. Peter leaned down and picked her up, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Well, I don’t really wanna play, but I wanna have juice pops with the two of you. Is that okay, Daddy?” she asked Tony, making those big puppy eyes at him.

            Tony sighed, but nodded. “Yeah, we can get some juice pops.” He led the way over to the freezer and pulled out the juice pops, handing one to Morgan, one to Peter, and biting into his own. “Let’s go sit down, Morguna.” Peter followed Tony over to the couch and then plopped Morgan down on one side of Tony, before sitting down on the other side of him. He gave her a smile and then started eating his own juice pop.

            “Hey, Petey?” Morgan asked through a mouthful of juice pop. “I just wanted to tell you something.” She turned to look at him, dark eyes staring into his. God, she looked so similar Tony in that moment. “You’re my favorite superhero, and I love you two-thousand.” She gave him that little grin that made the corners of her eyes crinkle—just like Tony when he smiled. She really was a little version of him.

            Tony looked flabbergasted and Peter didn’t know quite what to say, and he felt the slight prick of tears in his eyes, but he blinked them away, and reached across Tony to ruffle Morgan’s dark hair. “I love you two-thousand as well, Morgs.” Tony’s expression was unreadable.

            “I still have you beaten, kiddo,” Tony teased Peter. “She loves me three-thousand. You’re only in the two-thousand range.” He put the juice pop in his mouth and took a determined bite out of it. “I win again.” His arm was still in the sling and Peter glanced at it—and then really looked at Tony. Peter was sitting on the same side as the burnt part of Tony’s face and it really hit him just how badly the stones had hurt him, and just how much worse things could have gone. He looked a little surprised when Peter laid his head on his shoulder.

            “Well, I guess I can’t argue with that. You win,” Peter acquiesced. He ate the last bit of his juice pop and then yawned. Since the night before, he had gotten almost no sleep, and it was beginning to catch up with him. As much as he wanted to spend time with Morgan and Tony, he was just too tired. Tony noticed the yawn and gestured for Morgan to stand up and follow him, since he wasn’t exactly able to.

            “How about I go give you to Mommy and you can see what she’s doing?” he asked. “Pete’s getting sleepy and he needs a nap.” He finished off the last of his juice pop as well, keeping the stick clenched in his teeth. “You can play with him later.” He left Peter on the couch for a few minutes.

            Peter closed his eyes for a second, trying to remember anything about the kidnappers that he could, to see if he could narrow down who wanted to get ahold of him and why they might. Of course, because it was just his luck, there were still people out there to get him, still people out there who may have lost their lives because of Thanos but then still decided to do evil even after being brought back to life. You would think that someone would take the second chance at life that was offered to them and would change for the better, but no. Peter flopped backwards on the couch, resting his head on one of the pillows as he stared up at the ceiling.

            “Come on, Peter, think,” he grumbled to himself. “There’s got to be something you can remember.” Then he paused. Regardless of what had happened to the suit that he had been in, Tony probably had some way to recall it back to him, or at least had video footage from it sent to him. Maybe that way, they could see if there was anything on the truck or run facial recognition on the people who had taken him and figure out who had done it, since that wasn’t clear enough.

            For now, he would nap, and then after he woke up, he would ask Tony about it. Closing his eyes and rolling onto his side, Peter fell asleep quicker than he had in a long time.

            Tony had left Morgan with Pepper and then gone back out to the living room, only to find Peter curled up on the couch sleeping. A slight smile made its way onto his face and he reached down with his hand that was not currently in the sling, and he ruffled Peter’s hair. He’d been doing that a lot lately, but that was simply because he was just glad to have Peter back and decidedly not dusty, and was glad to be alive to keep seeing Peter and Morgan grow. For better or worse, they were both his kids.

            Peter let out a choked half-snore but didn’t stir as Tony briefly ran a hand down Peter’s cheek and then stepped away towards the basement to go down to his holoscreens. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., call the missing suit back home, and also pull up the video footage from this morning when Peter got knocked down. Run a facial recognition scan, and a scan of anything else that could indicate who tried to take him.” He leaned back in the chair and waited for a few minutes. It would take a while for the suit to return since they had been a fair distance away, but while he waited, he let his gaze drift over the video footage playing on the screen as his gut turned.

            The video was from Peter’s point of view, and Tony grimaced as he heard Peter’s panicked breaths from the audio. Seeing the footage of Peter falling out of the sky was hard to watch, but Tony forced himself to sit through it. When Peter hit the ground and let out a cry of pain, F.R.I.D.A.Y paused the video. “Boss, a match has been found for a logo on the truck and on the outfits of the kidnappers,” the A.I. said. “I have tracked the logo back to Oscorp, although the men who kidnapped Peter are unknown, and I am not able to run a facial recognition search because they were wearing masks.” Just as soon as F.R.I.D.A.Y finished saying that, the suit that had been lost dropped into the backyard. Tony had the information he needed, so he stood up and left the basement, going outside to bring in the suit.

            Once it was all in place and back with the others, Tony sat down on the couch next to Peter, who stirred just a little, knocking the pillow that he was laying his head on off the couch. His head eventually shifted to rest on Tony’s lap, and he let out another snore. Tony had to keep his laughter quiet so as not to wake Peter, while he absentmindedly ran his calloused fingers through Peter’s hair. It was probably comforting for Peter, sure, but it was also comforting for Tony. It had become a way for Tony to reassure himself that Peter was actually there in the flesh, and wasn’t dust on Titan.

            Tony rested his head against the back of the couch, closing his eyes. He knew now for sure that someone from Oscorp had tried to take Peter, but for what? Tony had only heard of them in passing, and had never really researched them all that much. He had only met the head of the company—Norman—once at a charity event, and they had interacted only briefly, with the kind of cold and formal greetings that those of influence have towards each other at parties.

            He had, however, gotten the distinct impression that Norman wasn’t too fond of him, or Stark Industries, for that matter. The reasoning didn’t matter. What did matter was that Norman Osborn or somebody under him had messed with Tony’s kid, after the damned snap had just been undone and everyone was still working through it. What did matter was that by doing this, Oscorp was more or less declaring a war of sorts on Stark Industries, and it was a war that Tony wasn’t about to lose. He wasn’t going to lose anything again.

            Not this time.

Chapter Text

            Peter awoke to find himself still curled up on the couch, although he was a little surprised to find that he was resting underneath a blanket and was even more surprised to find his head cushioned on Tony’s lap. His mentor’s hand was resting in his hair, and Peter almost found himself getting tired again. However, when he glanced up at Tony, he was rewarded by the calmest look he had seen on his face in a long time.

            Tony was sleeping, and if Peter had to guess when his mentor had fallen asleep, he assumed it was while he was also out. Peter didn’t want to disturb Tony’s rest, so he continued to lay there in the same position, staring up at the ceiling as if it held all the answers to the questions swirling through his mind. He still had no clue who had kidnapped him.

            Tony let out a yawn and Peter’s gaze flicked up to him. “Hey, Mr. Stark,” he greeted, and Tony rolled his eyes. “You were asleep for a little while.” Tony ruffled his hair in response and then sighed just a little bit.

            “While you were out, Pete, I figured out who took you,” Tony replied, and Peter’s eyes went wide. “It was someone from Oscorp. Does that company sound familiar to you?” he asked, eyebrows drawing together into a frown as Peter nodded.

            Peter had gone on a school trip there for one of his science classes and that was when the spider had bit him. Oscorp handled experimental science, cross species genetics, and military research, to name a few things. They weren’t as rich as Stark Industries, but they were certainly formidable. The experiments they had been explaining on the day that Peter’s class had gone were what had led to the whole Spider-Man change.

            It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to guess that they might want something back that belonged to them originally—the spider DNA. Although he had no idea how they may have figured out his identity. That wasn’t a comforting fact. “Hey, Tony, uh…” Peter’s fingers wrung through the fabric of the blanket and he forced down the knot in his stomach. “I’ve been to Oscorp before, only once though.”

            Something akin to anger flashed in Tony’s eyes for a moment. Had he made Tony mad? He certainly hoped not. The anger in Tony’s eyes died down afterward and he calmed himself down.

            “What happened when you went there? Or what did you even go there for?” he asked, adjusting his sling, wincing as he did so. “That might give us an idea for why they wanted to grab you.” With his free hand, Tony pushed his hair out of his face and then absentmindedly messed with his goatee.

            “It was for a school trip,” Peter replied. “For a science class. We got a tour of some of their labs and we got to see what kind of stuff they did up close. That was when the spider bit me. They’d been doing stuff with the spiders for a while and I guess one of them got out. Let me tell you, the recovery from that thing was a nightmare. I don’t think I’ve felt worse in my life.” And of course, in typical Peter fashion, he was rambling again.

            Tony’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead in surprise, as if that was the last thing he had expected Peter to say. “Do you think they might have realized one of their spiders got out and may have bitten someone? The appearance of someone named Spider-Man who can do the kinds of things you can might have been a red flag for them.” He glanced down at Peter, who had just now realized that he was still resting his head on his mentor’s lap and started to sit up.

            Tony rolled his eyes a little. “You don’t have to sit up if you don’t want to. It’s not like we have anything else to do. We can just try to get to the bottom of things here.” He ruffled Peter’s hair again and Peter plopped his head back down on Tony’s lap, folding his hands together over his stomach.

            “I don’t know how they found out that I was Spider-Man—if at all. I’m hoping they didn’t.” Peter shook his head to clear it. “I just don’t want to put anyone in danger just because they’re after me for some bit of spider DNA. I always hate when that kind of thing happens.” Peter’s voice shook just a little. Countless times before, those that he loved had been threatened or had their safety at risk all because he was Spider-Man and they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And though his identity was safe for the most part, there were some instances in which he had been found out and things had happened, and Tony had dealt with it accordingly.

            Regardless, it was still a scary situation and Peter couldn’t help but hate it.

            “We’ll just have to take extra measures to keep you safe, then,” Tony answered with a tone of finality. “How about you and May come stay here for a while?” he asked. “We’ll still get you to school and whatnot, but if you’re here, I can keep an eye on the both of you while we deal with Oscorp.” He pulled the blanket up to Peter’s chin. “It’ll help not only your safety, but my peace of mind. It’s too soon after everything for all this.”

            “I…” Peter paused. He didn’t want to impose on Tony, Pepper, and Morgan more than he already had been doing, but he knew Tony well enough to know that he would insist that it wasn’t imposing and would insist that he stay. May would undoubtedly have qualms about it, but if Tony told her about the kidnapping, she would be upset—though she would probably accept. He fidgeted with the blanket, sighing. “I don’t want to get in the way or bring any trouble to you guys.”

            Tony smacked his own forehead with his free hand, before dragging it down his face. “Kid, I’m doing this to help keep you safe. You’re not imposing on us. Besides, this place is off the grid and they shouldn’t be able to find you here. And if they do, then I’ll deal with them just like I always do. Hell, we can bring in the other Avengers to deal with Oscorp if it comes down to it,” he said. “It’s never been ‘getting in the way’ with you, Pete. I offer to keep an eye out for you and May because I care about both of you.”

            Peter sat up, his gaze searching Tony’s. He did have a point. Time and time again, he had come through for Peter when all other hope was lost. When the ferry had broken in half and it seemed like hundreds of people were going to lose their lives, Tony had swooped right on in and patched things up. It was more than Peter ever felt he deserved. “I mean…I guess if it’s the only option you’re presenting me with, I’ll have to accept, now won’t I?” he asked with a slight laugh.

            Tony nodded firmly. “Yup. No arguing here, Pete.” With that, he stood up and stretched his free arm just a little. “Let’s go down into the lab and work for a bit.  That might help take both of our minds off of this and figure things out. What do you say to that?” he asked. Peter just gave him a smile in response and began heading towards the basement stairs. At the very least, he’d be able to direct his restless energy into something else, something more concrete. This way, he wouldn’t be constantly fretting over Oscorp, or what the kidnapping could have meant for him.

            “Does this mean I can’t patrol?” he asked with some mild frustration, now that it had just occurred to him. “Am I gonna be on house arrest?” He hoped not. He really hoped not. He had already felt stifled enough having not patrolled for a few days. Was this how Tony felt when he couldn’t do anything? When he was stuck waiting at home and there was no immediate solution to his problems? Was this restlessness what Tony had dealt with for five years when he had been dusty?

            Tony shook his head. “I’ll patrol with you when you need it. At least as long as all this takes to blow over. I don’t want someone from Oscorp to snatch you up while you’re trying to just be a friendly neighborhood Spiderling.” He reached over to ruffle Peter’s hair and then led the way down into the lab. “I’m thinking we’ll start trying to fix that suit of mine that those Oscorp jerks had the gall to ruin. May is on her way over now. She got off work early. We have a couple of guest rooms for the both of you that we’ll set up.”

            Tony sat down on one of the chairs, and Peter joined him. “Hand me a flathead screwdriver, will you, Pete?” he asked. Peter reached into the toolbox and pulled it out, handing it to Tony. “Look here—the knee got all messed up. So, we’ll need to fix that and then we’ll check the repulsors and I think that will call it good.” Peter grabbed a screwdriver as well and began helping Tony. At least for now, he could take his mind off of things and redirect his energy into something that wasn’t his anxieties.

            “Let’s get started. And we’ll figure out where to move forward with Oscorp and taking care of the problem as we fix the suit up.”

Chapter Text

            Peter and Tony were still working on the suit when May finally arrived. Pepper had let her in and directed her to the basement. She came downstairs and smiled. “Hey, sweetie,” she said to Peter with a kiss on the forehead. He gave her a smile back. “Hey, Tony,” she greeted. Tony gave a wave, and finally looked away from the suit, leaning back in his chair. “So we’ll be here for a little while, then?” she asked, and Tony shrugged.

            “If you want to, sure. We have a couple of guest rooms, and, well…after everything with Peter getting kidnapped, we didn’t want to risk having him left unattended or bring any trouble on you. Here, at least until things blow over and we take care of Oscorp, we can keep both you and Peter safe,” Tony replied. “It’s what I would recommend, May.” He wrung his hands a little after setting down the screwdriver, a nervous tic.

            May sat down next to Peter and ran a hand through her nephew’s hair. “I think that would be a good idea,” she agreed. “Peter, if you do patrol, please, please be careful.” There was a tone of desperation to her voice, a parental one that Tony recognized. He had taken it with both Peter and Morgan time and time again. “Oscorp can do a lot to you.”

            Peter rested his head on May’s shoulder. “I know. I will. Tony said he’d go with me when I patrol to help keep an eye on me.” Tony could tell that Peter was frustrated by having both of them consistently hovering over him, but after the snap, and losing him, and then getting him back, nobody wanted to risk anything. “I’m glad that you’re here, though, May,” he said. “It makes things easier on me too, not having to worry about you.” He laughed, though May didn’t. He supposed he couldn’t blame her. The situation had been pretty stressful on all of them, although he knew it was doubly hard on May since she didn’t have Tony’s technology or any enhanced qualities.

            Tony gave a smile and wiped the oil off of his hands with a cloth he had pulled out of his pocket. “Pepper’s got dinner started, so she’ll probably call us when it’s ready. I wouldn’t get too comfortable down here.” With that, he began walking in the direction of the staircase, and both Peter and May followed. May reached down and took Peter’s hand, giving it a squeeze, and Peter returned the gesture.

            Sure enough, when they arrived in the dining room, the table was set for five, and the tantalizing scent of stew wafted out from the kitchen, and Peter’s stomach growled as he pulled out a chair and sat next to Morgan, who giggled as soon as she heard the noise. “That was silly, Peter!” He reached over and ruffled her hair, and her bottom lip jutted outwards in a pout. “You messed up my hair!”

            Peter drummed his fingers on the table for a moment. While he was happy to be at Tony’s for a bit of time, he wanted to patrol—he wanted to just take down Oscorp and make sure that he was safe, that May was safe, that everyone around him who he loved was safe. He was just one person, while his enemy was a whole corporation. He shook his head to clear it. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it, and he didn’t want to make everyone worry. Undoubtedly, if they saw him zoning out, they would all ask what was on his mind.

            Tony pulled out a chair across from Peter and sat down as well, and May did the same, sitting down next to him. There was still one chair open for Pepper, who finally brought over the pot of stew over. She set it down and then sat by Tony. “All right, dig in.” Everyone did so, and at least for that particular moment, Peter could rest easy, and just ignore all of the trouble that was brewing elsewhere.

            May had gone to bed early that evening, tired after her shift at work, though Peter couldn’t sleep. Insomnia had never really been much of a problem for him until after being returned to life from the snap. Sure, he had been dealing with occasional nightmares after Vulture, but it hadn’t been to the degree that he dealt with now. The clock on the nightstand next to Peter’s bed read 2:30 AM, and he had been tossing and turning since around 10:00, trying to regulate his breathing so he didn’t slip into a full-blown panic attack.

            Peter’s throat felt dry, so he threw off his blankets and made his way to the kitchen, feeling around blindly. He didn’t want to turn on any lights for fear of waking up Tony, Pepper, or anyone else. But where was the sink in relation to him? Where on earth were the cups? He grimaced, but then jumped as he heard a noise behind him, and the light flicked on.

            “Pete?” It was Tony. Peter’s heart was beating against his ribcage like a trapped bird. Whether it was from the near-imminent panic attack due to the painful memories constantly bothering him, or just from the sudden appearance of Tony, he didn’t know. Peter swallowed and Tony stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asked. His touch was steady and comforting, and Peter forced himself to focus.

            “Couldn’t sleep. And I wanted a glass of water, but I couldn’t find any cups or anything and I didn’t want to turn on the lights in case I woke anyone up.” He closed his eyes and then opened them again, giving Tony what he hoped was a convincing smile. But based off of Tony’s frown, he hadn’t succeeded. “I’m okay, really.”

            Tony moved past him and opened one of the cupboards, handing him a glass. “It’s okay to admit that you’re not feeling all that well.” He put his free arm around Peter’s shoulder, and Peter leaned into his mentor’s side, closing his eyes for a second again to prevent tears from slipping out. He hated crying, hated that he had been doing it so much. It made him feel like a child. And while Tony would say it was okay, he was sick of feeling as though he had no control over his emotions.

            Peter briefly removed himself from Tony’s side and filled up the cup with water, before drinking it and then he moved back to his original position next to Tony, who ruffled his hair. “Okay, yeah, I feel like crap,” Peter admitted. “I’ve been dealing with constant flashbacks and nightmares, I haven’t slept more than two hours a night in forever, and—God.” His voice trailed off and he leaned into Tony’s side more. “Plus, there’s everything with Oscorp, and constantly feeling like someone’s out to get me.”

            Something softened in Tony’s expression, and he leaned down just a little to press a fatherly kiss to Peter’s temple. “You know I’m gonna look out for you,” he said. “I’ve promised you that much time and time again. I’ve already got a plan in mind for how we’re going to take care of Oscorp.” He gave Peter a grin, and then moved towards the couch. Peter followed, unsure of what Tony was doing. “Since neither of us can fall asleep as is, we might as well try and crash on the couch.” He sat down and Peter did as well. Tony extended his free arm over the back of the couch and Peter snuggled in close, pulling a blanket over the two of them.

            “Jeesh, kiddo, you’re pretty cuddly, aren’t you?” Tony commented, though there was a calm, content smile on his face. He was used to it by now, having cuddled with Morgan often. Fatherhood had softened the part of him that had never really been one for hugging or touch.

            Peter let out a tired grunt but said nothing more. Already, he felt more comfortable. Perhaps it was just human contact that he wanted—needed—most, and that was what would banish all the worry.

            “I’m figuring that when it comes to taking down Oscorp, I’ll call in some of the Avengers to help me with it. I don’t want to involve you if I don’t have to, since it’s you that they’re after.” He was still messing with Peter’s curls, and Peter felt himself steadily getting more and more tired. “If we can, we’re going to try to take the company down completely, like with Hydra.” Peter was half-aware of the words, and gave a tired thumbs up before his hand fisted in Tony’s shirt and he drifted into sleep.

            Tony gave Peter one more kiss on the forehead before resting his head atop the younger boy’s. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d managed to get lucky enough to have two great kids, let alone survive to watch them grow, but he was glad for it. It was more of a blessing than he ever thought he deserved. And even though it might not be the best course of action to literally try to destroy a rival corporation from the ground up, Tony didn’t care. They had put Peter at risk, and he wasn’t about to let anyone else get kidnapped or hurt.

            Peter’s breathing was slow and soft, indicative of him finally resting. Tony still couldn’t sleep right away, however. His mind was still running a mile a minute, like a hamster going in circles on an exercise wheel. He would need as many Avengers as possible—and might possibly seek aid from Wakanda, since Peter had befriended the country’s princess, Shuri, and her brother T’Challa had indicated he would help them wherever needed as thanks for literally saving the universe. Their technologies alone would be of great help.

            Tony knew Peter well enough to guess that he would try to involve himself in the fall of Oscorp anyway, no matter what he had been told, so that was something he was definitely going to have to keep in mind when they went to make their move. Tony let himself drift into sleep, and dreamt of six stones and burning, flaming pain.

Chapter Text

            If there was one thing that Peter hadn’t expected to see the next morning, it was the king of Wakanda and his sister standing out on Tony’s porch. Even though it was only seven in the morning, both T’Challa and Shuri were dressed impeccably. The general of the Dora Milaje, Okoye, also was with them and was dressed just as fancy as the others. Peter blinked once or twice to make sure that he wasn’t still asleep. He had been curled up with Tony, and then left alone on the couch, and then now Black Panther was at the freaking house.

            He really hadn’t had the chance to speak with T’Challa much after being brought back, so this was quite a different sort of situation. He wanted to say something to him, but he didn’t. Tony was too busy speaking with him, though Peter did slip out through the front door and on to the porch anyway. Shuri’s gaze flicked over to Peter and she smiled.

            T’Challa extended his hand to Peter, who reached out and shook it. “Good morning, Mr. Parker,” he greeted. “We were just discussing what to do about Oscorp before you came out here. Mr. Stark has been very insistent on us doing as much as possible to make sure that there’s nothing left of it when we’re done with them.” He dropped his hand to his side and Peter sat down on one of the chairs.

            Tony gave a slight smile, but there was tension in his expression all the same. “You’re freakishly rich, aren’t you T’Challa? Couldn’t you just, I don’t know, buy them out?” He appeared to be joking, but still appeared incredibly worried by everything.

            T’Challa rolled his eyes but smirked after a moment or two. “If I could do that, Mr. Stark, you could do it just as easily. Nothing is stopping either of us from doing so, yes, but if we want to ensure that absolutely nothing can be rebuilt ‘below-ground’ with Osborn loyalists, we must destroy everything.” He folded his hands behind his back in a no-nonsense stance. “And we most definitely cannot let Mr. Parker get involved.” Peter’s heart dropped into his stomach as he saw Tony nod in agreement. God, why were all of them treating him like a child? It was one thing to be treated like this by Tony, but to have the king of Wakanda also thinking the same…

            Peter lurched up from his spot on the chair angrily, a frown on his face. The only reason that they were even doing all this was because of him, because Oscorp had come after him. They were doing all this to keep him safe, while he couldn’t even be there to help. It wasn’t fair. He’d become Spider-Man after losing Ben precisely because of not being able to do anything. Tony could have died when putting on the gauntlet, and Peter hadn’t done anything. If someone got hurt during this operation, he knew he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.

            “So, you’re just going to send a ton of people into a situation that they know nothing about, on my account, without me?” he asked, throwing his arms up in the air. “If any amount of people are going to be going and taking down this company because they went after me, then it’s only fair that I should go along too. I can help, Tony. You know I can. You trusted me to protect Dr. Strange when those alien guys attacked. You’ve trusted me time and time again before, so why won’t you just trust me now?” Both Shuri and T’Challa looked as though they were feeling a little awkward, while Okoye didn’t seem too fazed.

            Tony frowned and shook his head. “Peter Benjamin Parker, I am not going to let you go to this precisely because they were after you. I don’t want you to get hurt. This company is something bigger than you. I understand that you want to help but I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you.” His voice was firm. “We’ll be fine. We’ll have multiple Avengers with us. We won’t fail. I will stop at nothing to make sure that we take down Oscorp. But that will involve you staying here, with May, Pepper, and Morgan, where you’ll be safe.”

            Peter wanted to scream out in frustration. Did nobody understand how he felt? Did nobody care at all? He knew that Tony had his reasons for doing it and for preventing him, but he didn’t want to stay behind and just wait there like a princess trapped in a castle. “Tony—no! I’m not going to just sit around and let other people do the dirty work just to help me out.” His eyes welled up with tears and he hated that he was crying—hated that it was happening in front of T’Challa, Shuri, and Okoye, hated that he was just seen as a child, hated that all of this was happening. His voice quieted just a little and he wiped away the angry tears that had spilled over and begun trickling down his cheeks.

            “I don’t want it to be like it was for me when Ben died. I don’t want to feel like anyone’s blood is on my hands because they die in some incident like this when I could have done something.” There was so much that he wanted to say, but he kept it in. Better to avoid saying something embarrassing or something that he’d regret in front of T’Challa. “Please, Tony, please—” His voice wavered.

            Tony’s expression softened just a little and he put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “We’ll talk about this later. Let me finish this discussion with them and then we’ll go from there. Go on inside, Pete.”

            Peter turned on his heel and moved back through the door, slamming it behind him. Whether or not Tony would allow him to go, he was going to be there. It was only fair, considering the fact that all of this was only because he had been kidnapped. For God’s sake, Peter had super strength and enhanced healing. And while sometimes it felt like things were dialed up to thirty instead of just eleven, he was better able to tell when something bad was about to happen.

            Peter slid down the door and put his head in his hands. Fighting with Tony was never something he liked doing, even when it concerned his safety. No, he didn’t want to die—no, he didn’t want to get hurt, but he didn’t want any of this to extend to anyone else. Not after everything else. He tried to bite back a few tears. He didn’t want to cry. Not on the floor of the Stark house, where anyone could easily find him.

            After a few more minutes, the door opened and Peter forced himself to stand up, blinking away tears. “I’m sorry, Tony. I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I just…” Dang it. Dang it. He knew he was going to cry again and wanted to scream. He had cried far too much. Were T’Challa and the others still out there? Tony closed the door and let out a sigh as Peter cast his watery and blurry gaze to the ground. His head was pounding.

            Instead of getting yelled at by Tony as he had expected, Peter found himself pulled into a tight hug--a crushing hug. He was pressed tightly against his mentor’s chest, and he could hear the steady, constant, thump-thump of Tony's heart. That broke the dam on Peter's emotions, and he began to cry again. It wasn't the “pretty” kind of crying--Peter's eyes hurt, his voice was breaking every time he tried to choke out an “I'm sorry, Tony,” and he was pretty sure that there was snot leaking out of his nose and onto Tony's shirt.

            “I'm--I'm sorry, Tony. I just...I just want to help. I don't want anyone else to die, or get hurt. I don't know what kind of things to--to e-expect, and--” Peter stuttered, hands clutching Tony's sweater. He didn't even know why he was crying, just that it was happening yet again. Tony just rocked him back and forth a little, waiting for him to calm down. When Peter had quieted himself, Tony spoke, though Peter kept his grip on him, still holding tightly.

            “I understand that you don't want anyone to get hurt, Pete. Really, I do. God, if I had a dollar for every time I felt the same--well, I'm a billionaire so that metaphor doesn't work--but anyway, I…” Tony faltered for a second. “I lost you once before. If you die, it's on me. I went through hell to get you back, and while I would do it again if I had to, I would really rather not.”

            One hand carded through Peter's curls. Tony had apparently taken his arm out of the sling, much to Peter's horror. “Mr. Stark, what are you--?”

            Tony pressed a button on his watch and a gauntlet covered all the burned, limp parts of his hand as well as the rest of his arm, and he slowly lifted it. “I've been working on this. It'll give my arm some functionality back. I couldn't feel anything before so this will help me gain back some touch and actually move the arm. Unrelated to the topic at hand, but still cool.” He wrapped Peter in a double armed hug, the first since the battle.

            “Look, Pete, like I said, I'd rather not take you into battle if I don't have to, but… I'll make an exception for you this time around only because Strange agreed to come and I know he'll have our backs.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as he squeezed Peter tightly. “Us original six Avengers, Strange, T’Challa, Shuri, Okoye, and Carol will all be going. And you too,” he muttered. “Though when we go there, you stay by either Strange, or me. Preferably me, though.”

            Peter’s eyes hurt after all the crying, and there was a noticeable wet spot on Tony’s sweater, but he didn’t seem to care too much. He nodded, and Tony swiped a thumb over his cheek, brushing away some of the stray tears that had slipped from his eyes. “We’ll have Miss Danvers with us?” he asked, eyes getting a little wide. That at least got a chuckle out of Tony. Everyone knew how ridiculously powerful Carol Danvers was and having her aiding in taking down Oscorp would greatly increase the chances of winning.

            “We got lucky that she wasn’t busy when Steve contacted her. And hell, I think everyone in the universe would come to our aid for you if we asked for it,” Tony mused. “T’Challa and the others went back to Wakanda. We just met to discuss the plans for moving on Oscorp. It’s barely seven-thirty. You need to get to school,” he ordered, and Peter frowned in response.

            “Don’t wanna. I’ve been on sensory overload mode since I woke up, and it isn’t much better now,” he admitted, leaning his head back against Tony’s chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat drown out the other noises around him.

            Tony’s expression softened, and he led Peter back to the guest room that was serving as his temporary bedroom, giving his shoulder a firm squeeze. “Get some rest. I’ll tell May and have her call the school. I’ll also try to keep Morgan out of your hair until you’re ready to be around people. Have F.R.I.D.A.Y. page me if you need anything.” He ruffled Peter’s hair and then was gone.

            Peter closed the door. The room smelled of Tony’s hoodies, probably because one of them was thrown over a chair, left behind for Peter to wear. He put it on and smiled a little. It was soft, and he was able to focus on the texture of it instead of on the other facets of his sensory overload. He changed into a pair of sweats—also Tony’s, probably—and then curled up under the sheets. Sure, he might not know what he was getting himself into by convincing Tony to let him go along, but if this worked, and they were able to be safe, that would mean more than anything else to him.

            For once, Peter had a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

            Tony was sitting on the couch, his hand running through his hair. Today was the day that they were planning on taking down Oscorp—and while T’Challa, Shuri, and Okoye had gone back to Wakanda for the time being, he was still waiting for everyone else. Mercifully, Peter had gone to get some additional rest. Tony didn’t want to let him come along, but if he was going to insist upon it and show up anyway, it would be better to have him by his side.

            He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice when Dr. Stephen Strange came portaling right into his living room.

            “Jesus, Strange—!” Tony exclaimed, and the sorcerer raised an eyebrow, but he crossed his arms, taking things in stride, adjusting his cape. “How the hell—why the hell—?” Tony shook his head and tried to clear it. “Never mind. Stupid question.” He had seen weirder things than Dr. Strange just randomly appearing in his house, so it wasn’t too much of a shock now that he thought about it logically. “So we’re still on for taking care of Oscorp today, then?” he asked.

            Dr. Strange nodded. “We’ll go there when everyone gets here. But there’s no point in leaving early, and when everything is at its busiest.” He made his way over to a chair and sat on it, crossing his legs just slightly. “I must say, Tony, when I looked into those 14 million futures, and I saw the one that we won in—it ended with your death. I believe that somewhere along the line, something changed or split, but I haven’t been able to tell just what caused it. I don’t know how you survived.”

            An icy chill of sorts flowed through Tony at that. He was supposed to have died? He shook his head in disbelief. He had expected to be killed by the sheer power of the stones alone, so it had surprised him when he survived. But to hear Stephen confirm that was jarring and made him realize just how fortunate he had been. Though he had no idea just what had changed the outcome of things along the way, he knew that he would hold Pepper, Morgan, and Peter a little closer, a little tighter.

            “Is there anything that you can remember about the time before you snapped, when you put on the gauntlet? Any events or anything you can remember that stood out?” he asked. He looked as though he was trying to puzzle things over. Well, if there was anyone that would know anything about what may have happened to keep him alive, it was Dr. Strange.

            Tony shook his head. “Peter, Pepper, and Rhodey were touching me when I snapped. That’s the only thing that I can think of that may have changed the course of the outcome,” Tony answered.

            Dr. Strange looked calm, despite the realization that they had just come to. “If they were touching you in the instant that you snapped, they may have absorbed some of the extra power, since it would have diffused through them. Obviously, you took the brunt of it since you had the gauntlet on, but I think that ultimately, them being there for you was what saved your life.” He gestured to Tony’s limp arm that was currently covered in nanites. “Where is Peter?” he asked.

            Tony gestured off to the side to Peter’s room. “He was napping for a little bit. He had a rough evening and then a rough morning, so I told him to take a bit of a break. We’ll be bringing him with us. I told him he needs to stay by either me or you when we go. Preferably me so that I can keep an eye on him. He just gets into so much trouble that it’s ridiculous sometimes.” Tony’s voice went quiet, and Dr. Strange’s expression softened just a little. “He’s a good kid though. I think if it wasn’t for him and his headstrong tendencies, I wouldn’t be here.”

            Dr. Strange nodded in agreement, lacing his fingers together. “That is definitely very likely.” He cast his gaze to the window. “The others will be arriving in the early afternoon. I figured I would stop in and talk with you for just a little bit beforehand, just to touch base. I personally think it would be best if we just completely destroyed Oscorp. It may not look good, but if we can go about it correctly, we may have the chance to prove to the general public that Osborn is not as good as people think he is.”

            The sorcerer stood up and put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I apologize for…everything that I said and that happened on Titan. But all of this was needed for us to win, for everything to be how it is now. Even though I had no idea that…well…” He waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll be back later, when everybody comes by.” With that, he opened another portal and stepped through, and then he was gone.

            Tony was left with his thoughts now, and he was baffled, despite knowing that he had been basically saved by those he loved. He had only had the briefest recollection of everyone touching him in the instant he had snapped. Peter had grasped onto his arm and held tightly, clinging on for dear life. Rhodey had put his hands on one shoulder, and Pepper had put her hands on the other. Perhaps the damage to his arm and face might have been less bad if more people had grabbed on as well, but he wouldn’t complain. He was already more than fortunate.

            Tony spent a few hours walking around the house, performing some odd tasks off and on while waiting for Peter to wake up. Pepper came out of her and Tony’s room, yawning. She gave Tony a kiss on the cheek and smiled. “Good morning.” She carded her fingers through Tony’s hair, and he leaned into her touch. “Morgan is still asleep,” she told him, and he let out a small sigh of relief. He loved Morgan but sometimes in the morning her rampant high energy was draining. “May is sleeping still.” She began to make some coffee and then handed a cup to Tony.

            “Thank you,” he replied with a smile. He sat down at the table and began to sip the coffee. After a moment or two, a tired Peter stumbled out of his room, his brown curls awry. Tony stifled a laugh as he came over to him and leaned his head on Tony’s chest while still standing up. “How’d the nap treat you?” he asked, and Peter grunted.

            “Ready to go take care of Oscorp,” he mumbled, and Tony shook his head. Peter’s gaze widened just a little.

            “Growing Spider-Babies need nutrients before they take down a multi-million dollar company. And no company takedowns will be made until after breakfast.” Tony gestured to the toaster sitting on the counter. “Get some toast or a bagel or something. That’s an order, kiddo.” He pointedly took a sip of his coffee and Peter sighed, but obeyed, making some toast as his mentor had recommended.

            “Stephen came by not too long ago,” Tony started, and both Peter and Pepper glanced at him, eyebrows raised. “We were discussing a couple of things, and he told me that apparently in the one way in which we won out of the 14 million or so that he watched, I was supposed to be dead. It was because of you two and Rhodey that I survived.” His voice wobbled just a little bit, but he didn’t want them to see him get too emotional, even though they were two of the few people who he could be himself around.

            “We owe it all to Peter,” Pepper replied, putting a hand on Peter’s shoulder. He glanced up at her in surprise, big brown eyes blinking. “He was the first one to realize just what you were up to. He called out to us and then just…took off.”

            “I…I didn’t want to lose you so quick after getting you back,” Peter admitted quietly over his toast. “Maybe it’s a little selfish of me to have only been thinking about myself and how it would affect me if you died in that moment, but…”

            Pepper shook her head and smiled sadly at Peter. “You let us know, honey. That’s the important part. We were all able to help because you said something. And it is hardly selfish to think about how Tony dying would affect you. He’s become a father to you and you’ve already lost so much.” Peter leaned into Pepper’s touch and closed his eyes, though Tony could see that he was trying to avoid letting tears trickle down his cheeks.

            “We’ll take a bit of a break for now, kiddo. The other Avengers will be here soon and we’ll re-group.” Tony set his coffee down and stood up, making his way over to Peter. He also put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “For now, how about we tinker with that suit a bit more? I’ve been wanting to finish fixing it up.”

            Peter finished his toast and nodded excitedly, and hopped up from the chair, following Tony down into the basement. A pang of paternal love pierced Tony’s heart, taking his breath away.

            He was going to ensure that this mission was successful, no matter what.

Chapter Text

            There was a knock at the door, and when Peter opened it, he was surprised to see Bruce Banner, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Dr. Strange, T’Challa, Shuri, Okoye, and Carol Danvers standing on the porch, even though he had known that they would be stopping by. They were all dressed up in battle ready uniforms, while Peter was still in his pajamas. “Oh, well, hi—” he stuttered, blinking in surprise.

            Natasha smiled teasingly at Peter. “Not ready for us, huh, Spiderling?” Her expression lit up and Peter gave her a hug. She ruffled his hair.

            “Hey, Nat,” he greeted, squeezing her just a little tighter. Tony had told him that Natasha had thrown herself off the cliff at Vormir so that they could get the Soul Stone, and that she had died. Somehow, she was alive again—either because of Bruce’s attempt at snapping, or Tony’s. Peter wasn’t about to question anything. The universe had given him more than enough to be grateful for. “Let me just get changed into my suit,” he replied.

            He released Natasha and then dashed off to his room to put on the Iron Spider suit, though he kept the mask off since everyone there knew him. “I’m ready to go,” he declared, and Tony raised an eyebrow, still sipping his coffee. The others filed inside the house, sitting down on the floor, chairs, and the couch. Natasha covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh at Peter’s excitement.

            “At least wait for me to finish my coffee, Pete,” Tony said, pointedly setting the cup down on the table. Peter rolled his eyes. Of course Tony would purposely slow down on drinking the coffee just to keep Peter from dashing off to Oscorp. Peter sat down next to his mentor and groaned. Carol raised one blonde eyebrow at the two of them before she let out a sigh.

            “Let’s hurry this up, please,” she urged. “That way you can be home before dinner and the rest of us can take naps, or get our own dinner, or whatever else.” Carol crossed her arms and drummed her fingers against her biceps. God, she was buff, Peter realized. Scarily buff. Actually, scratch that, Carol was just intimidating all around, though he knew she was kindhearted. “The longer we wait, the longer these people are going to be around and continuing whatever nasty tasks they’ve been up to.”

            Peter nodded in agreement. “I’m with Carol on that. C’mon, Tony! Hurry up!”

Tony sighed and finished his coffee, standing up. He kissed Pepper briefly on the lips, wrapping an arm around her waist. “We’ll be back soon, Oscorp will be destroyed, and we’ll do it all in time for dinner.”

            “All right, kiddo,” Tony said, leading the group outside. “Let’s blow this joint and take down Oscorp and keep you safe.” With that, Tony’s mask flipped down and covered his face, and the thrusters in the suit’s feet began to glow. “We’ll win this.”

            Upon reaching the outside of the massive Oscorp building, Peter could only stare, as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up thanks to his spidey-sense. He couldn’t quite pinpoint just what it was that was making him nervous specifically, but Tony and Dr. Strange both noticed his reaction. Peter shuddered. His mask was down over his face now—he wasn’t about to expose his identity to anyone there in Oscorp.

            He felt Tony’s hand come to rest on his shoulder and squeeze gently. “Pete, what’s wrong?” Tony asked. He kept his mask on, but Peter could tell that underneath the mask, his expression was probably a mix of concerned and gentle.

            “I’m just…I’m just nervous,” Peter admitted quietly. “I haven’t been here since the spider bite. And, well…the kidnapping…” He shook his head a little to clear it. “I guess it’s just bothering me more than I’ve been letting on.” His shoulders drooped, and he let out a tired laugh. “And…well…I know that they kidnapped me, and that they’re—that they’re dangerous, but I feel bad that we might end up killing them.”

            Tony’s hand gave Peter’s shoulder another gentle squeeze. “Leave that part to us, if it comes down to it. I don’t want you to have that on you. We’ve already notified the police about us going in there, so they’ll arrest any people that we don’t take down. Though I think if anyone should get the chance to take down Norman Osborn, it’s you and me, since he messed with you and I won’t stand for that.”

            “The police are just letting you do that?” Peter asked, a little surprised. Sneaking into a multi-million-dollar company was hardly something that the police would look the other way for, and yet there were multiple Avengers standing behind Tony, at the ready.

            Tony let out a snort and removed his hand from Peter’s shoulder. “Pete, I saved the entire universe. If there’s something that I need them to let me do, they’re willing to let some things slide. This instance is one such case.” He gestured to Oscorp, and glanced at the Avengers behind him. “We all go in together, through the roof. There should be a staircase of some sort and we can just bust in through there.”

            After just a couple of trips in which the Avengers that couldn’t fly or web-sling up the side of the building were taken up by those who could, all of them were on top of the Oscorp building. Peter suddenly felt the familiar weight in his chest that always settled in right before a panic attack, and he retracted his mask for a moment, gasping as fresh air reached his lungs—though it was quickly sucked back out as the attack hit him. God, why now? Why did he have to constantly panic at the worst times?

            Peter stumbled forward and fell to his knees by the edge of the roof, his hands grasping at the brick. His nails dug into it, and he winced in pain, but it was something to focus on other than the panic. He could distantly hear Tony shouting “kid!” and then a hand was on his shoulder, and another was under his armpit, pulling him up gently. Peter shook his head vehemently. He hated when people touched him during a panic attack, unless it was either Tony or May. He was barely aware of Steve, but just aware enough to protest.

            “N-no—T’ny—want T’ny—” he managed to choke out. Within a minute, Tony was there, his mask retracting. Peter grasped onto Tony’s arms firmly, and Tony pulled him into a hug, rubbing comforting circles on his back. Peter snuggled in close to his mentor, burying his face in the crook of Tony’s neck. The panic was constricting, and his senses were overloaded. “Tony—”

            Tony carded his fingers into Peter’s hair. “Sshh, Petey-pie,” he whispered so quietly that only Peter could hear it. It was a nickname that Tony used sometimes, but not often. He held onto Tony tighter. “It’ll be okay, I promise. We’ll take care of this and you’ll be safe. You know that. But you have to calm yourself down before we can go in there.”

            Peter inhaled and exhaled, forcing himself to calm down. Tony was right. And while he hated that all of the other Avengers were seeing this, at least he had Tony to help him work through it. Peter pulled back from Tony, and his mentor ruffled his hair. “Feeling okay now?” he asked, and Peter nodded. “Then let’s go.”

            With that, Tony kicked down the door, and they descended down the staircase—and Peter’s spidey sense was on edge the whole time—little did he know just how chaotic things would get.

Chapter Text

            Peter inhaled and exhaled, trying to further calm himself down. “Mr. Stark, I have to admit that my spidey-sense is acting up and…” He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but things could go bad, since that tends to kick in when stuff takes a turn for the worse. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about it beforehand.”

            Tony grimaced just a little. “Well, it might be because of your anxiousness. Be careful when we go in there.” He gave Peter a pat on the shoulder and then continued to lead the way down. He kept one hand up, a repulsor glowing in case someone came out of nowhere. Steve threw his shield and it knocked aside the door. There was a shocked gasp as one of the Oscorp employees realized what was happening, and then all hell broke loose. There were a number of Oscorp employees in the hallway all shouting, and the Avengers all split up, fanning out around Peter.

            “Why are you in here?!” one woman asked, drawing a gun. She aimed it at Shuri, who countered with a shot of her arm’s blaster. The woman was sent flying backwards, and a hole was created in the corner of one of the walls. It was surprising how quickly Shuri had reacted and how bad the damage was. He supposed he couldn’t blame her for it. Peter didn’t know if the woman was dead, and he didn’t want to think about the possibility.

            “Let’s get moving, Pete,” Tony warned. “No standing here. We’re trying to hunt down Norman. Let the others deal with these kinds of people.” He gave Peter’s back a gentle push, indicating that he should move further down the hall. “Strange, I want you with Peter and I as backup.” Some of the other employees pulled their guns and began shooting, but Tony fired at them in response with some of the blasters from the back of his suit. Consequences be damned, if they were shooting at his kid, he didn’t care if they died.

            Dr. Strange nodded silently, and quickly followed after them. His hands were glowing with the strange golden energy of his magic. “I believe that Norman is working in one of the lower levels of the building, so we’ll have to get down there to take care of him. If my suspicions are correct, we may have more trouble aside from whatever reasons he wanted to kidnap Peter for.”

            Tony whirled on Dr. Strange, the eyes on his mask glowing fiercely. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked, and Peter shuddered. Tony could be so kind and loving but he also had an intimidating side that never failed to terrify Peter whenever he saw it. Tony’s normally soft expression would tense up and harden, becoming uncharacteristically cold. This was one such instance. And that expression was normally directed at enemies, so to see it being directed at Dr. Strange was jarring. “I swear to god, Strange—”

            Dr. Strange held his hands up in the universal ‘calm down’ gesture. “The snap essentially messed with the fabric of the universe and tore into the multiverse. And if my information is correct, Norman Osborn is trying to utilize technology to access the other dimensions of the multiverse. God knows why, but whatever the reason, it can’t be good. So not only do we have to figure out why they wanted Peter, but we also need to figure out what he’s trying with this multiverse travel and stop him before he can figure it out.”

            Tony’s shoulders slumped a little. If time travel was possible and given the kinds of things that he and the others had experienced, travel to alternate universes or dimensions was most definitely a plausible concept. God only knew what could get screwed up if Norman messed with it. Tony felt sick. As far as he knew, it hadn’t gotten out that he had figured out time travel, but he had no idea how Norman had figured out that there were issues with the multiverse.

            “If he figures out how to build a machine that can open portals to other dimensions, nothing will stop things from alternate universes from trying to get into ours, which could mess up the flow of everything as we know it, more than the snap already did,” Dr. Strange finished. “There are already things out there in the universe trying to inch their way into ours.”

            Peter felt utter disbelief at what he was hearing, although he supposed it shouldn’t technically be that shocking. “Mr. Stark, are we going to meet up with the others at some point, or is it just going to be us trying to take down Norman?” he asked. If what they were dealing with was really this bad, it would make more sense to have as many people as possible involved.

            Tony turned to Peter, exhaling tiredly, and forced a smile onto his face. “We’ll meet up with them when we can. I can get in touch with any of them at a moment’s notice, but we want them to take down as many people as possible and ensure that nobody comes after us. We want to keep the employees distracted for as long as we can.” He gestured down the hallway. “Let’s keep going before anyone catches up.”

            Dr. Strange said nothing, but nodded in agreement, and the three took off running down the narrow hallway. Peter could hear the distant sounds of footsteps and yelling from every which way as if it were right around them, and he could already feel the beginnings of a headache setting in. “Tony, there’s people coming at us from either side. I can hear them. So I think our best bet is to go down the stairwell. If we went in the elevator, they would have us trapped.”

            “Peter is correct,” the sorcerer confirmed, and Tony wanted to scream in frustration. The stairwell wasn’t an ideal escape route, but if it was better than the elevator, then they might as well take the chance. The trio made a dash for the stairwell, and Tony kept one arm positioned up with his repulsor at the ready in case anyone came at them. Sure enough, as Peter had said, there were people coming at them.

            Oscorp employees were all running up the stairs with guns drawn and one had a knife. The one with the knife collided with Peter as he was trying to push past all of the employees, and he took the chance to dig the weapon into Peter’s side. The knife bent as it went in through the Iron Spider suit, and Peter fell to the ground, coughing blood as he did so. One of the other employees kicked him down the stairs, and he let out a strangled cry that broke Tony’s heart.

            “P—Spidey!” Tony shouted. He had to resist the urge to yell Peter’s real name, but he didn’t want to give his identity away. He fired up his repulsor and blasted the employees multiple times. Some of them fell down the stairs, and others took off running. Dr. Strange used the cloak of levitation to move above the company workers, and his hands began to glow again. The employees were abruptly lifted up by the magic, and he flung them in multiple directions.

            “Get to Spider-Man,” he ordered. “Take him as far down as you can and find a spot to hide. Take care of the wound and keep him still. I’ll be right behind when I can make it.”

            Tony nodded, and went flying down the stairs to where Peter was laying, clutching at his side. He winced in pain as Tony rolled him over to assess the damage. “Oh God, Pete,” Tony whispered. The wound wasn’t that large in diameter, but it looked quite deep, and blood was seeping out from it. The knife was still in the suit, “F.R.I.D.A.Y., run a check on Peter’s vitals and wounds.”

            “Peter has a penetrating stab wound on the left side of his body. He has slight external bleeding, and possibly some internal bleeding. It appears that his large intestine has been punctured. He is currently hemodynamically normal. Recommended course of action is keeping the knife in the wound to prevent extended blood loss or further trauma to the wound. It is also recommended that he be taken to the hospital or the medbay at the Avenger’s compound. Sooner, rather than later,” she replied.

            “Damn it,” Tony cursed, slipping his arms under Peter’s legs. He supported the teen’s head with his arm, cradling him like an infant. This wasn’t going as planned. He couldn’t stand the idea of just letting Norman Osborn get away with messing with the multiverse, and let the corporation get away with their attempt at kidnapping Peter, but he also couldn’t stand the idea of Peter being injured or bleeding out in his arms. “Strange--!” he shouted. Mercifully, thanks to the sorcerer flinging the employees about like empty soda cans—yeet, he knew Peter would have said—they didn’t have to worry about anyone coming after them.

            Dr. Strange came over and grimaced. “He’s wounded badly, but it’s nothing I can’t heal. We just wouldn’t have the time to get him to a hospital or anything like that. When I instruct you to do so, take out the knife. Do it gently so nothing gets damaged, and I will begin healing him immediately. Set him down.” He knelt down next to Peter as Tony obeyed.

            Peter winced, and the mask retracted. Peter was pale, and Tony had to push down the panic settling in his gut. “Mr. St’rk…T’ny…hurts,” he muttered. With one hand, Tony ran his fingers through Peter’s hair, and with the other, he gave Peter’s hand a squeeze.

            “I know, bud. I know. But we’ll fix it as soon as we can,” Tony murmured. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead. Peter let out a whimper and his grip on Tony’s hand tightened painfully. Tony took his free hand out of Peter’s hair and then glanced up at Dr. Strange, who nodded.

            “Remove the knife, now, Tony,” he instructed. Tony grabbed the handle of the knife—it was a huge weapon, God, it was so huge, and he thought he was going to panic—and he pulled slowly. Peter’s eyes shut tight.

            And then he screamed.

            Tony had thought the worst noise he had ever heard was Morgan sobbing when she had come down with a nasty stomach bug that caused her constant aching. That noise had stabbed his heart, but this—this was something entirely different. This was a primal cry of pain from child to parent, when the child was injured and all they wanted was for their parent to make it stop.

            Tony’s eyes burned with tears at the sound. God, it was horrible. Hurting Peter was the last thing he ever wanted to do. “It’ll be over soon, Pete. I promise.” He had almost called Peter ‘Petey-pie’ again, but stopped himself. It wasn’t something he wanted to say in front of Dr. Strange, and it most definitely wasn’t something Peter would want him to say in front of the sorcerer.

            As soon as the knife was out of Peter’s side, Dr. Strange immediately began healing the wound, his magic presumably stitching together the injuries inside of Peter as well as on the outside. The skin closed up under the sorcerer’s touch, though there was a pink scar still on his skin. It was a miracle that Dr. Strange was able to heal it that much, Tony thought to himself. His fingers were back in Peter’s hair, and the teen exhaled out a shaky breath, tears trickling down his cheeks. “Tony—are we still going to take care of Norman—are we--?”

            Tony let out a teary laugh and pulled Peter to him, hugging him as close as he could without hurting him. “God, you terrified me. Yes, yes, we’re still going to take him down.”

Chapter Text

            Everything was screaming out in pain as Peter curled into Tony’s arms. God, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt. His senses were dialed up to eleven again, and he had to resist the urge to shout out, because he knew it bothered Tony to hear the noise. His hand squeezed Tony’s tightly, and Peter forced his eyes open, so he was looking at Tony and Dr. Strange. He could see Tony’s eyes shining with unshed tears and he wanted to say something—anything—to comfort him, but he couldn’t manage to get the words out through the pain.

            At least they were still going to take down Norman. After hearing about the plans that Norman might have, he didn’t want to be forced to go back home. Not when they would need his help. And mercifully, Dr. Strange had healed him. It still hurt worse than a lot of the pain he had experienced before, but the healing was helping just a little. Dr. Strange moved back to allow them space, and Tony helped pull Peter up to a standing position again.

            “Thanks, both of you.” He let out a sigh and the mask dropped back over his face. That was humiliating—he had gone and gotten himself stabbed. While he hadn’t meant to, it had made Tony and Dr. Strange worry too much. “I’m sorry. Let’s just…keep going.” He began the descent down the stairs again and both of the others followed behind him.

            “Peter, wait,” Tony started saying, but Peter just kept walking. His ears burned. He’d gotten hurt and made Tony worry, and made himself look like an idiot. “Peter!” he shouted, grabbing onto his arm. Peter finally turned to look at Tony, and his mentor’s expression broke his heart. It was such a parental expression filled with such love that it almost took his breath away, but there was a trace of sadness in it.

            “What’s wrong?” he asked, and Peter let out a sigh. Tony’s hand was still firm on his arm. “Talk to me. We aren’t going off to find Norman until you say something to me.” Peter could tell that Dr. Strange was getting a little irritated by the constant stopping, but there wasn’t much he could do to prevent Tony from keeping them there.

            “I just feel…I just feel like I was a burden when all of that happened. I could have jeopardized everything just because I got into trouble,” he replied. Beneath the mask, his eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry.”

            Tony shook his head. “You don’t need to apologize. You were just trying to get through the crowd of people, and the stabbing part was an accident. It’s not like you could predict that someone would stick a knife in your side. But you’re healed, and we’ve got stuff to take care of. So let’s go, what do you say, kiddo?”

            Peter nodded slowly, more for himself than for Tony. They’d be okay. He would be able to help them after all. They might have a chance to take Norman down after all. He looked up at the two. “Let’s go. We’ve got stuff to do.” Tony released his arm and gave him a reassuring smile.

            With that, the three took off running again, though Peter made sure to listen carefully to the various noises echoing throughout the building. A few floors up, he could hear all of the other Avengers still fighting, could hear the shouting of all of the Oscorp employees as they tried, fervently, to fight back against the heroes. They’d be okay, he told himself. The descent to the bottom floor continued, and the hairs on the back of Peter’s neck continued to stand up more and more. “I think we’re getting closer to Norman,” he said, and Dr. Strange nodded in confirmation. The sorcerer’s hands began to glow with his magic again.

            “Do you see that door at the bottom of the staircase?” Dr. Strange asked, and Peter and Tony both nodded. “Norman is behind that door. He could very well be trying to activate whatever machinery or device needed at this very moment. Be on your guard and be prepared.”

            Once they reached the door, Tony kicked it open. Behind the door was a large room with elaborate machinery in it, and it all appeared to be active, just based off the whirring sounds and glowing lights emitting from an elevated stand that resembled the device Tony had made for time travel. He expected to see Norman standing triumphantly on the machine, but there was no sign of him. As they walked in, all three were on their guard, but Tony was abruptly shoved to the ground, and Dr. Strange flew backwards, up into the air using his cloak of levitation, right as there was an explosion that rocked the ground.

            It took Tony a second to process just what had happened. Peter was lying atop him, the gold spider legs forming a protective cage around their bodies. He was wincing in pain, but pulled himself up after a moment. “What happened?” Tony asked, after doing a quick once-over of Peter to make sure he was okay. Peter looked around.

            “There was some sort of explosion or bomb or something,” Peter replied. “No visible sign of Norman,” he said, though his voice got quiet on the second part of his statement, and he saw the eyes on Peter’s mask narrow. Oh. Peter probably was feeling something from his spidey-sense, so it was definitely important to be on their guard now. Tony shifted into a fighting position, and then looked up above them. Hovering on a glider was what looked to be a goblin. Was that--?

            “It’s him! It’s Norman!” Dr. Strange shouted, and almost immediately, with a maniacal laugh, Norman descended upon them, riding on the glider. In his hand was a strange orange ball, and Tony’s eyes narrowed.

            “F.R.I.D.A.Y., what is he holding?” Tony asked. The A.I. responded almost immediately.

            “Norman is holding what appears to be a bomb, modeled after a pumpkin,” she replied. “Based off my information, that is what was thrown at all three of you a moment ago.” Tony activated the blaster in his hand, and shot at Norman, who threw the bomb in response. It landed near Dr. Strange and detonated, and the sorcerer barely had the time to throw up his magic as a shield.

            “Ah, look who it is,” Norman said with another chuckle. “Mr. Tony Stark. The great and wonderful Iron Man.” He made a grand sweeping gesture with both hands, and then his gaze settled on Peter. Tony felt a surge of protectiveness course through him. This was probably the very man who had ordered the company’s grunts to try and kidnap Peter. “And you, little spider, got ahold of some of our experiment’s enhanced goodness, when that wasn’t supposed to happen. A shame, really, since you seem like such a good kid.” He let out a laugh again, and Tony’s skin crawled. “And it’s also a shame we couldn’t have met under better circumstances, like one of those lovely charity galas, Stark,” he said, shaking his head in a mocking manner.

            “You bastard,” Tony cursed. “You mess with a kid, and you mess with things that you shouldn’t. You’re messing with things you don’t understand. I suggest you give up now, or we’ll be forced to take you down. Don’t make this any tougher than it has to be.” He wasn’t counting on Norman actually listening, though. It was more likely that he would just attack them and keep trying to move forward with his goal. Tony had to keep Norman distracted—if he could do that for long enough, Peter and Dr. Strange might be able to do something about the whole problem.

            The issue with the machinery was that it was glowing and active. “Strange, is the machine…?” Tony asked, and Dr. Strange nodded quietly. Tony’s heart dropped into his stomach. The machine was active, which meant that there could be any number of portals opening elsewhere. He could only guess that the machine itself was meant to be a portal hub of sorts, given how much time had probably been put into making it what it was.

            From behind Tony, Peter shot some web up at the glider and yanked on it, tugging Norman down. He let out a surprised noise, but managed to land on top of the portal machine and recovered. “You little web-slinging pest,” he snarled, and lunged for Peter, after hitting a button on the machine.

            “No—!” Tony and Dr. Strange both shouted at the same time. Dr. Strange moved towards the machine, and Tony moved towards Peter, throwing himself onto the teenager and moving him out of Norman’s reach. Tony’s only thought, over and over, was protect Peter protect Peter protect Peter.

            Right as Tony covered Peter’s body with his own, the machine exploded, and the building went with it.

            When Peter came to, the only thing he was aware of was the familiar sensation of being crushed that had plagued his nightmares since the Vulture accident. He could feel the combined weight of Tony’s body as well as the rubble from the building. Panic settled in, and he couldn’t breathe—couldn’t think. Where was the machine? Where was Norman? Where were the other Avengers? Was he even alive, or was this death all over again?

            Peter’s breaths came in short, labored spurts, and he screamed out, hoping for someone—anyone—to hear him, although preferably not Norman. “Tony! Tony, help! Someone, anyone, please…help. I can’t breathe—I can’t breathe—oh God, oh God, oh God—T-Tony, help,” he sobbed. It was the cry of a child desperate for their parent. If Tony was dead…no no no no no no, he couldn’t be. He couldn’t be. Peter was right under him, he’d been alive not that long ago, oh god no.

            “Pete, Pete, shhh,” Tony whispered from above him, and Peter’s anxiety was quelled just a little. “I’m alive, you’re alive, it’s okay. We’ll get out of here. I don’t know how yet, but we will. We’re stuck under the rubble, but we’ll get out.”

            “Tony, Tony—I can’t—I can’t breathe—” Peter’s hands clutched at the Iron Man suit above him desperately. He kept his mask on for fear of rubble and dirt slipping into his mouth if he did otherwise.

            “Peter, I’m gonna need you to breathe for me, okay, bud?” Tony murmured. “I want you to breathe in for four seconds, hold it for seven, and then exhale for eight. Can you do that?” Tony’s words were a beacon through the panic, even though Peter didn’t think he could do the breathing exercise right away.

            “Tony, I—” He gripped onto the suit just a little more, but not so tightly that it would hurt Tony. He had to focus if they were going to get out of this somehow. Not to mention, their air could be limited, and he didn’t want to waste any of it. Forcing himself to breathe, he obeyed Tony’s orders. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight, and repeat.

            “Good, that’s good, Pete,” he said. “We’ll get out of here. I promise.”

            Little did either of them know that things were only about to get worse. Much, much worse.

Chapter Text

            Tony had to force himself to be calm. It was tough enough as it was to be calm when he knew they were trapped under God knows how much rubble, but it was made even more difficult due to Peter’s panic. He knew Peter didn’t deal well with being trapped in small spaces. He couldn’t blame him. And while Peter was doing the breathing exercises, Tony knew he was still panicking internally.

            “Peter, I want you to keep breathing just like that. Keep that pattern going for me, okay?” Tony said, trying to take stock of what their situation was. There was rubble all around them, and Tony had no idea if the other Avengers were even okay or not. Maybe he could blast his way out, but even then, that could be risky, and he didn’t want any rubble falling on Peter.

            “Okay, Tony,” he replied, still continuing the pattern. In for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. Repeat. Tony matched his breaths with Peter’s to calm himself further. He’d been in far worse situations before, and while this was a pain in the ass, it wasn’t anything that he couldn’t get out of.

            As if on cue, like some glowing goddess from above, Carol floated down and pulled the rubble off of them, tossing it off to the side. Both Tony’s mask as well as Peter’s retracted, and they took a breath of fresh air. “Oh, thank God,” Peter murmured.

            “Doing okay, Peter Parker?” Carol asked, one eyebrow raised, though her expression was serious. She had a series of bruises on her cheeks, and blood was dripping from her nose as well as a cut on her forehead. When Peter nodded, her expression softened. “Good.” She then cast her gaze to Tony, and he instantly felt nervousness snaking its way into his gut. “Norman took off on his glider and the others are in pursuit of him. I got Dr. Strange out and he went with them, so I just had to find the two of you.”

            “And what about the machine?” Tony asked. He felt like he was going to throw up.

            Carol grimaced. “He activated it and the portals are open. We’ll have to take care of everything after we get ahold of him. Based off what I’ve seen, as well as the reports we’re getting, things are already getting through the portal.  Some good, some bad. It may be a good idea to round up the heroes or allies that we can and get them to help us round up the less savory creatures or people.”

            She landed atop some of the rubble and gestured to the machine, which was also covered in rubble, though it was still active. “Most of the employees were killed in the falling of the building. A bit excessive of Norman to let everything crumble to the ground, considering this is his life’s work and it’s worth a lot of money, but I wouldn’t expect him to care about his employees.”

            She levitated back up into the air and pointed to the right. “Dr. Strange and the others are that way. I would recommend taking care of him and getting him in custody before we take care of everything coming through.”

            “Plausibly, there could be other versions of us leaking over into this world,” Peter piped up, and Tony whirled to face him. “If there are any other number of alternate universes somewhere out there, the chances are high that we may run into some version of us from one of those dimensions.”

            Tony felt a surge of pride despite the circumstances. He’d always known Peter was smart, but in instances such as these, his true smarts shone through. “He’s right,” Tony replied, crossing his arms. “We should probably keep an eye out for that.” His mask flipped down and Peter’s did as well. “Well, we’ll find Norman regardless.”

Carol sighed. “I’ll stay here with the machine and fight off anything bad that comes through. If there are any allies or heroes that come through, I’ll bring them when we meet up. You go on ahead.” Both of them took off after the other Avengers after.

            If there was one thing that neither of them expected as they were heading in the direction of Norman and the others, it was someone else coming towards them. Tony squinted. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., what’s approaching us?” he asked. “Looks to be a person but it’s not one I’ve seen before.”

            “Indeed, it is a person, Boss. Based off of the appearance and method of travel, it seems to me that it is Spider-Man,” she replied, and Tony had to do a double-take. Peter was still at his side, and tilted his head in confusion. “Pete—are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he asked, and Peter nodded.

            “It looks like some alternate version of me, maybe?” The eyes on the mask narrowed as Peter squinted as well. “I think maybe we should get closer and interact in case they can help us.” With that, he shot his web farther and zoomed ahead before Tony could say much of anything in response to it. “I’ll be back in a minute!”

            Tony sped up to keep up with Peter, more frustrated than he was going to let on. God, one minute he managed to have the kid safe by his side, and then the next minute, he was going away, leaving him behind. “Peter, wait up!” He caught up after just a moment. Peter and the other Spider-Man were sticking to the side of a building, while Tony’s blasters kept him in the air.

            “So what’s the deal?” Tony asked the other Spider-Man. “Who are you?” The first giveaway that something was a little odd was the fact that this Spider-Man’s uniform was black. The spider on his chest was red, though it looked as though he also had web shooters similar to Peter’s. “Haven’t seen you around here before.”

            He pulled off his mask. He was a little younger than Peter, with dark skin and wide, slightly scared brown eyes, as if he had never seen an Iron Man suit. Who knows, maybe he hadn’t. Peter’s mask retracted, and Tony retracted his as well. “My name’s Miles. Miles Morales. And you are…?” He glanced from Peter to Tony.

            “I’m Peter Parker and this is Mr. Stark—Tony—Tony Stark,” Peter stuttered, shaking his head a little. “My bad.” Tony ruffled his hair slightly.

            Miles’ eyes were still large, and he looked Tony up and down. “That’s so cool,” he said. And then, “Wait, Tony Stark? As in the Tony Stark?”

            Tony nodded. “Yup, the one and only.” Although given the way things were with this dimensional travel stuff, he might not be the only one after all. He shrugged. “But that’s besides the point. Did you come through the portal?” he asked, gesturing backwards in the direction they had come from. It was the most likely thing, if he had to guess. Since he had never seen Miles before in his life, and he would know if there was more than one spiderling zipping around.

            “Yeah, I guess?” Miles replied, tilting his head slightly. He then glanced at Peter. “Wait, wait, wait, you said your name is Peter Parker?” His eyes got big again. “There was a Spider-Man in my universe with the same name. Well, he, uh—died, but…”

            Tony immediately tensed up, and that didn’t escape Peter’s notice. “How?” he asked.

            “Trying to stop some villains in my world from…well…opening a portal to other worlds,” Miles answered. “It was really complicated and hard to explain, but I’ve met other people with the same powers as me. All different, but there was another Peter. Older, who mentored me. But he was from a different dimension too, like all the other…spider-people were. So, there are a lot of different universes, like you might have guessed. This isn’t my first rodeo with this kind of thing.” He looked a little embarrassed.

            Tony was still hung up on the other part of Miles’ statement. Peter, dead. It didn’t matter what universe it was. If Peter was dead in it, that universe was immediately worse in Tony’s opinion, and dammit, if he could go to every single one of them and keep Peter safe in it, he would.

            “Well…come with us, Miles. There’s a lot we’ll have to talk about.”

Chapter Text

            Peter’s mind was racing. Everything had happened so fast. The building had come down—he was probably going to have nightmares about that for a while—Carol had saved them, and then they’d met an alternate Spider-Man, Miles. It was too much to comprehend. If circumstances were different, he would have thought it was a super cool situation. As it was, freaky villains and other heroes were coming through the portals, and that was causing more trouble than they needed to deal with.

            “We’ll talk after we catch Norman,” Tony said, flipping his mask back down. “Both of you, put your masks on and stay by me.” Both boys nodded and Peter shot his webs forward. Miles followed his lead. Tony led the way, and as they moved, Peter cast his gaze to Miles. It was weird seeing another superhero who shared the same hero name as him.

            “Are you the only one who came through the portal?” Peter asked, and Miles shrugged.

            “There might be others from different dimensions, but at the very least, I think I’m the only one from my world,” he said, and then he lowered his voice just a little. “How do you know Iron Man?” he asked. “There’s a version of him in my world, but I’ve never met him before. He just kind of does his own thing with our Avengers.” He looked at Tony and then back at Peter.

            Peter smiled a little underneath his mask. “He’s my mentor,” he said with a slight laugh. “I think of him like a father. He made me this suit, actually. He’s been a big part of my life for a while. I—” Peter shrugged. “I’m really fortunate to have him in my life,” he said fondly. “You said your mentor was…me? Or some alternate version of me?” he asked. It was weird to think about some older version of him existing out there, though it shouldn’t be so surprising. But to have that version of him taking on a mentor role in someone else’s life…

            “Was that Peter from your universe?” he asked, and Miles shook his head.

            “The Peter originally from my universe was killed. Villains there were messing around with interdimensional travel, more or less, and other people with similar powers to us got basically beamed into my world, so we all had to help each other out to get them back. The Peter originally from my universe was going to help me out before he got killed. So…older Peter from a different universe mentored me while he was there,” Miles said. “Sometimes I wonder how he’s doing.”

            “Do you miss him?” Peter asked. It had probably been easier for Miles in regards to the fact that he had someone with similar powers and experiences to guide him through things. Peter had been stuck doing all of the web-slinging and learning by himself for what felt like forever, until Tony had shown up.

            Miles nodded. “Yeah, I do. I know he had to go back to his own universe, but…” He shrugged as he continued to web-sling alongside Peter. “He was mentored by Iron Man too. He didn’t talk about it a lot, but he mentioned it. He looked a little…sad, though. I could tell that he was important to him.”

            Peter’s heart fell into his gut. What if that Peter was a Peter who had lived through Tony’s death and had to cope with the loss? What if that Peter was one who lived in a timeline that had branched only slightly, causing irrevocable pain? “Maybe we can find him,” Peter said. “It’d be cool if you could see him again.” Sure, it’d be cool to meet an alternate version of him, but the thought also scared him. It could be a different version of him that had experienced more of the world than he had, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that.

            Tony glanced back at them, though he didn’t say anything right away. “We’re almost to the other Avengers. Be prepared for anything, since we don’t know what they might be dealing with. I know Norman is quite unpredictable and he could be around there doing God knows what.”

            Sure enough, when Peter looked down at the streets below them, it was chaotic. The Avengers that had been fighting in Oscorp were battling it out with a number of people. Some looked as if they were aliens, while others looked like just normal people. “There’s some weird guy down there with metal claws on his back,” Peter observed. “And is that a giant lizard wearing clothes--?” He squinted.

            Steve and Natasha were fighting with the lizard-man, while Bruce, Clint, and Thor were trying to take down the man who had the metal claws on his back. Dr. Strange, T’Challa, and Shuri were all battling it out with various aliens. There were a few other people fighting with them, who Peter had never seen before. He glanced around and then pointed. “Mr. Stark--!”

            Below, there was a suit that looked quite familiar, and Peter felt his stomach twist. The suit was a Spider-Man suit, but the person wearing it was taller, with broader shoulders—older. Miles looked where he was pointing, and then almost immediately shot his webs down and swung past Tony.

            “Miles--!” Tony started to say, but he was already down in the midst of the fighting. Tony sighed heavily and descended, and Peter followed. Miles had landed next to the man and shouted to him. He turned to look at the three people who had dropped in, and the eyes on the mask widened.

            “Peter?” Miles asked, and his voice was filled with disbelief and happiness all at once. “Peter, is it really you?”

            “Peter?” Peter asked incredulously. Oh, my God. Is that the older me?

            “Pete—Peter? Miles, what—” Tony looked from Peter to the older Spider-Man, and he looked as though he was going to fall over. Though the fighting continued to rage on around them, for everyone in that section of the battlefield, it felt as though time had slowed down.

            Older Peter turned more fully to face them, and he pulled off his mask and stared as if to confirm what he was seeing. All the blood drained from his face as Tony’s mask flipped up. “M-Mr. Stark?” There was the slightest wobble in his voice that was barely detectable to anyone except for Peter. He recognized it so, so painfully—it was an echo of the same heart-shattering grief that he had felt when he had thought Tony was dying. “Mr. Stark?”

            Tony’s eyebrows drew together as he processed things. “Peter—” He stepped forward in confusion and older Peter threw his arms around Tony.

            Peter was watching all of this unfold and it hit him then—his guess was probably correct that this was an older version of him from a different dimension. He didn’t want to ruin the moment—not for this version of him.

            “Mr. Stark, you—you were dead—” older Peter murmured quietly, though Peter was able to hear it easily. Oh, God. Older Peter looked over Tony’s shoulder at Peter and looked surprised again. “Oh, my God. That’s me—This means that—” He lifted his head and looked at Tony. “This must be a dimension where the stones didn’t kill you, Mr. Stark,” he said. “In my world, we fought the war, and you snapped your fingers, and…” He shook his head. “This is nice.”

            Tony’s gaze softened just a little. “I’m not your world’s Tony, Pete. I…” He sighed just a little and ruffled older Peter’s hair. Peter’s heart was warmed. At least he was still going to be important to Tony even when he was older. It was strange seeing just what the years would do to him. It was surreal, almost.

            But regardless of the fact the fighting was still going on around them, this moment reminded him of the hug after he had been brought back through the portals.

            This is nice.

Chapter Text

           Tony was still reeling from everything that had happened. They had failed to stop Norman from activating the machine and were paying for it now. He could only hope that Carol had managed to turn off the machine before it was too late and worse things happened. Oh, God, what if there was some alternate Thanos that came through trying to mess things up? The thought made him want to throw up.

            It was also jarring to see an older version of Peter in general, let alone one who looked so tired and beaten down by life. And by the sound of things, that was a universe in which Tony had given up his life with the gauntlet, and Peter had been forced to grow up without any sort of guidance. He looked at older Peter and felt a pang of guilt, even though this was a version of his kid that he had never met. He still felt some degree of a connection to him regardless.

           “I’m sorry, Pete. I’m so sorry that you had to deal with all those years of being alone. Leaving you by yourself was never something I wanted to do, young or old. I can’t speak for the Tony in your dimension, or how different things were for you over time…but I know that he loved you. If you take one thing back to your dimension with you when you go, know that he loved you more than anything,” Tony said, carding his fingers through older Peter’s hair in that way that he always had with his world’s Peter. “Is there any name we can call you to sort of distinguish you from this world’s Peter?”

           Older Peter smiled sheepishly. “Just call me Peter B. That might make things simpler.” He released Tony and stepped back, wiping at his eyes before he pulled down the mask again. “Good to see you again, Miles.” He pulled the younger boy into a hug, and Miles returned it. Tony turned back to his Peter and ruffled his hair affectionally. “Let’s go take care of Norman and all these other baddies. I don’t think Capsicle likes trying to take down the giant lizard with only Nat. All you spiderlings get over there and help him. I’ll be right behind you.”

           Peter looked up at him with so much love and trust that it was almost overwhelming, and Tony swore to himself in that moment that he would do whatever was needed to get him home safe to May and everyone else. “I’ve got your back, Pete,” he said, and Peter hugged him for a moment before taking off running in the direction of the giant lizard-man. Peter B. and Miles followed as well, and Tony’s mask flipped down before he took off after them.

           Steve was going hand to hand with the lizard-man, who raked his claws across the shield when Steve held it up to defend himself. He grimaced, clenching his teeth—clearly the fight was causing strain for him. Peter B. shot some web at the lizard man’s wrist and yanked it backwards. The lizard roared and turned on Peter B., using his free arm to smack him backwards.

           He let out a pained grunt as he was flung against the side of a building. Miles dashed over to him, leaving everyone else behind. Tony fired a blast from his repulsor at the lizard man. “Back up, crocodile.” He looked at Peter. “Get in there, help Cap, and be sure to activate instant kill while you do it. Whatever you need to do to protect yourself. I’ll be right behind you after I help Thor and the others with Octo-dude.”

           Peter nodded. “Gotcha, Mr. Stark!” With that, he hopped into the fray, and waved his arms to and fro to get the attention of the lizard man. “Hey, ugly!” he shouted. God, his heart was pounding against his chest like a caged bird. This was a bad, bad idea. It had to be one of the worst ideas he’d ever had. But he would be damned if anything happened to those he loved. Especially after everything else that had happened as of late. The lizard man turned to face Peter, saliva dripping from his jowls onto the ground, and Peter trembled just slightly.

           “You--!” he snarled, and he lunged. Peter squeezed his eyes shut.

           “Karen, activate Instant Kill!” Peter shouted, and the spider legs shot out from the back of the suit and as the lizard man continued to dash right for him, two of the legs stabbed, and the other two formed a protective sort of barrier around him to the extent that they could. The Lizard let out an angry roar and he raked his claws across Peter’s cheek. The pain was sudden and burning hot. Peter let out a choked cry as blood pooled in the wound and began to trickle down his cheek.

           “Pete--!” Tony shouted. Peter fell backwards and Tony flew over to him to catch him. Peter’s breathing was rapid, and he let the weight of his body sag against his mentor. “I told you I’d be right behind you,” he murmured. He blasted the Lizard with his repulsor and sent him flying. He was sent flying even further back by Dr. Strange, who swooped down in front of Tony and Peter, his magic forming a shield.

           “Get Peter out of the middle of the fight,” the sorcerer ordered. “Keep the wound covered with anything that you can, and then when he’s secure and safe, we’ll treat the wound and take down Norman once and for all.” Tony nodded, and shot up into the sky, keeping a firm grasp on Peter.

           “C’mon, Petey-pie,” Tony murmured, flipping his mask up so he could look at Peter better. “Hang on, don’t bleed out on me now, kiddo.” Tony felt like his heart was going to stop. Seeing so much blood dripping down Peter’s cheeks was jarring, and he felt like he was going to vomit. “We’re gonna get you home to play with Morguna some more. If you die, May will kill me.” He touched Peter’s non-scratched cheek, but it didn’t have the same effect that it might have had if he had been out of the suit.

           Tony landed a ways away from the fight, in some alleyway behind a building. Peter was pale, and his gaze drifted from Tony to a spot on the wall off to the side. “Mr. St’rk, my face…hurts. Burns. Am I gonna die?” he asked, and Tony shook his head vehemently. God, if Peter died again, he knew it would irrevocably shatter some part of him because this time, it would be permanent.

           Tony deactivated the suit, and the nanotech receded back into the arc reactor. Without a second thought, he immediately shucked off his shirt and pressed it against Peter’s cheek. It was all he could think to do in that moment—keep as much pressure on the wound as he could, and pray to whatever higher power was out there that Peter would survive. “Pete, keep talking to me. Ramble on about whatever you want, but don’t stop talking.”

           Peter squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled out a shaky breath. “It hurts, Mr. St’rk. Hurts,” was all he could say, over and over. Tony held Peter’s hand, lacing their fingers together, and Peter squeezed. “Dad—” he managed to choke out, as Tony kept the shirt pressed to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

           Tony’s heart clenched painfully. Dad.

           “Strange will be coming soon, Pete. He’ll be able to heal you.” Tony continued to comfort Peter until Dr. Strange came over, hands glowing with magic.

           “My god, Tony. Your ward gets into so much trouble it’s ridiculous.” Dr. Strange knelt down next to Peter and pulled the shirt back from the wound. Peter let out a hiss of sorts as he did so. The gashes across his face made it look like he had whiskers. After a few moments of tense waiting, the wounds began to close, leaving only pink lines on Peter’s face.

           Tony helped Peter sit up, though Peter laid his head against Tony’s chest tiredly. “Have we managed to take down Norman yet?” he asked, and he kept his eyes closed. Tony laughed tearfully.

           “Not yet, Pete. But we’ll get him after you get up and get healed. Take a bit of a break, and stop scaring me so goddamn much,” Tony said, his fingers carding into Peter’s hair. So Peter did just that, and rested, cradled against Tony’s arc reactor, listening to the constant ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump of his heart that beat for his family and his family alone.

Chapter Text

            Peter’s head was pounding like a drum, and he had to take a moment to let a wave of nausea pass, before he glanced up at Tony. “Okay, I’m ready to go.” Tony leaned down briefly and pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “Sorry I keep scaring you so much, Tony,” he apologized, and Tony shook his head, letting out a tired sigh, as he ruffled Peter’s hair.

            Peter leaned into the touch, before Tony pulled him to his feet. “Let’s get going. I think everyone’s managing to beat the villains back towards the machine. Carol is still there and we’re gonna herd them into it and destroy it. And then we’re going to deal with Norman. Actually, scratch that, I’m going to deal with Norman. I don’t want to saddle you with any of that.”

            Tony didn’t say it—wasn’t going to say it—in front of Peter, but he was fully prepared to kill Norman. He didn’t want blood on his hands, but would do it if it would make things safer for Peter. And given the fact that Norman had kidnapped Peter in the first place, he knew that if nobody did anything, Norman would just keep trying to go after him, experiment on him, or whatever else.

            And Tony had had enough of Peter getting hurt and giving him heart attacks to last a lifetime. He would be lucky if Peter didn’t give him even more gray hairs than he already had at the moment. Consequences be damned. The police were on their side anyway in this case, so it wouldn’t matter what he did. He’d rather have Norman dead and unable to hurt anyone again than in jail where he could possibly escape or get released at some point by the system itself.

            “But Tony—” Peter tried to protest, and Tony shook his head, his suit spreading out from the arc reactor. His mask flipped down. Peter let out a frustrated huff, and then pulled his mask back down as well, following after his mentor. Dr. Strange did so as well, and the three charged back into the fray. Sure enough, the Avengers that were present had made significant ground in the direction of the machine. The trio had to more or less find their way back to the rubble of Oscorp’s building, and then when they reached it, they caught sight of Carol sitting atop the machine, her legs crossed.

            She examined her nails nonchalantly. “Took you all long enough,” she said flatly. Tony glanced around the rubble. All the other Avengers were standing around Carol and looked beat up, but were grinning triumphantly. Peter B. and Miles were leaning against some of the shrapnel, breathing heavily, their masks pulled back. “Freaky Alligator and Metal Octo-Man are already back in their respective dimensions. We shoved them through the machine and turned it off for now. Norman is tied up off to the side for you to deal with. We were going to send Miles and Peter B. back to their universes as well, but we wanted to at least give you the chance to say goodbye to them.”

            Peter went over to Miles and the two began talking, but Tony hung back for a moment. He felt a pang of sadness as Peter B. made his way over to him. God, he felt terrible. He’d only just seen Tony again after dealing with literal years of loss, grieving, and pain, and then it was all getting ripped away from him again. What was there to say to the older-and-alternate-dimension version of your kid who had lived through seeing another version of you die? Who had probably heard that other version’s heart stop beating? Tony’s mask receded completely, and he met Peter B’s brown gaze. It was the same exact gaze he’d gotten so used to, with just a hint of age and pain behind the eyes.

            Tony stepped forward as well, and placed his hands on Peter B’s shoulders. Peter B’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears. “I just…wanted to say thank you. Even though you’re not the exact Tony I knew, everything else was the same. So…thank you for mentoring me. For being a father figure to me. For being there when I needed it. I just…” He bit back a choked sob that threatened to escape him, and Tony pulled him into a hug. “I just needed to say all that but never got the chance.”

            Tony squeezed him tight. “Of course, Peter. No matter what universe it is, we’re always part of each other’s lives somehow. I may not be the Tony you knew, not the Tony you grew up with, learning from, and all that, but I can guarantee that you were important to him. He loved you like a son. He would have gone to the ends of the earth for you, would have done anything for you; you were that important to him. And, well…he made the ultimate sacrifice, but it was all so he could bring you back and you could get the chance to live and get to the point that you’re at now.”

            Peter B rested his head on Tony’s shoulder. “It’s so hard without him—you—however you want to say it. It’s so tough to make it through, some days. Some days I don’t want to fight—it’s hard to get through it. I…”

            Tony felt himself beginning to cry now. “I know, Peter. I know. But just remember what I said. You’re strong.”

            Peter B pulled back and wiped at his eyes, and Tony did the same. “I will. Thank you.” He glanced back at Peter and smiled, despite the tears in his eyes. “Take care of your universe’s Peter. He’s a lucky one. You’re both extremely fortunate to have each other.”

            “Trust me, I will,” Tony replied. He would hold Peter that much closer, that much more, after all of this was over. Peter B turned to the machine and Miles, and smiled.

            “Ready, Carol,” he said, and she fired up the machine. The two stepped through, waving before they did so, and then they were gone. Tony wiped at his eyes again, and then felt the touch of a hand on his—Peter. Of course. He squeezed Peter’s hand briefly and then released it. “Wait here. I have something else to take care of.” He felt relief flood him as Natasha walked over to Peter and put an arm around his shoulders, leading him away from Tony, who had already begun moving in Norman’s direction.

            “Stark, you don’t know what you’re doing,” Norman snarled. “If you do this, you will have blood on your hands for the rest of your life. You won’t be able to call yourself an innocent man anymore.”

            Tony aimed his hand at Norman and glared at him, the repulsor beginning to fire up. “I’ve never been an innocent man, Norman. I have blood on my hands that I can’t wipe off. I’m a genius, a billionaire, a playboy, and a philanthropist. I’m an Avenger. I’m a husband, and a father—and you messed with my kid. Which you should never, ever do. Because I’m Iron Man.” He squeezed his eyes shut as the light from the blast appeared. He kept it going as strong as possible, ensuring that there was nothing left. It wasn’t a sight he wanted to see, but an action he had to take. Without looking behind him, Tony turned and walked away, over to Peter and the destroyed machine, and he pulled him into a tight, crushing hug.

            “It’s okay now, Pete. You might have to worry about other baddies in the future, but you won’t have to worry about Norman again,” he murmured, and Peter squeezed him back just as tightly, saying nothing about the now deceased Osborn.

            “Thank you, Tony,” Peter whispered. “Thanks, Dad.”

            “Love you three-thousand, kiddo. Let’s get you home.”

Chapter Text

            Everyone had returned to their respective locations after the fight—although Peter had returned to Tony’s house with him, his joints sore from the fighting. It was still jarring to think about the fact that he had met a version of himself from a different universe. It wasn’t something he didn’t think he would ever fully be able to explain to anyone who hadn’t been there—especially not to May. Peter was going to head back to New York with May within the next couple of days for spring break, though Tony wasn’t going to return to his residence there until the summer.

            Pepper was sitting with Morgan on her lap in front of the campfire in the backyard. May was sitting next to Peter on one side, and Tony was on the other, sitting next to Pepper as well. He had a marshmallow on a stick and was roasting it over the fire. He appeared lost in thought for a moment until May spoke, and his gaze flicked up to meet hers.

            “You know, after Ben died…for the longest time, it was just Peter and I all by ourselves. I got so used to it, used to trying to fight through every day no matter how tough it was. I thought that as long as Peter was happy, well-fed, and had a roof over his head that it would be okay if I just did everything alone. I didn’t want to really open up to anyone again aside from Peter. But then you came into his life, Tony, and for a while I didn’t like you, I’ll be honest,” she admitted.

            Even in the low light around the fire, it was clear that her face was flushed out of embarrassment. “Things have changed over time, though, and I’m…very thankful that you came into Peter’s life. You’ve had a major influence on him ever since, and while I hadn’t been accepting of the whole Spider-Man bit for a while—it—it brought me a new family that I didn’t know I needed.” Her eyes shone with what looked to be unshed tears and she smiled softly. “So, thank you, Tony. And you as well, Pepper. Both of you, for being our family.”

            Peter covered her hand with his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I gotta agree with her. We were just doing things on our own for a while and I think we got used to it.” Tony put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and smiled fondly at him. “Things have been…crazy for a while ever since that last fight against Thanos. It’ll be nice to get some normalcy back into our lives.” He looked at Tony, who felt that telltale rush of love for Peter hit him all over again—God, he was such a good kid, so brave and good-hearted, even after everything he’d been put through in his short life. Tony could only hope that the future in this universe wouldn’t suck that light and vigor for life out of him.

            “At least until summer arrives, Pete, you can come out here on weekends, if you want. I’ll be working on some stuff with the suits and whatnot. We’ll still work on stuff for your suits too. I’m not quite sure if I want to retire from being Iron Man yet, so for a while we’ll keep working on stuff for my suits. Make it out here when you can, but I need some recovery time after all of this,” Tony admitted. “And I’ll just be a phone call or a car ride away whenever you need me.” He ruffled Peter’s hair.

            Morgan pouted a little. “You mean Petey’s not gonna be around all the time and I’m not gonna be able to play with him?” she asked, holding on tightly to Pepper. “That’s no fun.”

            Tony gave Morgan a small smile and then removed the marshmallow from the stick, placing it in a graham cracker with chocolate. He handed the s’more to Morgan, who eagerly bit into it. “He has school, Morguna. He can’t always be playing with you, as much as I’d like to have him over often.”

            Peter followed suit, also beginning to roast a marshmallow. Things had been hectic lately, so doing something as simple as roasting marshmallows around a fire with his mentor was a welcome change. His gaze flicked over to the fire and he watched as the flames danced. There was a crackle as one of the logs shifted, and Tony grabbed the tongs and moved it around some more. Embers flew upwards and disappeared into the night, and Peter’s gaze followed them. He had to admit, while he loved New York a lot, an escape like this wasn’t so bad. There was something rejuvenating about getting away from the bustle of the city, smelling the fire and the plants and just enjoying nature. It was definitely something he could get used to.

            “I’ll be visiting lots more, Morgs, don’t worry,” Peter reassured her with a smile. “As long as you guys are willing to let me stop by, I’ll always come see all of you.” He wasn’t quite ready to go back to school yet, if he was being honest with himself, but he was just going to have to accept it. At least he had Ned and MJ.

            Pepper kissed Morgan’s cheek. “If you’d like to stay the night for a few more days, that’s fine with us,” she told May and Peter. May nodded in confirmation and Peter’s face lit up. “I think we could all use the resting up.”

            Morgan yawned and leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder, closing her eyes. Pepper rocked her slightly, leaning her cheek on top of her head. She watched the fire absentmindedly and let out a content sigh. Tony smiled a little bit and leaned back in his chair. “I agree with that statement.”

            Peter plucked the marshmallow off the end of the stick and ate it, though he let out a yawn. May stood up from her chair and stretched, and Pepper followed suit, holding onto Morgan still. “We’ll be heading inside and going to bed. You two can stay out here as long as you want,” Pepper murmured quietly so as not to wake up Morgan, who had fallen asleep fairly quickly. She leaned down and kissed Tony’s temple, and he smiled at her.

            May gave Peter a quick hug and a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning, Peter. I larb you.”

            “Larb you too,” he replied, and with that, the two women went inside the house and closed the door, leaving Tony and Peter alone around the fire. “Thanks for everything, Tony. I…I don’t say it enough.”

            “No worries, kiddo. I do it because I love ya, you know that,” Tony replied, and he ruffled Peter’s hair, though Peter yawned again and leaned against Tony’s shoulder. “I think it’s time for a certain little spider-baby to go to bed,” he murmured to himself with a chuckle as Peter’s brown eyes fluttered shut.

            “Not tired,” he muttered, but the slump of his position and the next yawn to escape him contradicted his statement. “Can stay awake…”

            Tony stood up and extinguished the fire, and stretched for a moment. “All right, Pete, c’mon.” He reached down and picked up Peter, propping the teen’s head on his shoulder, similar to how he had carried Morgan so many times before. Peter was much heavier than his daughter, but Tony didn’t care. It was no different than carrying his other kid. Peter snuggled close to his father figure and Tony smiled to himself as he carried Peter inside the house and into his bedroom. He put him down on the bed and pulled the covers over him, before ruffling his hair.

            Tony closed the door behind him and let out a content sigh.

            “Good night, Peter.”

            Things might get chaotic in the coming days, they might go through a lot, and there would also be calm times, but being alive was a blessing that Tony would never take for granted. Not now that his family was complete.

            Peter Parker was living proof that Tony Stark had a heart.