"Did you tell Howard where I am?"

Pepper sighed over the phone. Tony worried his lip between his teeth, pacing in the empty garage. "No, Tony, I didn't. But are you sure that's the right choice? He might be worried."

Tony suppressed the urge to scoff. He ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, I'm sure. He probably hasn't even noticed I'm gone. How's the business deal coming?"

"Tony..." He felt his heart jump into his throat at the emotion in her voice. "I'm worried. Isn't this the Gang?" He can hear her holding back laughter in her office. "Aren't they the people who make you feel miserable at school?"

Tony shook his head. "No? I mean, not physically. But it doesn't matter." He puffed his chest up. "We made a truce."

"A truce," Pepper deadpanned.

"Yes. And it's so amazing." A smile worked its way onto his face. "They've all been so nice and, I don't know, attentive? I guess it's true about my love for attention." Tony props his chin on his hand with a lazy smile. "It feels...right. Being here with them, I mean."

Pepper was silent for so long that he checks to make sure he didn't accidentally hang up. Then she said, "How long is the truce?"

Tony's smile wavered. Why did Pepper have to be so logical? "Until the end of break. When we get back to school," Tony's eyes burned, "everything will be back to normal. But that's what I want so it doesn't matter."

"You want them to go back to ignoring you? Tony, I can hear how happy you are from New York. You're practically smiling through the phone. You don't want them to ignore you."

"Yes, I do," he argued weakly. "Then I don't have to deal with the assholes anymore."

"Stop lying to yourself. You like having them around."

Tony kicked a flat bike tire. "Well, it doesn't matter what I want. I'm Tony Stark."

Pepper cursed softly. "I have to go, Tony. But, hey, you deserve to have some good things too. No matter what other people say, Tony Stark can have what he wants too. Even if that something doesn't fall under girls, booze, or whatever else is tied to that persona of yours."

Tony was glad she had to leave. The line clicked dead and he sat on the hard cement floor. He patted his cheeks to wake himself up then hoisted his body off the ground. He pushed Pepper's voice to the back of his mind stubbornly. He was going to focus on his last few days here and soak up all the attention and warmth before he had to return to the cold manor. He would be fine with everything going back to normal when the clock strikes 8:30 on that Tuesday morning. He ignored the pain in his chest, rubbing at the aching scars absently as he rummaged around the garage.

His eye caught on a white cloth covering something on one side of the area. He yanked it off, dropping it to the side as he gaped. It wasn't a lab but it would have to do. He tossed the black bag he had Pepper deliver on the workbench. He glanced at the door before pulling out a sleek black and silver box with the Stark Industries initials ingrained on the side. He prided himself in his masterpiece before gently pulling it out of its confinement. He checked on the joints and metal plating, running a hand over the sensors on the fingertips. He pulled out his tablet (another thing he needed to thank Pepper for) and plugged it into the tiny port in the wrist. He reread the code for the sensors, tweaking open lines and running a final sim.

When he was finished all he could do was stare. He beamed at Bucky's new arm in complete silence. He'd been working on it for two days weeks ago when he had noticed the boy complaining about the joints. Now it was finished, perfect in every way he could make it. And he had a reason to give it to him. He broke his arm so he made him a new one. It would be one last knot in their truce before school started. He ran a hand over the black and gold finish, trailing the gold lines across the bicep with astonishment. He'd made a prosthetic.

Tony pulled out Bucky's old arm as a comparison. He just needed to look over the size. He had eyeballed it to the best of his ability, somehow being discreet enough with his stares not to attract the wrong attention. He placed his head on the worktable with relief, the jumble of knots in his stomach untying. It was close, extremely so. It might be a bit too big in the area that would connect to the boy's shoulder, but it would fit. He could always adjust it when he got home if Bucky wanted that.

With that thought, he cleaned any sign of his presence and sneaked up to the guest room. He placed the bag by the duffel Pepper delivered with a soft smile. He could actually do something right for once. "Tony." He jerked, banging his head on the bottom of the windowsill with a soft cry. "We're going out."

Tony held up a thumbs up to whoever was speaking to him. "Okay," he grunted. Tony rubbed the back of his head on his way down the stairs.

Sarah kissed Steve on the cheek then ruffled his scarf. "Don't forget to head over to the grocery on your way back."

"Okay, ma," he chuckled. "I won't forget."

Sarah raised a disapproving eyebrow. "Tony, make sure he doesn't forget."

Tony smirked. "Of course, Sarah."

Clint clapped his hands. "All right, let's go. We're wasting valuable daylight." He corralled them toward the door, shouting goodbye over his shoulder to Sarah. Natasha smacked him upside the head with a frown. Clint winced. "Ow. But she was going to keep us there forever."

Steve grabbed Clint's shoulders. "He's right."

Natasha sashayed over to the car. "I know. I just had an urge to hit him. I followed it."

Thor laughed heartily, draping an arm across Tony's shoulders. Bruce ruffled his hair as he climbed into the car. Tears tried to form in his eyes but he swallowed them back. He climbed in after him, not feeling suffocated by the warmth this time. Bucky played with the radio as Steve turned the key. Natasha laughed at something Clint said and Tony smiled at Bruce. Clint leaned forward to get closer to Tony.

"I have to ask. What's a Stark Christmas like?"

Tony shrank a little. "Why do you want to know?"

Clint waved a hand. "Because I'm curious as to what a billionaire gets on Christmas." His blue eyes shone dreamily. "I mean, I bet you've been getting gifts since you could walk."

Tony tilted his head. "Well, I didn't get a lot. I got a normal amount."

Clint shrugged off Natasha's hand. "What? I'm curious, Nat. The normal amount is, like, around ten I guess. Stark's a billionaire, so the normal amount has to be like a trillion times that."

"Your math skills are superb," Natasha taunted.

Tony scratched his chin in a way to stall. Steve turned the key again with a soft curse. Tony changed the subject. "Is something wrong?"

Steve hummed as he ran a hand over his face. "I don't know. It was working when we arrived."

Tony fiddled with the seatbelt. "I could check it out."

Steve shared a look with Bucky. "I mean, sure. Sure, yeah. Check it out."

Tony blinked. "Oh, okay. Uh, I'll go now." Tony shuffled out of the car. He stuck his head in the window. "Do you have a toolbox?"

Bucky opened the passenger door and headed to the garage. Tony watched him go for a moment. Steve popped the hood for him. Tony leaned over the edge with a calculative look in his eye. Bucky dropped the box by his feet. "Is it serious, doc?"

Tony smiled. Twisting his features into a mock frown he said, "I'm afraid so, young man. As you can see, the spark plugs are shot, the alternator needs a few strips of duct tape, and the radiator needs some super glue." He looked Bucky in the eye. "You're car will never be the same again."

"Is that true, now?" he teased.

Tony heaved a sigh. "Yes, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. If you'll excuse me, I have to take my patient to surgery." Bucky rolled his eyes with a snort. Tony rummaged around the toolbox. "Here, you can be my nurse. You know you're tools, right?" Bucky nodded curtly. Tony smiled softly. "Okay, good. Be on standby if this doesn't work." He got to work on a possible problem. He hoped it wasn't too serious because he didn't want to take apart Steve's car. He gave the battery terminal a single good whack. Bucky gave him a quizzical look. Tony waved him off with a huff. "Nurse, tell the Captain to try again."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Stevie, turn it," he called.

Steve turned the key and the car shuddered before rumbling to life. Bucky gave Tony a disbelieving look before it morphed into his blank stare. "Nice job, doctor."

Tony flushed from the praise, mouth splitting into a wide grin. "Yeah, uh, it was no problem."

"Let's go, guys!" Steve shouted.

The two climbed back in the car then Steve drove off. Tony kept his head down as the group spoke, warmth filling his body along with surprise. He didn't want the feeling to go away but the thought of the truce circled in his mind. They were being civil and so nice that Tony almost wanted to gouge his eyes out. His mind was locked in a fight between accepting their behavior to pushing them to their limits and leaving nothing behind on Christmas Day. Tomorrow, he thought bitterly. For some reason, he still wanted to go back to the manor.

He didn't know why, but he just knew that if he stayed any longer he would start to believe they wanted him around. That it wasn't a part of the truce that had been enacted. Tony bit his lip and fisted his hands in his lap. Maybe Natasha and Bruce liked him, and Thor, he remembered, but it didn't matter if they all couldn't like him. He'd still have a hole that would never be filled because of his stupid friend-crush on these idiots. He really needed to get back to the manor.

As they walked through the small mall (really what mall is small?) Tony kept his head down with his thoughts racing. He blindly followed the group through the crowd (again, surprisingly small for a crowd) as they searched for whatever they were here for. Tony moved on autopilot through the store. He convinced Bruce with a few well-placed hums and nods, but blatantly ignored Natasha and the others. He didn't want to deal with her prying because he knew he couldn't convince her as easily. He really wasn't paying attention. Which is why he wasn't too surprised when he realized he'd lost them.

Tony stopped walking, craning his neck to try to find the people who drove him here. He turned in a slow circle. He probably looked crazy. Spinning around in the middle of the mall with his head on a swivel. Tony huffed, annoyance beginning to set in. He was being stupid. They had a truce. It was everything that he could ever ask for yet nothing at all. He didn't want it, but he always got what he didn't want. Tony found a bench to gather his train of thought. His first action should've been to call Bruce. As he reached for his phone a shadow fell over him. Tony narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him.

"Are you all right, young man?" Tony nodded stiffly. The man frowned, turned his head to look around. "Are you lost?"

Tony shook his head. "My friends were being idiots and went into a lingerie store. Nasty fools." Tony leaned back on the bench, the epitome of relaxed. "I told them I'd wait here."

The man seemed satisfied with his answer, though his nose crinkled at him. "You're a smart boy. Tell your friends to take a note from you."

Tony suppressed a flinch when the man patted his shoulder. He smiled hesitantly as he watched him walk away. Tony breathed a sigh of relief, hand coming up to rub his chest. He cleared his throat before he called Bruce. He caught up them with an exasperated smile. "If I didn't know better I would think you were trying to ditch me. Which would be, not cool, considering I'm the best part of this trip."

Bruce smiled at him. "Of course you are Tony."

Thor put an arm around his shoulder. "I believe our trip would be less exciting with you."

Natasha rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips as Clint mock saluted. Steve squeezed Bucky's shoulders with enough force to coax a smile from the boy. Tony beamed throughout the rest of the trip. He even reminded Steve to go to the grocery. Tony almost melted when Sarah hugged him in thanks before taking the bags to start dinner. Natasha caught his eye, knowing swirling deep within the greens. Tony looked away quickly with a smile. He would enjoy this as long as he could.

He had one more day to make it count.