Domestic moments have my heart.

I shoved so much into this chapter I'm sorry💀

"Pep," Tony whispers.

She doesn't answer, still fast asleep.

He should let her rest, she's had a long week of meetings, he thinks as he turns over to look at the alarm clock on his bedside table.

It's early. Too early.

He stares at the alarm's red light, illuminating their dark room. The sun's coming up slowly but the drapes are shut and blocking any light from pouring inside.

Why is he, Tony Stark, even up this early on a weekend?

Oh yeah, maybe because waking up at the ass-crack of dawn with the kid every morning for school fucked up his much needed beauty sleep. 6:45 is him sleeping in now apparently.

He had a choice not to since Happy drove him and Peter was perfectly capable of getting himself ready but Tony liked being involved and making breakfast and such.

God, that kid's changed him. Pepper says he's changed for the better and he can't completely disagree with her. He loves his life like this, with his little family. Pete would definitely make fun of him for saying that but he doesn't have to know.

He's smiling to himself as he turns back over, inches away from her face.

"Pepper," he murmurs again, becoming impatient with his sleeping fiancé. "The world is ending."

He pauses, "...I'm leaving you."

Tony's face morphs into an unamused look as she hums, but doesn't stir.

"I'm leaving you for Rhodey. We were in love from the beginning. Love at first sight, Star crossed lovers and all that pizzaz. Real Romeo and Juliet type shit. I think Rhodey's more of a Juliet. We're leaving to- uh- Hawaii and retiring together. Oh- and I'm changing my last name to platypus-"

She snores quietly.

"...You're late to a meeting," he deadpans.

Her eyes fly open, frantic.

"What? When did-?"

"Good morning," he grins. He feels his heart flutter as she sits up and her hair falls over her face messily.

God, she's beautiful.

"Tony," she groans exasperatedly as she plops back onto the mattress and turns away from him.

He snickers as he pulls her in closer, pressing his face into her neck and kissing her shoulder blade.

"Give me your attention."

"I'm always giving you my attention you big baby."

They're quiet for a moment.

"You're just plotting to use me as a human shield when Tessa comes in to wake you up."

Tony laughs, "Maybe. It's a win-win honestly. I get both your love and affection, and I don't end up with a paw to the stomach. Anyway, we've got maybe 2 minutes left."

"Haven't you just tried... closing the door?"

"I'm pretty sure Peter taught her how to open doors. I've watched her literally turn a knob with her mouth. It's terrifying."

"Maybe she just taught herself," Pepper muses.

"I try to avoid thinking about that. I don't need anymore nightmare fuel than I already have," he shudders.

When the door swings open, the two jump at the sudden thump of the doorknob hitting the wall and claws running against the hardwood floor.

Tessa bounds over to the two of them, as much energy as any other early morning. Pepper gasps Tony's name as he continues to hold her tight but then, the two watch in confusion as Tessa freezes just inches away.

The dog smiles, licks her cheek and calmly walks off the bed, leaving Tony with his jaw dropped.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Pepper drops down next to him, laughing.

He groans and throws his feet over the bed to the ground, walking towards the kitchen.

"I'm getting a coffee," he mutters. "Or four. I'm up too early."

Pep grins, "It's good for you. Not the coffee though."

"Yeah, yeah."

Things are much better than they were before with the avengers. They don't talk about the airport- In fact, they avoid the accords topic all together and Tony and Barnes hadn't exactly talked but the important part is, they're ok.

That's all that matters to Tony. It needs to be ok for Peter. He needs normalcy- well, as normal as you can get living with a bunch of self-sacrificial superheroes.

By the time Peter wakes up, Tony's finished his second cup of coffee. Pep dumped his third so all he had to do is make breakfast and enjoy the silence, along with the quiet thumping of Tessa's tail as she watches him crack eggs into a pan.

"No, not now Tess," Tony chuckles when she voices her frustration with a quick 'yip.' He makes a mental note to dish some into her bowl later on.

Peter comes out sluggishly, a small smile on his face as he greets Tony.

"Hey kiddie."

The boy hums and takes a seat at the table, not looking very awake yet.

"You sleep ok?"

He hums shortly again.

So that's a no, probably.

"Feeling talkative this morning, aren't we?"

"Shh I'm tired. Tess wouldn't let me sleep any more. Long week at school."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. Tests, homework, teachers... Flash."

Tony makes a noise of disgust.
"I've never hated a child more than him. And I don't like kids anyway."

Peter gasps in faux offence.

"Ok, I like one kid," he muses. "Why don't you let me like, pay them to kick that Cash kid out? Or at least pay them to make sure he stops picking on you."

Peter smiles, ignoring his offer.
"Do you find joy out of saying people's names wrong?"

Tony smirked, scooping eggs and bacon onto the kid's plate.

"I dunno what you're talking about, Pete. I'm great at remembering names. Like your friends Fred and JM."

He smiles to himself when Peter barks out a laugh. "Ok, that was overkill."

"Well this is disgustingly domestic."

"Morning to you too Clint."

The rest of the avengers slowly trickle in, muttering their hellos.

Sam's the only one to stop in his tracks, eyeing the mechanic.
"Nice apron, Stark. Pink's really your color."

"Every color's my color."

"Uh huh," he mutters, before nodding at the kid. "Sup blues clues."

Peter's expression twists into an exhausted scowl.
"Blues clues," he says, hints of disgust in his tone.

Pepper joins last, still in her pyjamas like most of the others but looking more awake than she had when she'd berated Tony for his caffeine intake. She takes a seat next to Peter.

"Morning honey," she says, kissing his temple. The kid leans into her touch tiredly and drops his head onto her shoulder. She smiles and sets her hand atop his head.

Tony's looking at the two of them softly and Clint's apparently on a mission to ruin moments today because he hops up onto the counter as if there isn't an avengers-sized table just feet away. Tony glances at him, unamused and slightly more agitated when he sees that he's drinking from a chocolate milk carton.

"Hey, hey! Pour that in a glass you heathen."

"Heathen? At least i dont have to be reminded to eat you self- sacrificing scrap of tin foil."

Tony's jaw drops in faux shock.

He missed this, honestly.

And even better, Peter and Pep are smiling in their amusement. The others are too but he's not as focused on that.

"I'm making you breakfast. I provide. Oh, and who's the billionaire? I do what I want."

Clint grins, dropping the carton onto the counter.
"Guess that means you won't mind buying us more chocolate milk, huh?"

"Honestly, I'm tempted not to."

Peter cracks open an eye from where he leans on Pepper's shoulder.
"Aw dude you drank it all? Tony can we get more next time FRI orders groceries for the week?"

Tony stares for a moment before feeling his gaze soften. They'll never let this go.

"Sure kid."

The room erupts in laughter.

Tony decides to roll his eyes and go back to cooking his ungrateful team breakfast.

Sam gasps in a breath, "Pete, you've got him wrapped around your tiny finger."

Peter makes a face, muttering under his breath, "Tiny?"

"Yes tiny."

Stark smirks and takes a seat with his own food.
"Enjoy it I'm never cooking for you guys again."

They all eat in silence for a while. Tessa makes her way around the table at least 4 times begging for their food. She's ignored though, her whines unheard as everyone speaks loudly.

She huffs stubbornly, stomps a paw, and makes her way in the other direction.

Steve opens his mouth to speak,
"Tony-"

"File your complaint up my ass, Rogers."

He shakes his head amusingly, chuckling under his breath. "No, no the food's good. I didn't know you could cook."

Tony looks unamused.
"It's eggs."

"We've all heard the omelet story."

He whips his head over to his fiancé. She giggles and drops her head into the bed-head of a teenager.

Tony sniffs, "Yeah, well, I like to keep you on your toes."

Of course he needed to learn how to do basic things if he was going to be a-... if he was going to look after a kid. Peter doesn't know how many nights he stayed up figuring this shit out.

'It's not rocket science Tones,' Rhodey had said, opening up windows to get the smoke out of the kitchen. "It's the basics."

'Yeah we can see that. Because rocket science is something I can actually do.'

Speaking of Rhodes:
The elevator dings.

"Hey assholes."

"Rhodey!"

The man grins and ruffles the kid's hair.
"Hey Pete. How's school been?"

"Ugh boring."

"That Cash kid bothering you still?"

"Why do you guys know everything about my life?"

"You know how obsessive Tony is."

"Hey."

Peter rolls his eyes, "yeah. I know."

"Kid, you know why I have to do that," he says, raising his brow.

Peter narrows his eyes, trying to find the maturity in himself to not pout like the absolute child he is.

Yeah, yeah. He sucks at hiding his secret identity.

Tony got really mad when he found out about the locker in his school that lifted like a storage unit.
(It was a good idea!)

Apparently it was 'irresponsible.'

Natasha smirked, "Why's that?"

Peter's lips part in surprise, but at this point, he's got a lot of practice in making up lies about his super-hero identity.

"Well, I- you know, cause -uh- Tony took me in n' stuff..."
Tony has the urge to facepalm.

Obviously, it doesn't mean he's good at lying though.

Tony can't help but blame himself for the situation. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. Of course Natasha would pry- she probably already knows Peter's spider-man.

He maintains eye contact with her for a long moment, and he notices how small wrinkles become visible under her eyes as her smug smirk grows.

Yeah, she knows.

It's quiet for a moment, though, the silence was interrupted by a bark.

Tessa sits and slips on that expression she has when she wants something and Tony knows she's just doing a trick to earn some food. She does it all the time. He becomes confused when something clatters to the floor.

Then, Peter gasps.

Those are his web shooters.

Peter you did not, he thinks miserably.

This kid needs to stop teaching his dog weird tricks.

First, she can open doors. Now instead of being one of those dogs that brings it's owner their slippers, he brings him his web shooters.

"Are those-"

"Why does your dog have access to Spider-man's..?"

"What's that-?"

"Aren't those Spider-man's?"

"No! No those are- Tessa go! Put 'em back!"

The dog dodges him excitedly, dropping into a playing position.

Then, she books it.

Peter trips chasing after her.
"Tess!"

They all stand there in the kitchen awkwardly. They don't make a move, even when a few thuds and a frustrated shout is heard in the other room.

The sound of nails making contact with wood floors come closer and the staffy's back, but instead of having webshooters in her mouth, it's the spider-man mask.

She's obviously having a fantastic time, prancing around and shaking the (very) expensive fabric as if it were one of her plush toys.

Peter hobbles into the kitchen with a defeated look. He hops on one foot and is yanking at webbing stuck to his ankle.

Tony rolls his eyes and throws a bit of bacon from Clint's plate off to the side, ignoring his quiet protest.

The dog runs in the other direction, slobbery mask forgotten on the ground.

He picks it up and eyes Peter's foot.

"You're a mess."

"You should see my room. I need more web dissolvent."

He sighs, massaging eyes.
"Christ Peter."

"Um... yeah."

"Please stop teaching your dog to do weird things."

"I swear I didn't teach her to open doors! Ask FRIDAY!"

"I can confirm. She figured it out herself-"

"I don't care. She should not, by any means, have access to-"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time-!"

"Are we not gonna talk about what just happened," Clint exclaimed.

Everyone seemed to be able to put two and two together. Well, except for Steve. He looked pretty confused.

"Does she usually take things? I had a dog that did that when I was a kid. I swear he could find anything."

Peter and Tony make eye contact.

"Um, yeah-"
"Yeah!"

They both sound unsure.

The others notice.

"He is Spider-Man," Wanda says. "Natasha, you seem to know. Is he?"

She doesn't answer.

"Oh my god he is-"

"No fucking way-"

"That's a baby," Sam says. "That is a fucking infant!"

Peter gawks.
"Dude."

"He's in school- Kid still needs to ask permission to take a wizz-"

"Tony," Steve says. "Is that true?"

Goddammit, things were just getting back to normal.

He grimaced.
"Well, you see... he.. Kid?"

"Yeah," Peter mumbles, dragging his foot on the ground. "Yeah I'm spidey."

"Tony he's a kid."

"Oh my- What is with everyone and my age?!"

"I fought him. We all fought him at the airport-"

"Hey, I know-"

"I dropped a aroebridge on him-"

"See, that's not my fault- you didn't need to be throwing around bridges."

Sam drops into a seat.
"I threw him out a window."

"No hard feelings man, it's fine."

"What the hell." 

"How could you do that- have you gone mad?!"

Possibly.

"You brought a kid into a war," Steve exclaims. "He could die at anytime doing this and you're just going to live with that-?"

Tony's jaw drops, shocked.
How could he even think that. Peter means everything to him.

"What-"

"Is that why you adopted him- did you give him those powers?"

Some of the others grimace.

It takes everything in him to try and conceal the anger rooting from that comment. Still, he can feel the lines etched along his face.

"Of course not," he snaps. "That has nothing to do with it- you don't know anything."

"Stark-

"I was Spider-Man before he met me!" Peter shouts suddenly. Everyone stops talking at once, making him shy away for a moment. "I- he only helped me. He gave me the suit not- not the powers. I wouldn't stop spidey. I'd... probably be dead without his help, honestly."

Tony glances at his kid before hardening his gaze on the other avengers.
"I tried to get him to stop. It bit me in the ass."

"Yeah a building fell on me."

There's a shocked silence before Steve pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Oh my god."

"Yeah, now you know how I feel on a daily basis."

"How did... all this happen?"

"I got bit by a spider on my field trip to Oscorp, things happened and now, here we are because Tony took me in."

Tony's jaw drops and he almost gives himself whiplash looking over at Peter.
"Wait, Oscorp?! Why did you never tell me that?"

"What, is it important?"

"Yes it's important- it's Oscorp. Stark industries rival. Run by Evil asshole, also known as Stormin' Normin'-"

"I- are you sure he's not yours," Sam asks. "You both have similar... rambling habits."

"Can it, Wilson."

The man raises his arms in surrender.
"Just saying, man."

Peter suddenly feels a light sting at the back of his neck. He scratches it, looking around in paranoia. It makes Tony halt with worry.
"Um, hey guys?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Something's... happening."

"What?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean."

Boom.

Tessa starts barking from the kitchen. She runs into the living room and stands pressed against Peter's leg protectively.

Clint starts laughing.
"What, are you afraid of some thunder, kid?"

"No," he says defensively.

The next crash of thunder left Peter both puzzled and amused as the rest of the other avengers flinched at the loud noise.

Next, a deep, booming voice sounded.

"Friends!"

Steve and Tony look at each other in shock.
"Thor?!"

Peter watched in confusion as they ran outside.

Well, at least something could distract them.

Then it clicked.
"Wait-god of thunder Thor?!"

By the time he makes it outside, he almost bumps into Tony. The others are stopped in their tracks, muscles tense. They're blocking his view of anything cool happening, except for the crazy-awesome space ship just sitting in their backyard. Though, Natasha is the first to take a step forward.

"Hey Bruce."

Peter's mouth drops.
Like Bruce- mother-freaking-Banner?!

"Banner," Tony says, going forward and hugging the man. "It's been forever. We didn't know if you were..."

"Yeah, uh... big guy had a vacation."

"It's nice seeing you man," Clint exclaims, slapping a hand on his back. "Really nice seeing you."

Thor grins. "Yes, we have quite a long story. Uh... we dropped all of Asgard off on our way here."

Smiles dropped.

"All of what?"

"Well, uh, there is no more Asgard. It was destroyed. They are now located elsewhere and unpacking any things that weren't blown up."

"Ok, wow."

"Yeah," Bruce says, smiling softly. "It's really nice to be home."

"Yes! So we are home now! And my brother too!"

Loki appears from the ship, a smug grin on his face.
"Hello. Long time no see."

Surprised exclamations sound from each of the avengers, jumping into a fighting position. A red forcefield of magic materialises, building a barrier between them. Loki becomes amused from their fear.

Despite their hard expressions, the smile spread across Thor's face never lessens.

"It's ok! He's good now."

The god of mischief looks unimpressed, huffing out a breath.
"It varies from time to time."

"Hell no!" Clint shouts. "No way did you bring your lunatic brother here, man."

"I did!"

After a double tap to the face of his watch, a gauntlet forms around Tony's hand. He points it to the former villain while pushing Peter behind him.

"Christ, we can't get a break, can we," he mutters. "How do you know Reindeer games here isn't gonna kill another few hundred people, huh?"

"He did... help us," Bruce says timidly, "after a few, uh, in-character betrayals, but... he helped us fight."

"Really," Sam presses. "He-? Loki, guy who tried to take over earth?"

Loki replies with a dry tone, "Yes, I've had quite some character development. And for the record, I was under another's influence. As much as I believe you're all measly little-"

"Ok brother that's enough of that."

"If he stays here he's going to be watched at all times. He's not going to be able to pick up a goddamn paper clip without me knowing, understood?"

"Bit obsessive, isn't it, Stark?"

"No, it's logical dipshit," he snaps.

"Ok," Steve says, trying to break it up before another argument ensues. "Maybe we should head insi-"

"You're Bruce Banner," Peter blurts. He couldn't hold it in any longer. Of course, it was at the most random time possible but he felt like he was going to explode. He slaps a hand over his mouth, though, when the scientist looks at him with his eyebrows furrowed, he lets his words spew. "I mean, of course you know that you're- um- wow. That's... you're awesome sir I've read pretty much every piece of writing you've published and I did a project on you in 8th grade!"

Tony laughs awkwardly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait," Banner says, puzzled. "Those... are a hard read you were able to-?"

"Yeah I loved all of them but really, that second book you wrote on more recent discoveries you made on gamma radiation was-!"

"Kid's smart," Tony says with a grin.

Bruce looks between the two of them, a confused expression on his face, before his eyes widened as if he'd made some sort of scientific discovery.

"Oh my-," he whispers, "How- how long was I gone?"

"What do you-"

"You had a kid?!"

"What?! Nono Pep and I haven't- I mean-"

"He isn't-"

"I am an uncle!" Thor shouts victoriously.

"He took me in," Peter says. He notices how he avoids the word adopted but... he's still not ready. He hopes it doesn't hurt Tony's feelings but... he hasn't moved on yet, as much as he loves the man for all he does for him. He helps the days go by a little easier. Months? Wait, how long...
"I think it was like...what, six-?"

"Six months," Tony confirms.

"Six months ago."

Wait, six months?
That... went by really fast.

"Oh also, cat's already out of the bag so Underoos here is spider-man."

"Stop calling me that."

"Who's Spider-Man?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Peter this is amazing," Bruce gushes, pulling his fingers apart and watching as the thick webbing stretches. "You managed to make webbing identical to a spider's that you just swing around on? And the combination was... salicylic acid, methanol, toulene, potassium carbonate, and what were the last few?"

"Yeah, Carbon tetrachloride and ethyl acetate,"

"Amazing."

Peter's cheeks burn as he looks away.
"Thanks Doctor Banner."

"Bruce. Call me Bruce."

He can only imagine how his face looks, cheeks red and jaw dropped, though, he can hear Tony cackling from the couch.

"O-ok Doctor Banner."

The first thing Peter does after the shock of talking to the actual Bruce Banner, was to sit on the couch next to Tony and text MJ. He can barely hear the man crack a joke about the way he laid on the couch, something about him always needing to be upside down. (It's comfortable.)

He paid for his distraction though, because he manages to pluck Peter's phone right out of his grip.

"What's got you so glued to this thing, huh?"

"Hey!" Peter reaches to retrieve his device, though, just a second later the man laughs and drops it back into his hand.

"I'm messing with you, kiddie. Besides, I don't need to read the texts to know you're texting your scary girlfriend."

  "She's not my girlfriend. She's my friend. Who's a girl."

Peter feels his lips pulling downwards slightly, just verging a pout. He reels it back though, and settles with a half-hearted glare.

It doesn't do anything but make Tony smile and pinch his cheek.

"Messing with you kid," he says. "You're doing ok though? With all... this?"

Peter cracks a smile, setting his phone on the couch. He really appreciated Tony always checking in on him. He contemplates not saying anything but he finds himself pausing before he could say he was fine.

"It's-uh- it's a little overwhelming sometimes... Don't get me wrong everyone' s awesome and it's nice to have so many people...in my life but... it's always been just May and I, you know? But Doctor Banner coming back is cool. They're all cool. And Loki coming back as a good guy is crazy."

Tony looks at him softly.
"Yeah kid. I get what you mean. You ever want a smaller crowd, just ditch to your room or the lab, k?"

"Yeah... yeah ok, thanks."

They're in a comfortable silence, enjoying the moment before a head tips down between them. Rhodes had come from behind the couch, leaning his elbow on Tony, ignoring the man's protest. He stares down at Peter's phone with a sudden grin.

"Are you telling your scary girlfriend everything that's happening," he laughed.

"Whaaat..? No?"

"'O.m.g. MJ the avengers found out I'm spidey and Thor just came back from space also I met THE Bruce Banner he came back from space too
It's f.r. crazy over here'- really kid? Where's your punctuation?"

Peter snatches it away from both their views, cradling the phone to his chest.
"You guys are so annoying."

Further away, Steve silently watches them interact. Seeing how Tony looks at Peter with such adoration has guilt creeping up his chest. He can feel Sam's presence come up behind him and he can't help but sigh.

"I owe 'em an apology, don't I?"

In his peripheral, he watches the man grimace.
"Um, yeah I think you might," he says. "Him being a super-baby is crazy but... I dunno, he's obviously pretty important to Stark for reasons that aren't his powers."

"Yeah.."

He'll find the time to tonight.

Thump.

"Friends! I propose a challenge!"

apparently, that time wasn't now though.

Rhodey groans.
"No way we're doing this again."

"Yes! But this time, we have more contestants! Son of Will, may I interest you in holding my hammer?"

"You mean your creepy magic hammer?"

The god gasps.
"Careful what you say to her mechanical bird."

"Her?"

"Mechanical bird?"

Thor pats the hammer, grinning as if they didn't know what he was doing. It was an old party trick. As old as Rhodey's 'Boom you lookin' for this?' story. Which, that wasn't even a trick. Just a man with apparently no conversation topics.

Of course, Sam couldn't pick it up.

Neither could Clint, despite his oozing confidence. He was convinced there was just something wrong with the hammer, so he kept trying, and trying.

He did his best.

Just like the last time they'd gone through this, Natasha chose to sit and watch.

After only a few drinks, they all became more relaxed with each other. Clint and Sam, of course, go overboard and try to slip a drink to Peter. The boy started to politely decline, but was cut off by Tony. He threatened to 'close the damn bar if you bird brains try that one more time. Kid, don't let anyone give you a drink tonight. At this point, I'd trust DUM-E more than them to give you a normal drink.'

Later on into the night, Bucky was caught just trying to get some water, but Sam and Steve managed to convince Bucky to come into the room and try to lift Mjolnr.

Tony becomes a little quieter when the man comes into the room, but Peter can tell he's trying to forgive him. He can understand it must me hard for him to look at the person who killed your parents and have to come to the conclusion that that person, the one on the inside, wasn't the one at fault.

Bucky rolls his eyes when Sam finally pushes him towards the coffee table holding up the hammer. He cracks his knuckles and tries with both hands but his attempt remained fruitless. He looked dumbfounded when his metal arm didn't even move it an inch.

Wanda's magic still didn't do anything. They really thought that would work too.

Steve declined at first, feeling the affects of Thor's asguardian liquor practically knocking him on his ass, but after some convincing, he stumbled up to his feet.

The god eyed him quietly as he reached down.

The table under it creaked as he lifted and his eyes furrowed in confusion as he felt how light it was.

Just when he'd thought he was beginning to pick it up, it flew in the other direction.
"Ok that's enough of that. Mjolnir doesn't like you all touching her anymore."

"Aw come on man! I know you saw it-"

"He started to lift it!"

"It was because I lifted mjolnir."

Peter's jaw drops, taking in what happened.
Crazy. Absolutely insane.
"Holy shit."

"Peter."

"Sorry."

"Such a sore loser, man."

"I don't loose," he said, grinning.

Steve waves them all off, making his way back to his spot on the couch.
"Ah, it was probably nothing."

Peter grabs his phone to text Ned and MJ to update them on the events. Because really, how could he not? This was something no one else would ever witness but them.

Insane.

He doesn't know how long he's texting before Tony gently places a hand on his head. It had to have been a while because Peter feels tired and the others are looking like they might retreat to their rooms soon too. Obviously, Tony can tell with Peter. He always can.

Doesn't mean he wants to go to bed though.

Of course, Tony has other plans.
"Ok. It's Spider-kid's bedtime. C'mon," he says nudging Peter up off the couch.

"Wha- I don't have a bedtime."

"Yeah, you don't have a bedtime when you actually sleep the night before. You're tired, I see your eye bags," He points towards the direction of Peter's room. "Bed."

"Lame!"

"Damn, when did Stark become the responsible one?" 

He raises an eyebrow at his teammates before looking back over at his kid.

"Bed or I put on Cap's 'full night's sleep' PSA. Eight to ten hours, kid!"

"Ok ok I'm going! Jeez."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, uh, Tony?"

Steve stops the man before he can retreat to his own room with Pepper. He hadn't really gotten a good time the whole night to catch him by himself, but now seemed like a decent time to do it.

He becomes a little tense when Steve comes closer.
"Yeah Cap?"

"I just wanted to-," he starts, trying to find the right words. "I shouldn't have accused you of that earlier. Of... adopting Peter for his powers- and being the reason he had his powers- that was really stupid. I just- He's a kid. But he's your kid. I didn't have a right to-... I'm glad he has you. I should've... let you speak first before jumping to conclusions.
Im sorry."

Tony stares at him blankly for a moment, before allowing a smile to spread across his face.
"Jeez Rogers. And they say I ramble."

Steve can't stop himself from rolling his eyes amusedly.
"Yeah. I-I know."

"I'm sorry too. For keeping secrets," he says, glancing away. "It... It wasn't really my secret to share but apparently, Tess didn't mind too much."

For a moment, he's surprised because Tony Stark isn't really one for apologies.

"It's ok. We all did. And... thank you for trying with Bucky tonight. It means a lot to me but-" he pauses. "Can we maybe start over? Fix things?"

"Well, you know... third time's a charm, right?"

They both smile.

"G'night Steve."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter did eventually fall asleep.

He did, really.

But like many nights, he woke up just hours later, startled from a nightmare. As he sat there, staring up at the ceiling, Tessa sighed sleepily and rested her head on his chest. He felt his heartbeat settle, beating a bit slower with her ear pressed against him.

He makes his way into the kitchen, tip toeing in hopes that Tony wouldn't know he was awake. FRI might snitch on him soon though.

He's rummaging around in the snack cabinet when he hears someone clear their throat behind him. At first, he thinks it's his mentor. Though, as he spins around, chip bag in hand, he realises its Mr. Barnes.

"Oh. Hey," he says quietly.

The man stares at him, taking a bite out of an apple.

Peter couldn't help himself, as usual.
"Are you eating an apple at 2:36 in the morning?"

He raises a brow, "Are you eating sour cream and onion chips at 2:36 in the morning?"

"Touché... well, I mean, I don't think people usually go for an apple this time of night."

He hums.
"Was hungry."

"Same."

"What're you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep... you?"

"Same thing."

It becomes silent again and Peter begins to fidget, attempting to think of a conversation topic.

"It was crazy Mr. Rogers almost lifted Thor's hammer, huh?" 

"Thought Thor said he didn't."

"We all saw it."

Bucky hums.

He's having a hard time reading the man's expression. He doesn't know if he should leave or sit and talk.

"I don't think your dad's gonna like that you're hanging around me, small fry."

What is with everyone and calling out his age.
He's not that young.

Caught off guard by both the nickname and Bucky referring to Tony as his dad, his face scrunches up slightly.

"Hm?"

The man's eyes shoot away from his own and down to the fruit, rotating it as if he'll find something fascinating.
"You know... he uh- isn't exactly a fan."

Peter purses his lips.

He may not be a fan but...

"I mean, he doesn't like- blame you for what... what happened. Wasn't you."

Bucky looks back up at him with interest.

Peter begins to struggle with his words.
"He... doesn't blame you. The whole thing- it was crazy and he's upset still but I think he understands it- it wasn't you. Just like Mr. Rogers said."

"..How do you know all this, kid?"

"He- he tells me. Sometimes," he says, pausing for a moment. "He said he didn't want me to think you guys were the bad guys here. Cause... you weren't. Everyone fought at the airport. He wishes no one picked sides and no one can do anything about that now but... he wants to fix things."

"The others do too. Even if they're doing a really shitty job at showing it sometimes."

"It's ok. He knows."

"Good."

There's a crunch from both of them as they take a bite of their snacks. The man suddenly gets up from his seat makes his way into the kitchen to throw out his apple.

Peter feels a pat on his shoulder.

"Maybe you should get to bed, kid. It's late."

"Yeah... yeah ok."

"Thanks for that, by the way."

A smile tugs at his lips.
"Anytime."

I helped, he thinks happily.

He almost had the urge to sleep out here, feeling too lazy to drag himself into bed but he eventually finds the motivation when Tessa peaks her head around the corner, huffing quietly.

"Ok, ok fine," he chuckles. "I'm coming."

He's able to fall asleep a little easier, his dog sleeping against his side and having befriended someone new tonight.

It was a good day.

Unknown: I know something about your aunt, Peter Parker. Meet me here 12:00am tomorrow
Link

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Ah yes, the calm before the storm 🧎‍♀️

How are you guys doing today? :)