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"Mister- mstr St'rk?  I don'- I- I- I don't feel s' good."

Peter's words are seared into his brain.  Red light from an unfamiliar atmosphere, dust coating his throat, and his kid, his son, turning to dust in his arms as he tries to will it not to happen.  It invades his dreams some nights so pervasively, in such vivid detail, that he jolts awake, screaming, clawing at thin air in the darkness, reaching for a son he'll never see again.  He pants heavily even as Pepper holds him tight, sitting beside him in the darkness, whispering to him that it's all over and done with now, that it was just a nightmare.

Only it's not a nightmare.  It's his reality.  It's a reality he'll never forget.  He hadn't been good enough to defeat Thanos.  He hadn't been there for Peter when he'd needed him the most… hadn't been able to stop the Mad Titan from ripping his kid away from a world which still needed him… away from Tony, who still needs him.

"Shh, it's ok," Pepper whispers.  "I'm here.  You're on Earth.  We're at the compound.  You're ok."

You're ok, you're ok, you're ok.

He'll never be ok again, he thinks.  It's been a month and a half since he made it back to Earth, and there hasn't been a single moment where he's been ok.  Peter is gone, May is dead, Peter's friends are gone.  Pepper is there, and Rhodey and Happy, but he'll never forgive himself for losing his kid… his kid that he hadn't even realized was his kid until he'd lost him… failed to bring him home safely.

He's barely spoken since he's been back.  He'd yelled at Cap, given him an arc reactor core half full of nanites, not even enough to form a full suit, and told him to go after Thanos himself.

He'd told Pepper that he'd lost Peter.  Told Rhodey the same.

That's the only detail that matters, so he hasn't felt much of a need to speak since returning.  He knows that Pepper, Rhodey and Happy are all worried about him.  They should be, he thinks, because he doesn't know if he's going to make it through this… through living in this world without Peter's smile, without his rambling about Star Wars and Legos and Mythbusters.

If Thanos was going to take someone out of this world, it should have been Tony.  Peter should have been spared.

* * *

Two months after he returns to Earth, Pepper tells him that she's pregnant.  She says it like she's not sure how he'll react… tentatively, warily.  It should be a good thing… good news in the midst of all this bad, all this death and destruction and loss.

But Tony's throat is too tight to respond to her, to tell her that he loves her, and that he's sorry she's got such a screw up for a fiancé.

"It's a girl.  I want to call her Morgan, like you said.  That dream you had?  It was right."  She touches her stomach and watches his eyes for any kind of hint that he's heard her, that he understands that he's about to be a father.

He thinks that he was already a father… Peter's.  He was Peter's father, and hadn't even realized it.  He wonders if Peter realized it before he turned to ash in his arms.

Peter had turned to dust and drifted off into the wind.  He doesn't exist anymore.  It's like he never existed at all, and Tony wasn't a father.  One child gone.  One coming into the world.

He doesn't know how to deal with it, doesn't know what to say.  So he doesn't speak.  The best he can do is swallow hard, meet Pepper's eyes, and nod.

She looks sad, but seems to understand.

"That dream you had?  It was right."  He knows she's talking about the dream he had a few days before he and Peter had flown off into space… a dream about him and Pepper having a child named Morgan.  But he hears her words again and again in his mind over the next few days, and doesn't think about that good dream, or if it was prophetic, or just a coincidence.  He thinks only of his recurring nightmare about losing Peter.  "Mstr St'rk?  I don'- I- I- I don't feel s' good."  "It was just a nightmare honey, you're home, you're safe.  It was just a nightmare."

"That dream you had?  It was right."

Pepper's words swirl in his mind, mixed with the look of fear in Peter's eyes, and Tony's gut clenching with the realization that as his son's molecules dissolved in front of him, that he was totally helpless to stop it from happening.

Not a nightmare, but reality.  And reality is a fucking bitch.

* * *

"Come on, you've got to snap out of this funk man.  I know that's not fair to say, but Pepper needs you.  You've got a kid coming, Tones."

"Hey, Boss?  Tony?  Here, you need to eat."

"We've been thinking about ways of finding new stones, or creating them.  Bruce thinks it's possible.  We're not losing hope.  You shouldn't either."

"Tony?  I have an appointment for a sonogram today.  Do you want to come?"

People move around him, speak to him, try to get him to eat and drink and generally just not die.  He's both aware that they're there, and not aware at the same time.  He wonders if this is what going crazy feels like.  He thinks it's been two and a half months, maybe three.  Four?  Seven?  He doesn't know.  He really thinks it's been just over two months though.  People speak to him and he hears them, but the words get lost in the jumbled up mess inside his head.  They're muffled in his consciousness somehow, like the people speaking to him are talking in a dream.  He moves like he's moving through fog, or trying to walk through water, impeded, slow.

The only times he really feels awake are when his dreams are punctuated with the pungent smell of burning electronics, and he can taste dust and see red, and hear Peter's confused, scared words calling out for him.  He wakes up shouting for his son not to go, grasping air in the darkness, and Pepper comforts him, and then he lays awake next to her staring at the dark ceiling for hours afterwards.  He's awake then, wide awake.  And then the daylight comes and he's in a fog again.

"Here, Tony, eat this."

"Honey?  Hey, just breathe.  Hold my hand and breathe."

"Tones."  A sigh from his best friend.  "Hey, just- I'm here, ok?  I'm right here with you.  And I miss him too."

He doesn't expect the fog to clear suddenly one day, but when it does, it's like a switch has been flipped and a light has come on.  He blinks into a brightly lit room, the living room in the quarters he's been sharing with Pepper at the compound since he returned.

He frowns, looks down at his watch at the date, and tries to calculate how many days it's been since he lost Peter… how many months.

He clears his throat, and asks, "FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Boss?"  For an AI, she seems pleasantly surprised that he's speaking to her.  Occasionally she surprises him with new tonal inflections, like she's evolving, turning into something more than the baby AI she still is, into something like JARVIS used to be.

"How long," he clears his throat, not used to speaking.  His mouth is dry.  "How long since I came back?"

"Two months and twelve days."

"How long since the-" he swallows hard.  "Since the uh-"

"The snap?"

Oh, is that what they're calling it?  He hates it.  He fucking hates it.  Since the day the world ended, or, since the day Tony's world ended, seems like the more appropriate way to title it.

"Don't call it that," he begs, but FRIDAY doesn't reply since she hasn't been given an alternate name to call it by.

It's a few moments before she responds with, "Three months and seventeen days."

He reaches up and rubs his forehead hard, and then blinks into the brightly lit room again and looks around for Pepper.  He's alone.

"Where's Pepper?"

"Downstairs with Colonel Honey Bear and Miss Romanoff eating breakfast."

He pulls in a deep breath, holds it, and then lets it out.  It feels like he hasn't breathed in weeks, but he knows that's not true.  He feels bad that she's been alone for two months since he's barely spoken to her or anyone else.  He's been like a zombie, just existing.  He's done this before, but with alcohol and drugs.  It's never been this bad though, he thinks.  Then again, he's never had a reason to shut down like this before… never lost a kid before.

That thought makes his brain ground to a halt.  A kid.  Peter.  But Peter isn't his only kid… not anymore.

"FRI, I'm not imagining that Pepper is pregnant right?"

"Mrs. Boss is four months pregnant with your daughter, Morgan Stark."

Of course she is.  He knew that.  He'd been told that… remembers through a haze, snippets of one sided conversations Pepper, Happy and Rhodey have had with him over the last two and a half months, that he's going to have a daughter soon… too soon.

He looks around the living quarters again.  They're nice.  He and Pepper had designed them to be open and airy, with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the woods behind the Avenger's Compound in case they ever needed to stay here.  But it's not a home.  It's never been Tony's home, and he doesn't think it will serve as a good home for his family.

His throat feels like it closes up a little at that thought.  His family minus Peter.  He's about to have a daughter, a little girl that will grow up not knowing her big brother, and his smile, and the way he has a tendency to bring home stray animals in need.  The way Tony sometimes came into his lab and found a chicken standing on a workbench, staring him down, or once found a bathtub full of baby ducks in the penthouse after Peter had gone back to his aunt's house one evening.

But still, I have a family.  Pep is pregnant.  Suddenly that thought is the thing in sharp focus in front of him, and he doesn't feel like he can slip back into that miserable fog he's been in since returning to Earth.  They have a daughter on the way, and no home.  They have the tower, but he doesn't think he can return there, live there without Peter.  That was Peter's home away from home… the place he stayed on weekends and random nights when May was working night shifts.  The place where Tony had become a surrogate father without even realizing it.

He shoots up out of his seat, suddenly unable to sit still, and then turns to stare down at it and gives it a look as though it's burned him.

"Do I have a car here?" he asks, and since he's alone, FRIDAY knows the question is for her.

"No, Boss."

"Pepper doesn't have one here?"

"Negative."

"I need a car.  What's available?"

"Captain Popscicle's motorcycle.  Mr. Hogan's SUV.  Colonel Honey Bear's truck, Miss Romanoff's-"

He waves a hand to cut her off.  "Happy's car keys?"

"In his quarters next door."

Tony looks around for his shoes and doesn't spot them.  He goes into the master bedroom, finds a pair in the closet, slips them on, and then finds a pullover and pulls that on too.  He stares at the MIT hoodie hanging there for a moment.  Sometimes Peter wears it… wore it, because he was cold, and had wanted Tony's hoodie for some reason instead of his own.

He stares at it, and stares, and stares, and finally slams the closet door closed and stares at that for a while, huffing and out of breath like he's just run a mile.  That's Peter's hoodie.  Peter is gone, and it feels wrong for him to wear it now.  Feels raw, like an open wound he can't bandage, something that won't heal over.

Peter is gone, and he's gone, and he's gone, and Tony can't breathe, but he has to!  He can't make things right with Peter, but he has a daughter on the way, one that Pepper has already named without him while he spent two months in a fog, not speaking, just existing.  She's borne the weight of that burden by herself, going to doctors appointments, dealing with becoming a parent, all on her own, all without Tony because he's been too messed up to deal with it, to really take in what she and Rhodey and Happy have been telling him.

He can't fix things because they're too broken, but he can make sure that Morgan has a home going forward, and that Pepper doesn't have to do this alone for the next five months… the next eighteen years.

He goes into Happy's room down the hall, glad that he's out, takes the keys to the SUV off the top of Happy's dresser, and strides down the back hallway downstairs and out the side entrance.  He starts up Happy's SUV and leaves.

* * *

Pepper cries when she finds out that he left, but Tony has no way to know that, because he doesn't have a cell phone with him, and Happy's car has always been disconnected from any sort of tracking device or GPS because that's the way he's always preferred it.

"You don't think he-" she chokes out to Rhodey later that night.  Tony has been gone all day, and Rhodey doesn't know what to say to her, because Tony has been a zombie since he returned from space without Peter, and Rhodey just doesn't know.  He doesn't know if Tony left and then did something stupid.  Or if he left and is planning not to return, or if he's out on some drinking binge or getting high, even though he hasn't done drugs in more than ten years and has been sober for three.

Rhodey, Happy and Natasha go out looking for him.  Steve wants to help, but is told to stay put and not to interact with Tony if he sees him, because Tony has made it clear that he's not ok with Steve and hasn't been for some time, and they don't want him to set Tony off.

They check bars, call hospitals, check in with the overwhelmed local police forces for any signs of car crashes, abandoned cars, or dead bodies that might be Tony.

They don't find him.

In the end, it turns out they don't have to find him, because three days after he walked out of the compound and took Happy's car, he returns, Happy's car keys in hand and looking, somehow, tired but less worse for wear than the last time they'd seen him.  He looks sad, despondent, but less like the zombie he has been and more like a man that just woke up from a coma.

"Tony?  Tony?  Oh my god," Pepper cries when she sees him coming down the long hall past the shared kitchen and living room.  She throws her arms around him and squeezes him tight, her whole body shaking.  Her tears are angry, and relieved, and upset and so many other emotions rolled up into the salty drops trailing down her cheeks that Tony doesn't know what to do with it all.  He realizes in that moment, that maybe taking off without telling her where he was going was a bad idea, and that he's been somehow an even worse fiancé in the last three days than he has been for the last two and a half months.

"I thought you were dead," she cries into his neck.  "Dead.  I thought- I- I-"

His arms feel heavy, limp at his sides, but he does his best to raise them up and hug her anyway.  It feels like he's forgotten how, but once he's holding onto her, he doesn't let go, clings to her like she's clinging to him.

"No, no," he whispers.  His throat feels tight.  "I'm not going anywhere."

"But you left."  She hits him in the back of the shoulder lightly, to let him know she's angry, but it's not hard enough to hurt.  Then she grips him tightly again.

Rhodey and Happy are in the hallway behind Pepper, watching the scene unfold. Happy watches Pepper with a little worry in his eyes, because she's pregnant and doesn't need this added stress, not on top of everything else.  Rhodey's eyes are on Tony, searching his face, his body for injuries, trying to assess if he's alive right now or still a ghost walking around in Tony's skin, just existing… if he's drunk or high, or here or not here.  It's not until Tony's eyes come up to Rhodey, question in them, like he's asking for help, like he's lost for what to say or do, that Rhodey uncrosses his arms and lets them drop to his side.  Alive then, here, awake, not a zombie.  He doesn't know exactly where Tony has been for the last two and a half months in his mind, but he's glad that his friend is back and hopes that he'll stay this way.

"Where did you go?" Rhodey asks.  Tony seems grateful to have a question to answer because it gives him a direction to go.

"I bought a house.  A little further upstate.  About forty minutes from here."

Pepper pulls back a little and looks at his face, her eyes still full of tears.  "A house?"

"We can't raise a kid here, and I'm not going back to the tower.  That's-" he swallows hard.  "That's not gonna happen."

She doesn't question him on it, nobody does.  Usually she and Tony make life changing decisions like moving together, but she's not mad.  She's curious… curious about a lot of things, whether or not he's ok, if he's crazy, if he actually bought a house or if it's something his mind made up in a drunken haze.

"Were you out drinking?" she asks.  She's not mad, but there's a little bit of an edge to her voice.  Her arms are still around the back of his neck, like she's afraid he'll disappear again if she lets go, just take Happy's car and leave without a word and not come back.  She's been wondering for days if that was the case, if he was just too broken, or too scared of having a baby to stick around.  She should have known better, she thinks to herself when he gives her a little bit of a hard look.

"No.  I'm not drunk.  I bought a house, a nice one.  A cabin in the woods on a lake.  A big piece of property for a kid to roam around and not have to deal with all this- all this shit," he lets go of her with one hand and motions around, to the world in general maybe.

"A real house?" Rhodey asks, his arms are crossed again.  He doesn't need to ask.  He knows his friend is telling the truth, but he wants to hear him keep talking, to hear his voice after two and a half months of almost complete silence.

"No, a pineapple under the sea, Platypus," Tony says.  Normally he'd say it in a joking tone, but he's not even smiling.  He's irritated, or maybe just tired.  He's definitely still in pain and probably not thinking straight due to recent events.  "Yes a real house, with furniture and everything.  Now can we go?"

"Go?" Pepper asks.  She finally lets go of Tony and steps back to get a better look at him, running the sleeve of her sweater across her eyes.

"We have a house to set up."

"Tones, I don't know if it's a good idea for you to go off alone right now," Rhodey says, a hint of worry in his tone.  He and Pepper both need some support with a baby on the way, but he's worried about Tony slipping back into the funk he's been in and Pepper doing things all on her own.

"Did I say we were going alone?  Pack your bags.  There's room for you and Happy until my daughter gets here."

He strides past them, only pausing for a moment to turn and grab Pepper's hand. Then he leads her down the hall towards the elevator so they can get up to the second floor living quarters and start packing.

"Is he serious with this right now?" Happy whispers to Rhodey.

"I think so," Rhodey says as the elevator door closes and Tony and Pepper disappear behind it.

"Now?  All of a sudden?  He's been practically comatose since-"

Rhodey nods, looks at Happy and says, "Yeah.  I think he finally woke up and realized that he has a kid to prepare for and panicked."

They walk to the end of the hall, wait for the elevator to come back down, and then follow Tony and Pepper up to the second floor to start packing their own things up.  Even if Tony and Pepper didn't need their help, Rhodey would still rather go with them.  His ma is gone, dusted.  A lot of his old friends from the military are gone too, floating around in the atmosphere as specs of ash.  And Happy?  Tony and Pepper have been Happy's family for more than ten years.  Aside from losing Peter, Happy is one of the few people in this world, Rhodey suspects, that still has most of his family left.

* * *

Tony's breath catches when Morgan is placed in his arms for the first time, her mouth gently hanging open, her face all wrinkly, but content looking.

Peter should be here with him right now, meeting his little sister.  He's not, because Tony couldn't protect him.

He stares down at his daughter for long moments, tears pooled in his eyes, and then turns with her towards Happy, who has been standing silently in awe for the last several minutes.

"From now on, your first priority is Morgan, not me and Pepper."

"Tony-" Happy says quietly, eyes drifting up slowly from the sleeping bundle in Tony's arms swathed in a pink blanket.

"My kids," Tony reiterates, but then swallows hard, throat tight as he realizes his mistake. Still, he makes no attempt to correct it.  "As my head of security, and my friend, your first priority is my kids."

Happy holds his gaze, and doesn't bring up the fact that there are tears welling up in Tony's eyes.  Tony doesn't point out that Happy's eyes look suspiciously wet either.

Happy nods.  "Yeah, Boss.  The kids."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

* * *

Happy doesn't forget his promise to Tony, not even when Tony is laboring to breathe five years later, bleeding profusely, eyes open but not seeing, or seeing, but not comprehending what's going on around him because he's in too much pain.  He snapped Thanos out of existence to protect Peter and Morgan, and by some miracle is still alive, lived long enough to be portaled off of the battlefield and to a hospital in Wakanda.  Alive, but Happy doesn't know for how long.

He wants to sit by Tony's side, because Rhodey isn't there, currently passed out in a hospital bed of his own, and Pepper- Happy's breath catches.  He hasn't seen Pepper yet, and doesn't know if she survived the battle or not.  If she had, he thinks, she would be right there with Tony, holding his trembling hand as he labors to breathe.

"H- Happy?" Peter's voice is shaking.  So are his hands and arms.  He stares at Tony lying on the hospital bed, dying, or struggling to survive.  Maybe both.  Peter who has been gone for five years, a weight they've all felt, a missing son Tony never forgot, but is back now, and is scared, and confused, and injured himself.

Happy has a promise to keep, and as much as he doesn't want to leave Tony there by himself with the doctors that are working frantically to stabilize him, he has to make Peter his priority.

"Come on, kid," he says.

Peter doesn't move, just stares through the window at Tony as the doctors work, shaking, dazed, eyes a little unseeing.

"Peter," Happy says gently.  He still can't believe that Tony did it, that he figured out the science and tech behind time travel, and bringing Peter back to life.

Happy puts his hand on Peter's shoulder, and Peter startles.  Scared eyes rip themselves away from Tony and up to Happy.

"It's me.  It's Happy."

"I- I know," Peter says.

"Come on.  You need medical attention, and food, and sleep."  He needs a lot more than that.  He needs to be told that his aunt died on the day of the blip five years ago.  Needs to have a shower, and to be told about the last five years, to be told about Morgan.  Happy's eyes sweep the shaking kid again.  He's scraped up and bruised, and dirty from head to toe.  His suit is ripped in a dozen places and his hair is sticking up at odd angles.  He looks a little like Tony did in those first days after returning from Titan.  Five years ago for them, a few hours ago for Peter.

Happy doesn't warn Peter of what he's about to do.  Maybe that's a mistake, because Peter jumps slightly when Happy takes a step forward and pulls him into his arms.  Peter doesn't pull away though.  He starts shaking more as Happy holds him tightly.  The kid feels like he's going to shake right apart.  Happy hadn't seen the kid dust, has never even heard Tony talk about it.  But he'd seen people at the tower dusting around him when it had happened, and worries now that somehow the snap that Bruce did to bring everyone back was only temporary… that Peter will shake apart in his arms again, and that that will be the thing that will finish Tony off for good.

"Happy," Peter whines, face pressed into his shirt.  "He's gonna die."

"Try not to think about that right now."

"But-"

"Hey," he says gently.

"As my friend, your first priority is my kids."

"Hey, come on now.  You're my responsibility.  Until Tony gets up out of that hospital bed and starts bossing you around, you're going to have to do what I say.  Ok?"  He hopes Peter will cooperate… that he won't fight him.

Peter seems to want to follow directions though.  He's been through a lot.  The kid made a decision to go to space, and then fought Thanos.  Fucking Thanos.  Maybe right now clear directions to follow instead of having to make decisions on his own is exactly what he needs.

"A doctor, food, a shower, sleep," Happy tells him.  "That's what's on the agenda."

"But Tony-"

"Don't worry about Tony."  It's a hard thing to tell him when Tony might not make it… when Happy is positive that Tony won't make it.  "I've seen him pull through a lot worse than this."  Afghanistan comes to mind.  His body had been a wreck after Afghanistan.  His body had been a wreck after Siberia, and after Titan and a month in space with almost zero food and little water.  But out of all of those things, Happy is the most surprised that his mind made it out in one piece after coming back from Titan without Peter.  That was the scariest instance when they'd almost lost Tony, he thinks.  That had been the worst, and Happy had really thought he'd never see worse than Tony coming back from being tortured for months in a cave in Afghanistan.

"Come on," he says gently again, and lets Peter out of the hug.  It takes Peter a few moments longer to let go of him.  When he does, Happy puts a hand on his shoulder and leads him away from the busy operating bay.  There are people everywhere being treated as they pass through the Wakandan hospital.  Some doctors are even treating people in the halls because there's just no space, and they're overwhelmed with people that had fought against Thanos.  He passes a doctor stitching up a gash in Clint Barton's forehead as he stands in a hall wincing, leaning against a wall.

Happy finds Peter a seat, and then goes to look for a doctor, or a nurse, or anyone at all to look at Peter.  He argues with an overworked doctor that definitely doesn't deserve any of Happy's bullshit when he's trying to save lives, but finally convinces him to come and look at Peter, to prioritize Peter above a hundred other people that are injured and in pain.

Despite wanting to be rid of Happy as soon as possible so he can go back to work unbothered, the doctor finds Peter a room and a bed.  At least he doesn't rush through checking Peter over and cleaning out and bandaging his wounds, Happy thinks, and he's grateful.  He could rush Peter out as soon as possible just because Happy had been an ass, but he doesn't.  Peter gets his full, undivided attention for twenty five minutes.  He works quickly and efficiently, tells Happy that Peter is exhausted and dehydrated, and then surprises him when he turns to Happy and says in a snippy tone, "If I find him up and about instead of resting, or if I come and find him tomorrow and he's still dehydrated, I'm coming after you."

"He's my priority."  Happy says it with ease, because it's true.  Little miss Morgan has been his priority for almost five years.  She still is.  But in the back of his mind, he still remembers meeting Tony's eyes in the hospital room all those years ago, and promising that both of his kids would be Happy's priority.  Both of them.

The doctor nods.  "Good.  See that that remains true."

It will.

* * *

Happy is worried about Tony.  He's worried about Pepper, about Rhodey.  He knows Morgan is safe, but he's worried about her too.  If Tony doesn't survive, if Pepper remains missing, then he's going to have to go home and tell that little girl that both of her parents are dead.  She'll be his to take care of all alone.  She and Peter both will.

Peter eats, though he looks like he doesn't taste the food, just exists in a state of half awareness.  Then he lays down in a room Happy finds for him in the building attached to the hospital.  It's been turned into a refugee camp of sorts, for all of the battle weary people being treated in the hospital, and those that are waiting on them to be treated.

"You gonna tuck me in?" Peter asks.  There's no smile on his face, but his tone is lighter than Happy expects.  "I mean, there's not a second bed, but you're still here."

"Yeah," Happy says.  "If you wanna be tucked in."

Peter cracks an eye open from where he's laying on top of the gray blanket on the twin bed.  "Yeah right.  I bet you've never tucked a kid into bed in your life."

Oh how wrong he is, but he doesn't know it yet, can't know that Happy has been tucking a little pink monster into bed for almost five years now.  Happy hasn't told him yet, and doesn't think he will until Peter is well rested enough to deal with the new information.

"Wanna bet?"  He wrestles the blanket out from under Peter, who makes no effort to move, too exhausted to do so, and then drapes it down over him.  He tucks it under Peter's feet, tucks it in around him, and pulls it right up under his chin.  Then, as surprised as Peter is as he watches Happy do it all, Peter's eyes widen a little more as Happy bends down, swipes his fingers gently through Peter's bangs once, and then plants a kiss on top of his head.

"Go to sleep.  You're too tired for a story.  I'm gonna find a chair, or a cot and bring it in here.  You sleep, I'll keep you safe."

Happy switches the light in the little room off and sweeps out the door, letting it fall shut behind him.

Peter stares into the darkness into the space where Happy just disappeared into the hall.  What- what the hell was that?  The thought follows him into his sleep, and when he wakes up 15 hours later and finds Happy dozing on a cot a few feet away from him in the tiny room, he wakes up with the same question, wondering perhaps if Happy is some sort of alien imposter.

* * *

Happy won't let Peter cross over to the hospital part of the building again.  He sticks to Peter like glue, making sure he eats, making sure he rests and gets plenty of water.  Not many people have kept cell phones on them.  Most of them have probably been destroyed during the fight with Thanos, so Happy doesn't have a beat on what's going on.  He catches Steve walking down the hall past the room he and Peter are sharing two days after the fight and reaches out and snags his arm to stop him from passing.

"Hey, what's the news?"

"On Tony?"

Happy nods with a grim look, jaw firmly set in place.  He's not sure he wants to hear, but he needs to know.

"They put him in a medically induced coma while his skin heals.  These people… the Wakandans, they have medical technology I've never seen before.  They put some kind of wet bandages all over Tony's burned skin and it's healing him.  They did two surgeries, unless they took him in for a third, I'm not sure.  He's not stable, but he's doing better.  Pepper is with him."

"Pepper?" Happy is instantly alert.

"Yeah, she came in off the battlefield a few hours after we did.  I guess she was still helping people get through the portal.  She-" Steve pauses, sucks in a deep breath, and then lets it out slowly.  The weight of the last few days suddenly appears across his face… looks like it's aging him right before Happy's eyes.  "She had thought Tony died. She came in asking about Peter, and wanted to know where Tony's body was being kept.  When they told her Tony was alive, she went to him and has been by his side since."

Happy tries to take in the new information.  He's so happy that Pepper is alive.  "Is she ok?  Was she hurt?"

"Scrapes and bruises, a fractured wrist.  She's ok."

"Rhodes?"

"He broke most of his ribs.  Concussion, bruises, cuts.  He's been fighting the doctors about staying in bed."

Happy nods, taking it all in.  "I'm sure you're busy, but the next time you make it into the hospital, can you pass a message along to Pepper and Rhodey?"

Steve nods, eyes holding a promise that he'll make it a priority.

"Tell them that Peter is fine and that I've got him.  Let them know where we are.  Also, I'm not entirely sure where Morgan is at the moment."  Pepper was not supposed to be part of the battle.  Happy had been stationed in Wakanda at the hospital, waiting for Peter and Tony to be brought through after the battle for medical attention if they needed it.  Pepper had taken Morgan into the city to the penthouse at Stark Tower to get her as far as she could from the compound, just in case things went wrong, just in case Thanos showed up after Bruce snapped, which is exactly what had happened.  But then she'd gone to battle anyway, flown the Rescue suit to the compound.  Every person that Tony and Pepper trusts with Morgan is here in this hospital, so he's not sure who has her now.

"I'll ask."

"Thanks."

Steve nods and continues on his way.  Happy still wishes he could go to check on his friends, but right now, Peter is his priority.  Morgan will be too as soon as he can figure out where she is.

* * *

Pepper leaves Tony's bedside as soon as she receives word that Peter is with Happy, and where they are.  Rhodey tries to fight a doctor about being discharged, but loses, so Pepper goes alone to the building the hospital is attached to, and finds room number 116.  She knocks on the door, bites her lip and waits.  It's only a few moments until the door opens to reveal Happy on the other side.  She hugs him as soon as she sees him.

"You weren't supposed to be there," Happy says gruffly down into her hair.  The kids are his priority, but he'd spent more than ten years trying to keep Tony and Pepper both safe as their head of security and their bodyguard.

"Tony needed me."

"Mm."

"Is he here?" she whispers.  "Peter, is he-"

Happy steps aside and she looks into the half darkened room and finds Peter, sitting up in his bed, hair a mess and looking confused, but alert.

"Peter," she says. She sweeps into the room.  Unlike Peter, she hasn't spent the last two days recuperating.  She's still dirty from battle, hair uncombed.  At least it looks like her injuries have been treated, Happy thinks.  He wonders if she's eaten or slept at all.

"Miss Potts?" he asks.  "Tony- is he-"

She has him in a hug before he can finish asking.  She pulls him close, hugs him tight, and puts her hand up on the back of Peter's head.  "He's alive.  He's in a medically induced coma right now and will be for a few more days at least, but maybe for up to a few more weeks.  He's had two surgeries, and they're using nanintes to repair most of the rest of the damage."

"But, but he's gonna be ok?"

She nods, not letting go of him.  "He's going to be ok, sweetheart.  I promise.  If he had been treated anywhere else, then he probably wouldn't have been, but the hospital here is the best.  They were ready for another battle and had all kinds of medicine and new medical technology waiting."

Peter takes a shaky breath, and when Pepper finally lets go of him, he asks in a meek voice, "His- his arm?"  Peter had seen Tony snap, seen him fall.  And then Peter had stuck with him and gone through the portal with him to Wakanda, not leaving his side until Happy had dragged him away.  His arm had been in bad shape after snapping Thanos out of existence.  Peter had worried, for long moments after Tony had snapped, that his arm would simply turn to dust, but it hadn't.

"He still has his arm.  It's not going to be the same as it was, but he'll be able to use it.  The bones inside were broken in more than two dozen places.  They did a surgery to piece it all back together and put rods in to hold it into place."

Happy snorts.  There's nothing funny about it, not even remotely, but he thinks Tony would find it funny if he were awake, and he and Tony have always shared a little of the same twisted sense of humor.  Pepper turns to look at him over her shoulder, and Peter peers around her to do the same.

"He always said Stark Men are made of Iron," Happy explains.  Pepper's eyes narrow a little in mirth and her lips press together like she's trying not to smile.

"Medical steel," Peter says, and they turn back to look at him.  "It- it will be medical steel.  Or, uh, titanium."

Pepper does manage a smile for Peter.  "That's ok," she says.  "Despite his name, his suit is made of Titanium.  Not Iron."

"Titanium man is kinda lame," Peter mumbles, reaching up to run his hand through his hair, a gesture borne of stress that he's been doing ever since Happy found him at Tony's bedside and dragged him away.

"Yeah," Pepper says gently, like she's talking to Morgan right after she finished having an emotional meltdown, "I guess it is.  We'll just let him keep the name Iron Man shall we?"

Peter's eyes flicker up to her, and his mouth parts a little, confused maybe, or in awe, Happy doesn't know.

There are big conversations to be had with him.  Happy wonders if Pepper is planning on having those conversations now.  He thinks Peter needs some more time.  Pepper definitely needs some time to recuperate.  He clears his throat.  "Why don't you shower, eat and get some rest.  I've got Peter.  We can go sit with Tony."

She stands up from where she's been crouching at the side of Peter's bed.

"I'll go back and sit with him."  Before she can make it to the door though, it opens, and Rhodey limps in quickly.  He shuts it with a snap, locks it, and then stares at the door handle, like it's going to bite him.

"What are you doing here?" Pepper asks.

"I broke out of jail."

"Mm hm."

"A doctor is after me."  He's still staring at the door waiting with baited breath, though for long moments after, nothing happens.

"Maybe you should be back in bed in the hospital then," Pepper says, and suddenly she sounds tired.  Rhodey turns and takes in the faces of everyone in the little room.  It's much too small for all of them.  It barely holds Peter's bed as it is, and Happy's cot only makes it more crowded.

"Forget it.  I've rested.  You go shower and eat and get some sleep in a bed.  I'll stay with Tony's kid."  Rhodey looks at Happy, points to him, and says, "You can go sit with Tony.  I already snuck over there a couple times the last couple days to check on him."

"And Morgan?" Happy asks.

Rhodey frowns, and then both of them turn to Pepper for an answer.

"She's with my personal assistant in the penthouse.  She's safe."

Happy doesn't like it.  He knows that Morgan will be ok.  Pepper's personal assistant takes her job very seriously. Still, Morgan is Happy's responsibility, or Rhodey's.

"And?" Rhodey asks.  He sits down heavily on the bed next to Peter, who gives him a look like he's a cat with three heads.  "You going to get her on a plane or what?"

Pepper looks at each of them in turn.

"Morgan," Happy says to reiterate that he and Rhodey want her here now where they can keep an eye on her.  "And then you shower and sleep."

"We're all supposed to gang up on Tony to tell him to take care of himself," she says.  "You're not supposed to gang up on me."

Rhodey looks at Happy but points at Pepper.  "You hearing this right now?  Is she serious?"

"I'll be back later," Happy tells Peter.  "Stay with Rhodey."  Then, though he doesn't usually touch Pepper without her permission, he takes her hand and leads her towards the door.  "I'll find Pepper a room and sit with Tony for a while."

"Good," Rhodey says as he slouches down on Peter's bed a little.  He's clearly in pain. "And if a doctor asks you where I am, you haven't seen me."

"Got it."

When Happy and Pepper are gone, and Rhodey doesn't move from the bed, Peter gets up the courage after a few moments to say in a quiet voice, "Uh, Mr. Colonel Rhodes sir?"

Rhodey's eyes slide over to him.  "You did not just call me that."

"Uh…"

"It's uncle Rhodey to you."

"Uhhhh….."

"If Tony wakes up and hears you calling me Mr. Colonel Rhodes sir, he's going to start calling me that.  I'll never hear the end of it.  Do you know I've been Colonel Honey Bear for ten years now?  I've been Platypus for more than thirty.  Do not give him another nickname to latch on to, kid."

"Oh- okay?  Uncle- Colonel Rho-"

"No," Rhodey snaps, but his voice isn't harsh.  "Lose the Colonel and the sir, and family calls me Rhodey, not Rhodes."

Peter snaps his mouth shut.  Rhodey can tell that he's confused.  He doesn't know what Happy has told him yet, or what Pepper told him in the few minutes she'd been in here without Rhodey.

"Ok, you have questions.  Some of them I'm not sure I'm allowed to answer.  Pick one, and I'll do my best."

Peter seems to wrestle with what question to ask him then.  Rhodey thinks for sure he'll ask about his aunt, or about calling him uncle.  Instead, what finally comes out is, "Who is Morgan?"

"That's- uh…" he trails off.  He's pretty sure Tony wanted to introduce Peter to Morgan, but he'll be unable to do that for a while yet, and Morgan will hopefully be able to join them in a few days.  "Ok, I'm gonna tell you, and then when Happy or Pepper comes in here to tell you, you're going to act surprised, like you have no idea who she is.  Got it?"

Peter nods, still giving him a wary look.

"She's your little sister."

"Uh, Mr- uh, uncle, Rhodey sir?"

Rhodey sighs and drags a hand down his face.  They'll have to keep working on the name thing.  "Yeah?"

"My parents died, and… and my aunt and uncle…"

Happy must have told him about his aunt, but just in case he didn't, he asks carefully, "Has anyone talked to you about your aunt yet?"

Peter shakes his head, bites his lip, and starts fidgeting with the gray blanket over his legs.  He shakes his head again, remains silent for long moments, and then whispers, "No one has said anything about her.  If- if she was alive, she'd- she'd be here, right?  She'd be here with me?"

Rhodey is positive that this is a conversation Peter should be having with Tony and Pepper.  But Pepper needs rest, Tony can't have this conversation with him right now, and Happy has probably spent the last few days dancing around the topic and not bringing May up.  Rhodey is his family now, whether Peter realizes it or not.  He's his family, as good as Tony's brother and in recent years, as good as Happy's brother too.

"She'd be here with you if she could," he says gently.  "I never got to meet her, but Happy and Pepper told me about her, about how much she loved you."

Peter's breath hitches at the word, 'loved', past tense.

"She died on the day of the blip.  I'm sorry, Peter."

Tears come to his eyes, and Rhodey flounders for what to do.  Should he put his hand on Peter's back?  He's only met the kid a couple of times before now.  Happy had had a lot more time with him pre-blip.

"You're not alone.  You belong with us now."

"Us?" Peter asks, voice high, pained.

"You're going to live with Tony and Pepper now.  And you have me and Happy.  We're you're uncles now.  I know you don't really know me, but Tony is my best friend.  That makes us family."

"And Morgan?" Peter croaks the question out again.

"She's almost five.  Tony and Pepper's daughter.  Your little sister."

Peter cries then.  Rhodey doesn't know what made the tears start to fall, if it's the loss of his aunt, or that Tony has a daughter now, or the mention of five years having passed by without him.  Maybe it's all of it.

"Tony wanted to be the one to tell you."  That only succeeds in making Peter cry harder.  If it was Morgan crying, Rhodey would sweep her up into his arms and rock her back and forth.  "Hey, like I said, I know we don't know each other that well yet, and it's ok if you don't want a hug but I-"

Peter falls sideways into him, knocking into Rhodey's broken ribs.  He winces but pulls his arm out from between the two of them and wraps it around Peter.  "Tony's going to be ok.  Morgan will be here in a couple of days and you'll get to meet her.  And in the meantime, Happy, Pepper and I are here."

Peter hears, but doesn't acknowledge him.  He leans against Rhodey and cries, and then eventually falls asleep.  Rhodey leans back against the wall, Peter still against his side.  It's uncomfortable, but he takes uncle duty just as seriously as Happy does, and he's not interested in waking Peter up so that he can move into a more comfortable position.

Peter sleeps, and Rhodey eyes the door across the dark room, waiting for that pesky doctor that refused to discharge him to come in and drag him back to his hospital room.

* * *

Happy has never known Peter to be shy, not exactly.  Bubbly, rambling, energetic, and a little anxious at times, but never shy.  But that was pre-blip Peter… pre-Titan, dusting in Tony's arms, and coming back to find out that your aunt is dead, Peter.

Happy feels bad for him, knows he's going through a lot, but at the same time Happy is a little overwrought with stress and emotions himself.  Fear for Tony, relief at getting Peter back and that Pepper is alive and relatively unharmed, and weighted down suddenly with the weight of keeping everyone afloat as the only member of the group that didn't partake in the fight against Thanos at the Avenger's compound.

He coordinates Pepper's personal assistant bringing Morgan to Wakanda by plane as he sits by Tony's bedside, eyes flitting up from his phone every few minutes just to reassure himself that his friend is still alive as he types instructions out to several people.

He tsks and tuts at Pepper when she comes back to Tony's hospital room after only six hours, clean and wearing borrowed clothes, but still looking tired.

He finds Rhodey lying across the foot of Peter's bed, in too much pain to move and ends up going to find a doctor to drag him back to the hospital, and then once again finds himself in charge of Peter, right where he's supposed to be.  Peter, for once, is the least of his worries, except for the fact that he's suddenly grown quiet, shy.  He hopes, really hopes, that Tony's kid isn't going to spiral like Tony did right after returning from Titan.  He'd really believed for several weeks there, that they had lost Tony then, and weren't going to get him back.

"Kinda quiet," Happy comments after sitting in the little room with Peter for several minutes in silence.

Peter shrugs.  "Nothing to say."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Rhodey told me about Morgan."

"I see."

"And May."

Happy closes his eyes.  He knows Rhodey would rather not have been the one to tell him about that.  It should have been Tony.  If not Tony, it should have been Pepper, and he knows she was planning on talking to him.  She had in fact, promised to sit by Tony's side for only an hour or two, and then come here to talk to Peter.

"I'm sorry," Happy says.  It's all he can say.  There's not a word he can say to this kid to make that pain go away.

"Yeah."  Peter sniffs a little, but when Happy looks over at him, his eyes are dry.  "Me too."

"She loved you."

"I know."

"And she'd want you to live with Tony and Pepper if she couldn't be here to take care of you."

Peter looks up at him, opens his mouth, closes it, and then seems to grow angry.  "How do you know?"

It's the loudest Peter has spoken since he's been back.  The kid has been all quiet words, whispers, and one or two word responses.

"Because she had Tony sign a piece of paper that said so before the blip."

Peter stares at him, mouth hanging open.  "What?"  He's back to quiet, stilled words.

"She was worried something would happen to her unexpectedly, and that you'd end up in foster care.  She didn't want that.  She actually asked Tony to ask me if I would take you first, but he wouldn't even consider it.  He drew up papers and showed up at your apartment with a lawyer and a notary one day while you were at school."

"I- I- I- what?"

"You heard me."

"But- she- she wanted you to have me?"

"She just wanted you to be looked after.  She wanted Tony to do it, because the two of you were starting to get close, but thought that he'd say no if she asked, so she asked for me to do it instead.  Tony was having none of it."  Happy points at him.  "You're his kid.  You were his kid before that even."  Then he mumbles to himself, "Think he just hadn't realized it yet."

Peter grows quiet and stares off into space for a few minutes.  When he speaks again, he says, "He signed those papers before he had a daughter.  He has a child of his own now.  I'm- I'll just be in the way."

"Stop," Happy says.  He almost barks it, and Peter stills, startled, eyes wide as he searches Happy's face for any sign of why his tone grew so harsh.  Happy sighs.  He's stressed, and tired, and still anxious to get Morgan off the plane tomorrow morning and into his care again until Pepper is ready to take her again.

"When Morgan was born, the nurse put her into Tony's arms while they took Pepper to another room to perform minor surgery.  Tony looked down at her, and then turned to me and said, 'From now on, your first priority is my kids.'"

Peter doesn't respond, because he doesn't understand.

"Kids, plural," Happy says.

"So he's going to have more kids?" Peter asks.

"No.  He has Morgan, and you."

"But I was-" he trails off.  Happy thinks Peter isn't going to finish that sentence, but then he whispers, "dead."  Then, like he's getting a better handle on the thought of it, he says a little stronger, "I was dead.  He didn't mean me."

"He meant you.  He didn't know how he was going to do it, he didn't talk about it, but I think he always planned on getting you back."

Happy points at the door like Morgan is on the other side of it.  She's not.  "He could have lost Morgan doing this whole time travel thing.  Could have lost what he had.  He cares about her, loves her, but he couldn't stand that he'd lost you.  He wanted both of his kids.  Both, do you hear me?  You and Morgan, together."

Peter looks like he's been slapped in the face, and Happy can tell that somehow, what he's said hasn't gone over well.  "He risked his daughter to bring me back- but- but then I would have been responsible for-"

Happy pulls in a deep breath.  He really needs Pepper here with him.  She's always been better at this type of conversation… about getting through difficult topics.  "You wouldn't have been responsible for anything.  That's not what I'm trying to say."

"But you just said-"

"Tony couldn't have it."  Happy pauses and meets Peter's eyes.  "He couldn't do it.  He was messed up after he lost you on Titan.  He came back and barely spoke for two and a half months.  I think the only thing that pulled him out of it was the fact that Morgan was on the way, and she needed him to be there for her.  But he never got over losing you.  He'd do anything for either of you, so would Pepper.  So would Rhodey and I.  You don't have to like it, or understand it, but that's the way it is.  You're not going to be in the way, you're not going to be a burden, because none of us consider you to be one.  You're Tony's kid, and Pepper's.  And if anything happens to them, Rhodey or I will take care of you and Morgan.  You're part of this family.  That's what May wanted, and it's what Tony wants.  The rest of us too."

Tears spring to Peter's eyes again.  It's been happening a lot since he was snapped back into existence three days ago.  He doesn't respond to Happy, doesn't tell him that it's what he wants too.

Happy seems to know anyway.

* * *

Morgan and Peter end up being shy together.  Pepper makes sure she's there for the first time Peter and Morgan meet, and Rhodey gets himself discharged in time to see it too.  Happy records the whole meeting so Tony can see it when he wakes up.

Pepper holds Morgan in her arms, and points at Peter.  "This is Peter, your brother."  She turns her face into her mother's neck, too shy to even look at him.

"You remember Peter," Rhodey says, "from the stories?  I know your dad had stories about him."

She turns and looks at Peter again, points at him, and says, "Ducks."

Rhodey and Happy smile.  "That's right," Rhodey says, "ducks in the bathtub."  Then he turns to Peter and says, "Tony has been telling her bedtime stories about you since she was born.  She has half of them memorized word for word."

"Ducks?" Peter asks, brows raised.

"Don't pretend you don't remember, kid," Happy says, and Peter's cheeks color pink.

They're all crammed in the tiny room, Peter and Rhodey sitting on one bed, Pepper and Morgan sitting on the cot, and Happy standing by the door.  This room isn't going to work anymore, not with Rhodey out of the hospital.  Happy doesn't even know where Pepper has been staying in the few hours here and there that she's not at Tony's side.

He stops recording and slides his phone back in his pocket.  "We need a bigger room," he says.  He turns to the door and opens it, and leaves Peter and Morgan there to get better acquainted.  He'll start recording again when the two of them decide to do something cute.  He's looking forward to the two of them causing all kinds of trouble and chaos for Tony.  Tony deserves it with all the trouble he's caused Happy, Pepper, and Rhodey over the years.

* * *

Happy finds them a bigger place to stay.  It's been five days since the battle, and a lot of people have left Wakanda already.  Steve and Clint are gone, along with Ant Man and Thor.  Bruce wants to leave, but Shuri has been half holding him hostage in her personal lab, determined to find a way to undo what he's done to his body and turn him back into just doctor Banner, not a Banner Hulk hybrid with permanent green skin.

With so many people leaving, some new spaces have opened up to them, and an actual set of living quarters is offered to their group until Tony is better and ready to go home.

There's three small bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen.  This new space has windows that look out onto the street below, between them and the hospital.  They have a little bit of a view of the indoor bridge that leads between their building and the hospital.

Pepper claims a room for herself and Tony when he's finally discharged, because they're anticipating that Tony may still need to stay for additional medical treatment afterwards.  Rhodey and Happy take a room, and then that leaves a room for Peter and Morgan.

Peter looks mortified, like he's been asked to share a room with the Creature From The Black Lagoon.

"You want us to stay together?  You- trust me that much?" Peter hedges, looking at Pepper.  He's still been pulling the shy routine, especially with Pepper and Morgan.  Most of his questions he directs to Happy, but Morgan is Pepper's daughter, and clearly he expects her to be more protective over her.

"You're her brother, and you're ours now.  I know the adoption paperwork hasn't gone through yet, and might not for a while with the state of the government and all the returned people, but you're our child now too, Peter," she says.  She speaks softly to him, warmly.  She still looks tired, stressed out, but for Peter she makes the same effort she does for Morgan.  "Yes," she reiterates for him, just so that Peter is clear about her stance on the issue, "we trust you with her."

He gapes.  Then he looks down at Morgan, who is sitting on the floor playing with a purple stuffed bear with a triangle fabric arc reactor stitched right into the center of its chest.

Happy expects Peter to question it more, or to go to the room he's just been told is his and Morgan's to try to get some space and work over things in his mind.  It's a lot of changes for him all at once to try to get used to.

Instead, he slowly sinks down to the floor next to Morgan.  Happy scrambles for his phone, and Rhodey mutters, "Hurry up with that," pointing down at the two kids on the floor.

"Hey," Peter says softly, and Morgan looks up at him.  Happy hits record and breathes a sigh of relief that they're going to have something cute to show Tony.  He'll be pissed that he's missing all of this otherwise.  "I'm your big brother Peter."

Morgan stares at him.  She still hasn't spoken to him yet.  Happy knows that once she starts, she'll never stop.  She's a chatterbox just like Peter is.  She stares at him long and hard, turns her head sideways one way, then the other, taking in the features of his face.  Then, unexpectedly, she dismisses him with, "Nuh uh."

Peter blinks at her, then turns to look at Pepper for help.  Pepper, for her part, decides to let him figure it out on his own.  Peter turns back to Morgan and tries again.  "I'm Peter."

"Nuh uh."

He frowns, but before he can try a third time, she turns to him and declares, "You're Petey Pie.  Daddy said so." Then she drops the bear, turns to Peter, and puts one hand on each side of his face.  She leans in close, tries to whisper (though ends up just as loud as she always is), and says, "Teach me how to catch ducks.  I wanna take a bath with real ducks, Petey Pie."

Pepper puts her hand up over her mouth, and beside Happy, Rhodey sniffs once.  "That's cute shit, man," he whispers.  "Tony's going to love it."

* * *

Peter cant be shy around Morgan.  She makes it too difficult to be.  At just a month shy of five years old, she invades the space of anybody and everybody that she likes, and Peter is now right at the top of that list. Despite Pepper's reminders to be gentle with him, to give him space, Morgan climbs all over Peter, using him like a jungle gym any time he sits down on the floor, a chair, the couch.  She wants piggy back rides, and to sit on one foot and cling to his leg as he walks.  She wants to sit next to Peter, and only Peter when they eat meals, chatters his ear off about ducks and Barbies and My Little Pony, and demands at bed time each night that Peter tell her stories about 'our' dad that she hasn't heard yet, since typically Tony tells her bedtime stories about her 'brother.'

Peter watches Rhodey, Pepper, and Happy for their reactions to all of this, to what he says and does and how he interacts with her.  He keeps expecting them to tell him to be gentle with her, to not give her piggy back rides, or watch his strength around her.  They don't.  They trust him implicitly with her.

Three days after they move into the new larger quarters, Morgan is sick and tired of sitting around with so few toys to play with (apparently Pepper's personal assistant had only let her pick three), and begs Pepper to take her for a walk outside.

"Not today, sweetie.  I'm going to go spend some time with your dad."

Morgan puts her hands on her hips.  "But when do I get to see daddy?"

Pepper gets down on one knee in front of her so they're eye to eye.  "Remember we talked about this?  He's sleeping.  He's taking a really long nap, and won't be awake for a long time yet.  When he's awake you can see him, ok?"

"But he's been sleeping for days and days," she whines.

"I know, baby, I know."

Pepper looks up at Peter and says, "Would you mind taking her out for a walk?"

"Me?"

She smiles at him and nods.  "It seems like both of you could do with some fresh air."

Peter looks around and finds Rhodey nearby, but he's dozing on the couch still trying to recover from his injuries.

"Is- is that ok?" Peter asks.  Then he starts to ramble, because the more time he spends with Pepper, the less shy he feels, even though he's still trying to wrap his mind around Pepper and Tony wanting him–genuinely wanting him to be a part of their family.  "I mean, I'll be super careful with her, so, so careful, and I won't let her out of my sight, and I'll keep her close, and I won't let anybody kidnap her."  He still isn't sure he's understood what's been asked of him.  They're in a foreign country, and Peter hasn't been allowed to go anywhere by himself yet.  He can't imagine that Pepper would ever be ok with him taking Morgan out of the room by himself.

"It's more than ok, honey," she says.

The nicknames are something he's trying to get used to too.  Tony calls him Roo, that's normal.  And Tony and Happy have always called him 'kid', teased him about it in fact, that when he's old and gray, that he'll still be 'kid' to them because they'll be older and grayer.  But honey, and sweetheart, are new, at least from anyone other than May.  It makes him feel awkward, but warm at the same time.  He feels like an outsider, someone looking in through a window at this family that has formed without him there, observing their life.  But at the same time he's being pulled in, like a magnet into magnetic goo, or two different types of organisms merging to become one.  The nicknames and warm smiles, and the soft reassurances make him feel welcome, even though he's still positive that he's a burden they shouldn't have to bear… is sure that as soon as Tony wakes up, they'll realize that and want to be rid of him.

Peter looks up at Pepper, coming out of his own thoughts.  She doesn't seem to mind that it's taken him a few moments to answer.  He throws a thumb over his shoulder towards the door, and gives her a questioning look.

"It's ok.  Go on.  Get some fresh air, the both of you."

"How- uh, how long until you want us to come back?"

Pepper presses her lips together in a small smile as Morgan squeals in delight and races to find her slip on shoes.

"As long as you can stand to take her," Rhodey answers from the couch, eyes still closed.  "Munchkin has a tendency to wear people down quick."

Peter looks to Pepper again, and she nods.  "Go on.  The streets here are a lot safer than New York.  I don't think anyone here is going to give you any trouble, and even if they did, I know you'll take good care of her.  Just make sure to take good care of the both of you."

Take good care of my daughter.  That Peter had expected.  But she doesn't just want that from him… doesn't just want him to babysit and get her out of their hair for a while. "It seems like both of you could do with some fresh air," and, "Take good care of the both of you."

Both part of their family, and an outsider looking in.  It's an odd position Peter has been in only once before, with May and Ben, but he'd been young then, just a bit older than Morgan, and he doesn't remember much of those early days with them and how he'd managed to find his place there.

Morgan doesn't give him time to think about it more.  She grabs his hand, drags him to the door where his shoes sit tucked neatly next to it, and demands he put them on.  "Ducks.  I wanna find ducks.  And ice cream, and a park to play at, and then we can sneak in to see daddy when no one is looking, and then-"

Peter smiles as he holds her hand and they walk out the door.

* * *

Morgan isn't allowed to visit Tony until he's awake.  Peter is surprised then when Pepper suggests that he sit with Tony for a while even though he's still asleep.  The nanites have done most of their work, he's been recovering from both of his surgeries well, and they took him off of the medication that's been keeping him in a coma two days ago.  Now they're just waiting for him to wake up on his own.

Peter tries to question her on it, but she answers only by leading Peter to the room that Happy had dragged him out of weeks before.  Tony has been its sole occupant since the battle, being monitored closely by several specialists since he's been in critical care.

Pepper leaves him there by himself, just him and Tony.  He still can't believe that it's been five years, even though he plays with Morgan each day, eats meals with her, living proof that time has passed around him and life has gone on.  Now, as Peter stares at Tony's face, at the hair that's starting to go gray on his head, he has to face that reality again.

"Uh… hey Mr. Stark."  He whispers it, afraid that if he speaks too loud, a doctor or nurse will come in and tell him to be quiet, that he'll somehow hurt Tony by speaking too loud in an otherwise quiet room.  Even the machines here don't beep like the ones he's used to in the med bay in the tower, or in regular hospitals.  Instead they emit a low hum that Peter's sure he's the only one able to pick up on.

Tony doesn't answer, because of course he doesn't.  Peter reaches out to touch his hand, then pulls his hand back.  It's selfish, he thinks to himself, to want to touch his hand, to be sure he's warm, alive, there.  He's Tony's intern.  They hang out sometimes together on weekends even if it's not a lab day.  Tony is on- was on, his school pickup list at school to come get him if he was bleeding out or otherwise in trouble.

They'd grown close before- before everything had gone down with Thanos on Titan.  But they hadn't been father and son.  Pepper says they are now, that they're family, that May had okayed it.  But he doesn't know that it's true.

Morgan knows things about him, has heard stories apparently.  Rhodey keeps insisting that Peter call him uncle, and Happy has jumped onto that bandwagon too.  Pepper calls him honey, and sweetheart, and talks to him softly like she does when she's trying to explain to Morgan why she can't see her father.

It's confusing.  It's confusing, because without May, Peter wants this.  He wants to be part of their family, but without Mr. Stark there to tell him that, to confirm it, he doesn't know that it's true.  He wonders sometimes, in the dead of night, after he's woken up from a dream of being dusted in the red light of another planet, if being here on Earth isn't some sort of nice dream that he's remembering in his last moments alive.  It certainly feels like a dream with how nice Pepper has been to him… how Rhodey seems to want to be his uncle, and how Happy treats him carefully and tries to explain things in a way he'll understand instead of just gruffing at him to hurry up and get into the backseat of his car because they're going to be late getting to the lab and, "you'd better not get crumbs back there again, kid, or I'll make you stay late to vacuum them up."

He wants Tony to wake up and tell him if it's a dream or not.  Tell him if he's dead or slowly turning to dust, and this is just his mind trying to find peace in those last moments.

"Feels like a dream, Mr. Stark," he says quietly.  He sits in a chair a few feet from the bed and looks at his hands.  "M' not sure if it's real or not.  Morgan's nice.  I like her.  And- and Miss Pepper has been real nice.  Happy's being kinda weird, and Mr. Colonel Rhodes keeps acting like…" he trails away.  Like I'm family.  Like it's not even a question that I belong with you guys.

Tony doesn't stir.  Doesn't flinch, or moan, or wake up and tell Peter that everything is real.  If he does wake up and tell him that, then Peter knows he'll have to set him straight… tell him right off what kind of a burden he's going to be to take care of.  An extra person to worry about, an extra mouth to feed, an extra kid that's just going to be in the way and get in the way of Tony and Pepper spending time with Morgan. She's a lot younger, and she's theirs.  She deserves all of their time.  Peter deserves none of it.

He glances up at his face.  He's been trying to avoid looking at it, because the last time he saw Tony weeks ago, his face had been horribly burned up the left side.  It looks normal now.  Rhodey tried to explain to him how the medical nanites work, and Peter had tried to listen, but he's been having trouble believing that it's all real.

Mr. Stark should be dead.  Peter should be dead.  May should be here and she's not.

How can this be real?

He eyes the cast on Tony's arm, looks down to the fingers he can see poking out underneath.  They're not burned either.  How can he be ok after snapping?  How can he have survived?

Peter is afraid that it's all a dream.  He's afraid to wake up and realize that this good dream will end and he'll find himself in some hellscape… find himself back on Titan.  He doesn't want that.

"Wish you would wake up," he chokes out.  Tears sting his eyes.  Tony isn't waking up, and probably won't any time soon.  The unbidden thought that he wants Pepper surprises him.  He wants Pepper to hug him again, and tell him that he's wanted.  He wants to live in this nice dream just a little longer.

"You gotta wake up," he tells Tony again.  Before this dream ends, he at least wants Tony's eyes to pop open… to know that he's ok.

Tony will wake up and ask for Morgan.  He'll want to hold her, hear her giggle, hug her tightly and be sure that she's ok because she's his daughter, and Peter has to admit she's pretty cute and cuddly.  He's glad that Tony and Pepper had her for the last five years, so they weren't all alone.  From what he's heard, the world has been pretty unhinged since he's been gone.

Tony will wake up, ask for Morgan, and Peter will leave and go get her, bring her and Pepper back and maybe some doctors, and then he'll stand in the periphery and just watch, observing from the outside and wish with all his might that the things he's been told can be true.  Then he'll wake up.  He'll wake up and none of it will be real.

"Please," Peter begs quietly.  "Please."

Tony's hand moves, and he lets out a groan.  Peter stills and holds his breath.

Tony groans again, and Peter's eyes come up and watch as Tony tries to open his eyes, fights against the sleep that he's been in for weeks to wake up and regain consciousness.

It takes almost a minute, but his eyes do open up, and he stares at the ceiling in confusion, quiet.  Peter lets out his breath as quietly as he can, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

"Did it work, Pep?" Tony croaks.  He tries to move his broken left arm, tries to reach out with it, but only touches thin air.  "Pep, did it- did it work?  Did we get 'im back?"

Peter doesn't mean to, but he can't help it.  His breath hitches and tears spring to his eyes.  Tony hears him and frowns, and manages to roll his head to his left just enough to see who is sitting beside him.  He's expecting Pepper, but she isn't there.

"Pete?" he croaks.  He tries again to move his arm, reaches forward towards Peter.  "'S that you, kid?"  He squints at him, like maybe his sight is blurry and out of focus still.

Peter's breath hitches again, and he tries hard to choke back a sob.  Tony is ok.  He's alive.  He's awake.

Alive alive alive.

"C'mere, Roo."  He wiggles his fingers, unable to make a 'come to me' motion because his muscles are weak with disuse.  Peter doesn't move, afraid that as soon as he does this nice dream will come crashing down around him.

Tony tries to clear his throat, tries to reach towards him again, and then makes a noise of frustration.  "Gonna have to work with me, bud," he says.  His words are just a whisper.  He sounds like he's struggling hard to stay awake.  "C'mere.  Please."

Peter gets to his feet, takes a tentative step forward, and sees that Tony is trying to reach for him again with his injured arm.  Peter reaches out and brushes his fingers with his own.

"C'mon, closer.  I need to know that you're real 'n 'm not dreamin'."  Tony finally manages a 'gimme' motion with his fingers, and Peter crumples against him, face pressed against his side.  Somehow Tony manages to get both weak arms up enough to wrap partially around him.

Peter shakes against him, tears refusing to stop coming now that they've started.  He's cried himself to sleep more times than he can remember recently.  It had been a lot like this in the weeks after Ben had died too.  He wonders what Ben would think of all of this if he were here now… Spider Man, Thanos, half the population disappearing and then coming back suddenly five years later.  It's mad.  It's crazy.  It's somehow Peter's reality, and he can't hold himself together enough to ask Tony if it's all real.

So they just sit there like that for several minutes, Tony hugging him weakly while Peter shakes and cries against him.

"Hey, s'ok," Tony croaks after several minutes.  "'S gonna be ok."

"Is it real, Mr. Stark?" Peter mumbles.

"'S that?"

Peter pulls his face up, but doesn't look up at him.  His entire face is wet, eyes red, snot everywhere.  He's a mess.

"Is it real?"

Tony tries to hug him tighter, pull him closer, but he can't yet because his body is still half asleep.  "It's all real, bud."  He clears his throat again, and then asks, "Water?"

Peter pulls away from him and tries to hide his face while he looks for some water.  He finds a pitcher and a plastic cup near the bed, pours some, and then realizes that Tony isn't going to be able to drink it himself when he can barely lift his arms.  He brings it to Tony's lips instead and tips it a little, just enough so that a little water at a time trickles into his mouth.

"Thanks."  His voice becomes a little clearer after he's had half the cup.  He tries to catch Peter's eyes, but he's still looking away, embarrassed that he's spent ten or more minutes crying in front of Iron Man.

"I thought I'd lost you," Tony says.

Peter still won't look at him.

"Pete?"

Peter turns away a little, because damn it if the tears aren't starting fresh again.  Tony hasn't even asked about Morgan yet, and aside from calling out for Pepper because he assumed she'd be in the room with him, he hasn't asked about her either.

"Until I can get up out of this bed, you're gonna have to make this easy on me and come back over here."

Peter is sure that Tony can see him shaking again.  "May's dead," Peter says quietly.

Tony doesn't respond right away, but when he does he says, "I know.  I'm so sorry, buddy."

Peter's mind flits to Morgan, because he's spent the most time with her of anyone in the last couple of weeks.

"Morgan's nice."

Still, Tony doesn't ask how Morgan is doing or if she's ok.

"Peter, turn around."

He shakes his head, but then startles as he hears a grunt of pain, and turns to find Tony trying and failing miserably to get up out of the bed.

"No no no, you can't get up Mr. Stark."  He's so panicked for a moment that he forgets to cry, forgets that he's trying to hide his face from him.

"Then come here for a minute."

When Peter doesn't move, Tony frowns, tries to point at the bed with his good hand and almost succeeds and says, "Obey your father, padawan."

Peter chokes out a laugh as the tears start again.  Pepper had said he was theirs now, their child, and mentioned adoption a couple of times.  But he hadn't allowed himself to believe it.  But Tony had said father, like he has all the details already, knows everything that's been going on despite having been in a coma for weeks.

Peter shuffles forward.

"God, c'mere, Roo.  Right here, you can sit here with me."

Peter sits down on the edge of the bed, glances at Tony blurrily through his tears and says, "Your mask isn't black."

"What?"

"You can't say father, and padawan if your helmet isn't black.  You're Iron Man.  You're one of the good guys, not Darth Vader."

"Kid-" Tony breathes.  He reaches for him, and Peter tips over on the side of the bed, trying to scooch up close enough so that he doesn't fall off, because hospital beds really aren't big enough for two people.  Tony does his best to wrap his arms around him again, and Peter settles against his side, quiet, listening to his heart beat.

"Darth Vader never called Luke a padawan," Tony says.  He sounds like he's fighting sleep, like his body is trying to carry him off again into unconsciousness.  "I do what I want.  You can be my padawan and my son."

Peter grips him as tight as he dares, not sure how bruised he is, or if he'll hurt him just by trying to hug him back.  Tony doesn't speak again, and after a few minutes his breaths even out, and Peter can tell that he's asleep.

He's alive, and this is real, and he'd said father, and son, and padawan.  Peter falls asleep against his side not long after.

An hour later, when Pepper comes in and spies them sleeping next to each other, she knows that Tony must have finally woken up.  She still doesn't have a working phone and can't take a picture.  She wants to stand there and stare at them until they wake up, but ends up hurrying out and back to their quarters to get Happy.  He's not there, because he'd taken Morgan out to get some food.  Rhodey is there and awake though, and has managed to procure a phone with a working camera from somewhere.

"Phone," she says, holding out her hand.

"What?"

"Tony woke up.  Peter is sleeping with his arms wrapped around him."

Rhodey gets up as fast as he's able.  "I gotta see this."

"Well hurry up then, or they'll wake up and we won't get a picture."

"Happy will be mad he missed it."

"He'll have a picture if you hurry up!"

Tony and Peter are still sleeping when they get back.  Rhodey snaps a picture, and then another, just for good measure.  "It's so cute I wanna barf."  He turns the photo to Pepper, who smiles down at it.

"We'll frame it," she says.  "Along with the ones we already have of Peter and Morgan."

"Good.  Then there will be physical proof that it happened and I can hang it over his head the next time he tries to act like he's too cool to care."

Pepper smiles and takes one of the two empty seats at Tony's bedside.  Somehow she thinks that Tony won't mind this one sitting on the mantle.

Author's Note:

That was a long first chapter (sorry), all just meant to be an intro into the second and final chapter of the story (the main plot of the entire story).  Now as we get to head into the second chapter (a six months later kind of deal), we know what's at stake and the things Peter has been thinking and feeling going into this, and everything that his family has gone through for five years leading up to this.  It's important.

I really hope you like what you've read so far.  This is the first time I've done a 'right after the final battle with Thanos,' kind of story.

The second and final chapter should be up in the next 10 days.