Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Peter rubbed his palms against his jeans, staring at the building in front of him. He wasn’t quite sure he was ready for this yet. He shifted the cheap back pack slung over his shoulder, certain it wouldn’t last long even if he didn’t manage to lose it while out on patrol. And he dreaded that, knowing May was doing the best she could. They had managed to find a temporary place, a studio barely big enough for one person, let alone two people. He’d seen her wince when she had received the school supply list. He knew money was tight as she struggled to make enough to restart their lives.

He’d convinced her to buy the bare minimum for the time being; had assured her that he would speak to Happy about it. Accepting help from Mr. Stark was something that May had only just begun doing grudgingly before…it. She was willing to do it now only because she knew that Peter needed help that she could not provide. But Peter still hadn’t talked to Happy, not wanting to disturb the Stark family while Mr. Stark was recovering. He knew he couldn’t put it off indefinitely. May would definitely mention something, and his omission would be brought to light. For right now, though, he’d try to protect the man from his neediness as long as possible.

“Are you going in or just going to stand here all day?” an amused voice came from beside him. Peter whirled around to see MJ standing beside him and relief coursed through his body. He’d reconnected with Ned but had not yet learned the fate of the rest of his classmates.

“You’re…you’re…” he stammered, gesturing helplessly at her.

MJ smirked and supplied, “Still alive? Still sixteen?”

“Yeah, that,” He mumbled, feeling his cheeks flush at unexpectedly seeing her again. Mr. Stark and Ned would both be tormenting him if they could see him now.

“So, going in, loser?” She questioned as she began walking to the entrance.

“Yeah, yeah,” He jogged to catch up with her, slowing his pace once he was beside her. Once inside, several very harried looking school counselors were handing out schedules and directing students. Peter and MJ separated to go stand in their respective lines.

“Name?” The counselor questioned as he reached the table.

“Peter Parker,” he replied. She shuffled through some folders before shoving one at him. He flipped through the papers as he moved to join MJ across the entryway.

“I have to figure out how to get to my locker,” he grumbled. On the surface, he realized he had been gone for five years, but it’s not like it seemed like that to him. In his mind, his locker, apartment, and entire world had changed overnight.

“Same,” MJ replied as the two began to move through the halls.

“There you both are!” Ned’s voice came from behind them. They whirled around to see the other boy weaving through the crowd towards them. He greeted MJ with a nod before turning to Peter to begin their elaborate handshake. The three made their way to their lockers, relieved to notice that they were all in the same area. Evidently the school had decided to place all the returning juniors in the same area, because both Betty and Flash were there as well, along with several other students Peter recognized from his years at Midtown.

“Nice bag, Parker. Did you get it from a discount store?” Flash said mockingly.

He did actually. Not that Flash needed to know that. He ignored the other teen and moved to place the bag with his packed lunch in his locker. Beside him, Ned frowned at the almost empty backpack.

“Dude,” He whispered, “Is that all you brought? I thought May asked you to give Mr. Stark your supply list.”

Peter grimaced, “I don’t want to bother him. He’s still recovering.”

“What about Mr. Hogan?” Ned persisted.

“Mr. Stark has a wife and kid now. Someone needs to be taking care of them so he can recover,” Peter argued, “A random kid from Queens doesn’t need to be distracting them right now.”

MJ had been passively listening to their conversation as she organized her supplies, but at those words she turned to Peter with a serious expression, “From everything you have ever said about him, I don’t think Mr. Stark considers you to be just a ‘random kid from Queens’.”

“Yeah,” Peter mumbled, hoping his agreement would drop the subject. He shouldered the fairly empty bag and followed the two to their first class. Any hope that his lack of the required supplies would fly under the radar was dashed almost immediately. In every single class, teachers asked for confirmation of who had been able to purchase supplies and who had not. To top it all off, by the time he reached his end of the day PE class, his bag was already beginning to strain at the seams from the weight of his textbooks.

In a reprieve, Coach Wilson didn’t mention supplies, and after everyone changed, instructed the class to do some warm-up stretches and run a few laps.

“Mr. Parker,” the man called to him as he finished the first lap. Peter ran over to where the coach stood.

“Yes, sir?” He questioned, trying to look the appropriate amount of winded for a student who supposedly had no athletic ability.

“Principal Morita needs you to come to his office,” the coach informed him, motioning him off and looking back at his checklist. Peter’s eyes widened. It was the first day of school. He hadn’t even had time to skip any classes.

“Oh, Parker is in trouble!” Flash called mockingly from across the gym. Peter swallowed and raced to change, grab his bag, and head to the office.

“Hello?” Peter paused at the doorway, looking between Principal Morita and the woman seated next to him.

“Peter, please come in,” the principal motioned for Peter to join them.

“Peter, I'm Ms. Gutierrez. We just have a few questions for you,” the counselor smiled kindly at him

“Ok,” Peter said, drawing the word out as he slid into the chair. The secretary popped her head into the door just as Peter settled.

“Mrs. Parker is here,” she informed the adults. Peter’s eye widened as he shot a panicked look from the the principal and counselor to the doorway.

“Mrs. Parker,” Principal Morita greeted, standing as she entered. He motioned towards the counselor, “Our school counselor, Ms. Gutierrez would like a few minutes to talk with you and Peter.”

He slipped out of the room, leaving the three alone as May took the seat beside Peter.

The counselor shifted, nervously, as May stared at her intently, clearing her throat as she began, “How are things at home, Mrs. Parker?”

“What?” May questioned.

“How are things at home right now?” The other woman repeated.

“I don't understand what you mean,” May stated, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

Ms. Gutierrez clarified, “We know times are hard for many families right now. Several of Peter's teachers have expressed concern about his preparation for school and whether or not he is able to access supplies. We just want to make sure that Peter is able to have the things necessary for a successful year.”

May sighed, looking over at her nephew, her expression a mixture of fondness and exasperation, “I thought you were going to call Happy.”

Peter slouched in his seat, crossing his arms and frowning, “I was going to call him…later.”

“You didn't think you might want to get the supplies you need for school, I don't know, before school started?” She retorted, rolling her eyes.

“I just didn't want to bother him!” Peter threw his hands up. He paused when his hearing picked up a commotion in the front office, almost groaning when he tuned into a very recognizable heartbeat. His eyes widened and he gaped at his aunt, “You called him?”

“Oh, is he finally here?” May turned to face the door as it was thrown open and Tony Stark came sauntering into the office. The counselor's eyes widened as she realized who had entered.

“Tony Stark?” She stammered, gaping at the hero.

“In the flesh,” the billionaire said as he strolled into the chair, coming to a stop behind Peter. Ms. Gutierrez jumped to her feet, nudging the seat Principal Morita had vacated towards Tony.

“Thanks,” the man grabbed the seat and plopped into with an air of confident carelessness Peter desperately wished he could emulate. Tony then leaned forward, rubbing his hands together and addressing the counselor, “What seems to be the problem with Pete?”

“Someone neglected to send Happy the school supply list like he promised he would,” May sighed.

It was Tony’s turn to look confused, turning to ask the teen, “Why didn’t you? And also, why didn’t you ask me? What part of ‘tell me what you need’ was unclear?”

Peter flushed, staring at the floor to avoid the intense gazes of the adults. He squirmed and then whispered hoarsely, “I didn’t want to be a bother.”

“Pete-” Tony began.

The teens eyes flew up to meet the man, and he rushed to continue, “You’re recovering. You literally saved the universe, and you’re still recovering from that. I didn’t want you to have to think about some random kid in Queens on top of everything.”

“Well,” the man said slowly, “That’s a lot to unpack there, kiddo.” He studied Peter intently, yet tenderly, his look almost reminiscent of the expression he had when Peter had found him on the battlefield.

“Why didn’t you tell me how you were feeling?” May spoke up.

Peter looked back at her and whispered, “You’re already so stressed about everything. I didn’t want you to have to worry even more.”

“Peter,” his aunt sighed, leaning close and taking his hands into hers, “You don’t need to protect me. I know you are strong, but I am too. More importantly, I’m the adult. Let me do the worrying for us.”

“And, kid,” Tony rubbed his hand up and down Peter’s arm, “I don’t do things I don’t want, and I want to help you. But I can’t if you don’t let me know what is going on. Capisce?

Peter swiped at his eyes and nodded, whispering hoarsely, “Yeah.”

Tony squeezed him gently, and May leaned back in her chair, clearly ready to be done with the meeting.

Ms. Gutierrez looked between the three, saying slowly, “So, Peter will be able to get the rest of his supplies?”

“Absolutely,” Tony confirmed.

“And maybe a new backpack?” the school counselor questioned, eyeing the rip in the seam that was already forming on Peter's current backpack.

“Or ten,” Tony replied.

“Well, ten probably isn't necessary,” she stammered.

“If only you knew,” May sighed, standing. She looked over at the billionaire, “I need to get to my shift. Make sure he gets home?”

“Will do,” the man grinned, ruffling Peter's curls. Peter glared at him as he attempted to smooth his curls. He jumped to his feet as his aunt approached and hugged her goodbye.

The billionaire stood as well, “Well, if that is all, we'll head out now. I'll see that the Kid returns tomorrow with everything necessary.” The three walked out together.

“We’ll talk later,” Tony promised as May turned to leave. The woman sighed and nodded reluctantly. She waved goodbye and headed to the bus stop.

Tony rubbed his hands together and looked at the boy, “Right, so it seems we have some back to school shopping to do, Spiderling.”

“Seriously?” The teen groaned, feeling that he would rather do anything else besides shopping.

“Seriously,” the billionaire responded firmly, steering the boy towards his car, “Just think, we could have already done this if you had mentioned it as soon as you got your supply list.” Peter huffed, climbing into the car as Tony pointedly opened the door. He slid across the seat, and the man sat down beside him.

“Hey, Kid,” Happy greeted from the river’s seat.

“Hey, Happy,” Peter answered, not looking up from where he had his eyes trained to the floor.

Beside him, Tony gave Happy directions to head to the nearest shopping center and the rolled up the partition.

“Kid,” Tony murmured softly, “Still ignoring me? Don’t think I noticed how you’ve been leaving me on read and not answering my calls.”

“Didn’t want to bother you,” the teen mumbled.

The man sighed, “Kid, for the millionth time, you are not a bother. I want to talk to you. I want to see you. I’ve spent the last five years missing you and invented time travel for you.”

“And half the universe,” Peter retorted.

“No, they were the bonus. Believe me, I’m selfish and only do what I want. And I wanted to bring you back. If I didn’t want you in my life, I wouldn’t call or message,” Tony snorted.

Peter looked over at him tentatively, “Still?”

The billionaire chuckled and reached over to ruffle Peter’s hair, “Still. But you gotta quit hiding from me, Pete. If you don’t start coming to the cabin once in a while, your little sister is going to stage a mutiny. And, I gotta be honest, Kid, she terrifies me.”

“My sister?” Peter repeated, gaping at his mentor.

Tony’s look softened, “Yeah, kiddo. Sister.”

Peter grinned and said, “Well, if it’s for my sister, I guess I can come to your cabin on weekends or something.”

The man smiled at that. He then rubbed his hands together and nodded, “Great. Now that we have that settled, off to back to school shopping.”

Chapter Text

If Ned were here, he would probably be saying something along the lines of, “What is your life?” As if he hadn’t been saying that on repeat since Tony had shown up at school on the first day and forcibly took Peter back to school shopping. And then promptly arranged for May and Peter to move into a building that the Stark Foundation suddenly owned in Queens. 

“You’d be doing us a favor, May. Good tenants are hard to come by!” Pepper had argued.

Meanwhile, Tony had bluntly stated, “The security of your current place is abysmal. I did not save the universe to lose you in some sketchy apartment!”

And of course there were the weekend visits to Tony Stark’s actual lakeside cabin that had Ned drooling. 

“Dude! Seriously! You have a room in Iron Man’s actual private residence!” 

“I had a room in his penthouse at the compound, Ned!” Peter had rolled his eyes.

“But this is his actual private secluded house,” Ned had argued, “Even the media doesn’t know where it is!”

Yep, if Ned here, he would be all insistent that Peter was lucky. But at this moment, Peter was fairly certain that Ned was full of it.

Don't get Peter wrong, in the past several weeks, since he had started spending weekends at the Stark’s cabin, there were times he found it to be peaceful. Quaint even. Restful after the hustle and bustle of post-Blip Queens. The place could be downright cozy and homey. This, however, was not one of those times. And the incessant vibrating of his phone was not helping.

“Fugitive, Armed and Dangerous,” the alert on his Starkphone read.

Great. It was dark. And rainy. And an armed fugitive was loose. And it was October. While he was babysitting Morgan at their lakeside cabin in the woods. Alone. This whole night was a Halloween horror movie cliche waiting to happen.

Peter quickly closed the alert, placing his phone facedown on the table and looked over to where Morgan was carefully completing her handwriting page. He didn’t typically spend week nights at the cabin, but Pepper had asked if he would be willing to babysit tonight, as Tony was at a meeting at the temporary Avengers headquarters, while Pepper had a dinner meeting with the board and several prospective investors. Happy had picked him up after school, delivered him to the cabin, and driven Pepper to the meeting, with promises that Pepper would deliver him to school in the morning.

“Petey, look, I wrote my name!” Morgan exclaimed, proudly waving around the worksheet full of letters, her name carefully printed, albeit slightly crooked, at the bottom of the page.

He leaned forward to inspect her work, grinning and saying, “Great job, Mo!”

“I want to write your name,” she declared. 

He laughed, looking over the rest of the page, “Are you finished practicing your letters?”

She nodded enthusiastically, so Peter flipped the paper over and wrote his name in large, neat letters for her to copy.

“Why don’t you practice both our names, and then color while I finish my homework,” he instructed. If he could finish his math, he figured he'd be fine. He could finish his reading after Morgan went to bed.

Morgan nodded agreeably and was content to practice writing both her name and Peter's until he closed his math book.

“OK, Mo, do you know what time it is?” He queried as he shoved the math book and notebook into his backpack. Morgan looked up from where she was putting her handwriting into the brightly colored folder that Pepper would place in her bag in the morning, her eyes wide and hopeful.

“Time for juice pops?” She asked.

Peter chuckled, standing and moving to the fridge, “Well, I was going to say bed, but I guess we can have juice pops first.”

The girl wrinkled her nose, “Juice pops are better than bed.”

He let her select a juice pop and joined her at the table with his own treat.

“But if you just eat juice pops tonight, you’ll turn into a giant one at school tomorrow,” he teased her.

She shook her head emphatically, “No, I won’t, silly. Daddy says that isn’t sci-en-scienfictic,”

“Scientific,” Peter corrected, shaking his head, “Maybe you should go as a juice pop for Halloween.”

Morgan leveled him with a clearly unimpressed look, declaring, “I’m going as Rainbow Dash.”

There was a time in the not-too-distant-past (well, Peter’s not-to-distant-past) where Peter could not begin to list any of the characters from My Little Ponies. Now he was all too aware of all of them. Ned, with his copious amounts of younger siblings and cousins, had not warned him of this. Well, maybe he had. Peter had just never thought it was applicable and might have tuned out his friend’s complaints.

“Ok, Mo,” Peter said, standing and collecting the empty popsicle sticks, “Time to get ready for bed.” He ignored the whines and unimpressed looks the child directed towards him and propelled her up the stairs.

“Fine, but I want two books,” she said confidently as Peter handed her the pajamas that Pepper had laid out for the girl.

“One book,” he replied, shooing her towards her ensuite. 

“One book and one Spider-Man story,” the girl called back at him.

“One book or one Spider-Man story,” he responded. 

She came running back into the room, “A Spider-Man story!”

“One Spider-Man story coming up, but first brush your teeth.”

The girl groaned dramatically, but dutifully turned around and headed back into the ensuite. Soon enough, she returned.

“Teeth brushed?” He questioned. She nodded as she raced to her bed and jumped into it. Peter settled on the bed beside her, “So, what Spider-Man story should I tell you?”

“The ferry!” she bounced up and down, vibrating with excitement. Yes, because of course Mr. Stark would have betrayed his trust by telling his sister that particular story.

“Or how about the time I saved Uncle Happy from losing all of the Avenger’s equipment?” He offered. She bit her lip, considering it before giving him a nod. Face saved, the vigilante launched into his (correct) retelling of the story.

After he ended the story, he turned off her light and slipped out of the room, sighing and slumping against the door. Discovering he had a younger sister was the best part of returning after being gone for five years. But, said younger sister just so happened to be the perfect mixture of her parents. With Tony’s ability to distract and Pepper’s negotiation skills, getting the girl into bed was no laughing matter. If it weren’t for the fact he needed to finish his homework, he felt like he could crawl into bed. Taking a deep breath, he straightened and headed to the kitchen to grab his book.

He had just curled up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and his book for American Literature, a collection of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. He was fully engrossed in “The Fall of the House of Usher” when a loud crack of thunder sounded outside. Peter would deny to his dying breath that he screamed and jumped, ending up clinging to the ceiling. That did not happen and any recordings FRIDAY might have of the moment were clearly manipulated. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and slowly lowered himself back to the ground.

Peter had picked up his book and resumed his reading (why his teacher thought Poe was an appropriate author to study in October was beyond him), when the lights began to flicker. And his phone began buzzing again. He glanced back at it and tried to hold back a shudder when he realized it was an update on the fugitive. The fugitive that had now been spotted just a few roads over from the Stark cabin.

“Nothing to worry about,” the teen muttered. There was another crack of thunder and the lights flickered again. It was Mr. Stark’s cabin. If anyone had a top of the line security system, it would be Iron Man. 

He tried to focus on the book once more, but the flickering lights and rumbling of the thunder was making focusing increasingly difficult. The phone vibrated with yet another sighting of the fugitive. Peter swallowed as he realized that the man was growing ever closer.

“Tony’s got good security,” he reminded himself, “He probably has the Iron Legion hidden in the woods or something.”

There was another loud rumble of thunder. This time, accompanied by creaking on the porch.

“There’s something out there!” He whimpered to himself, eyes desperately searching for a weapon of some sort. His gaze landed on his Stark watch, and it dawned on his that Tony had built it to hold nanobots for webshooters. He took a steading breath and stationed himself just beside the door to the entry hall. The door began to open and Peter immediately shot the web…onto Colonel Rhodes hand, webbing him securely to the door knob.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Same side, Spidey. Stand down,” Tony yelped, raising both his hands and stepping around Rhodey into the house. Both men were wearing jackets and damp from the rain that was still steadily falling.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter dropped his arm in relief, hitting the button on his watch to deactivate the nanobots that made up his webshooter.

“Yeah, Kid, I’m here,” Tony moved closer cautiously, before grabbing him in a hug and holding him close. 

Peter wrapped his arms around the man, burying his face in Tony’s chest. To his horror, the tears he had been holding at bay were now falling.

“Oh, Pete,” Tony murmured sympathetically as the teen began sobbing, “I’ve got you. I’m here.”

“Um,” Rhodey clear his throat from behind them, “Not to interrupt or anything, but a little help here.”

Peter and Tony glanced over to see the soldier motioning towards the hand that was currently webbed to the door knob.

“Oh, sorry,” Peter stammered, swiping his eyes and turning bright red, “I’ll get the solution.” He dashed to the kitchen, grabbing the spray bottle stored under the sink and hurried back to the entry way. Tony plucked it from his grasp and in turn sprayed it on Rhodey’s hand, freeing the man.

“Thanks,” Rhodey muttered, flexing his hand a few times before rubbing the excess webbing and solution on his pants. He took the spray from Tony and headed to the kitchen, leaving the billionaire alone with Peter. After the man had shed his coat, he steered the teen to the living room, grabbing a blanket from the back of an armchair and wrapping it around Peter. He then nudged the boy to sit, joining him on the sofa and pulling him close.

“What happened, Roo?” Tony asked gently, now that the boy had calmed down.

The flush that had begun to subside creeped back up Peter’s cheeks, as he rambled in an attempt to explain, “There’s a fugitive in the area and the lights were flickering and there was thunder and why didn’t I hear the car?”

“Honey Bear’s car got stuck in the mud,” Tony replied, “We had to walk up the drive.” Both their phones buzzed, but Peter resolutely refused to look at his. His mentor didn’t make a move to reach for his either, arms still wrapped around the teen. 

Rhodey came back into the room, phone in hand. Peter found himself leaning forward as the soldier explained, “I started a kettle of hot water for hot chocolate. Also, the latest alert said they caught the guy.”

Peter sagged back against the couch, letting his head fall against Tony’s shoulder.

“See, Spiderling, it’s ok,” Tony soothed. He then nudged the boy, “Why don’t you go change into your pajamas. Rhodey and I will change into dry clothes, and we’ll have hot chocolate and watch a movie.”

“I have school tomorrow,” Peter reminded him.

“We’ll watch an episode of a show or something,” Tony amended, standing and pulling the boy up. Within fifteen minutes, they were all bundled on the couch, sipping hot chocolate.

“So, why did you web me and not just ask FRIDAY who was on the porch?” Rhodey queried, now that the Spider-teen was settled.

Peter opened and closed his mouth several times before looking at his mug with a pout on his face.

“You forgot to ask her, didn’t you?” Tony bit back a chuckle. Rhodey didn’t even bother to try hiding his amusement.

“No,” Peter stubbornly denied, “I was giving her the evening off.”

“You panicked and forgot,” his mentor replied. The teen attempted to glare at him, but it only managed to make both men laugh harder.

“Oh, Roo,” Tony shook his head and wrapped his arm around the teen once more. Peter gave a final pout before snuggling closer to the man. He’d be annoyed at the men tomorrow. Right now, it felt nice to hear Tony’s heartbeat and feel him near. And after the evening he’d had, he was definitely going to be enjoying that. Yep, he’d be annoyed tomorrow, but right now, this was nice.

Chapter Text

This was definitely one of those everything that could go wrong did go wrong kind of mornings. Even though the new Stark Phone he'd been given following The Great School Supplies Debacle had amazing battery life, it didn't last for two full days without dying, and forgetting to charge it two nights in a row meant that May woke him up fifteen minutes before he was due to leave for school, annoyed that he was still asleep. Waking to a grouchy aunt in no way gets you off to a good start.

Next, he'd had to grab one of the nasty protein bars that had been formulated for Captain America since he didn't have time for a normal breakfast. That put him in a grumpy mood as he choked it down on his mad dash to the bus. Which he missed. Meaning he had to wait impatiently for the next one. Causing him to arrive at school just as his class was loading the bus. His class that contained only one other Blipped student. Flash. And while Flash wasn't quite as bad as he used to be, Peter would really rather have been with any of the other returning juniors. And to top it all off was the location of said field trip. Stark Industries.

Peter wasn’t quite sure about how he felt about his science class going on a field trip, considering how his last field trip had gone. He was even less certain how he felt about said field trip being to Stark Industries. He hadn’t been back to SI since the Blip. Tony had only just officially started back at work, and Peter’s internship was on hold until after the New Year. Both the Starks and May had claimed it was so Peter could also have the time to readjust to the world.

Thankfully, there was an empty seat near the front where he could slouch down and lose himself in his thoughts. No one spoke to him until they had reached SI and were waiting in the lobby for their tour guide.

“How's the internship, Parker?” Flash taunted.

“Internship?” one of their classmates echoed, shooting Peter a look of disbelief.

“You're insane! SI does not under any circumstances accept high schoolers for internships. My uncle works here and checked to see if I could intern in his department over the summer for the experience. HR said that it was too much of a safety and security risk to have anyone under eighteen,” yet another student added. Peter vaguely remembered her name was Lauren. 

He held back a groan at the look of triumph that appeared on Flash's face. Because, while May had ensured post-Vulture fiasco that his internship became a real thing, it had been set up personally by the owner and CEO and had been directly under Mr. Stark in his private labs. He'd occasionally visited Pepper's office (or on even rarer occasions, Mr. Stark's seldom used office), but most of his time at SI had been spent in the private labs.

“It was a pre-Blip September Foundation grant thing,” Peter stammered, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling his face heating up.

“Right,” the first classmate snorted. Those gathered around joined in laughter, clearly disbelieving Peter's claim as much as Flash.

“Could you have FRIDAY announce your presence? Maybe state your security clearance?” Ned questioned when they had discussed the field trip the previous day, and Peter had confided his worries about Flash's scornful remarks about the internship.

“Dude, no way,” Peter hissed, “One, that's a security risk. Two, FRIDAY doesn't control SI. Mr. Stark has a separate AI that runs the building here, JOCASTA. And, three, what security clearance? I was de- wasn't here for five years. They wouldn't have kept it active for the blipped kid. And, four, seriously, why would announcing that be a good idea? That's a massive security risk!”

Ned threw up his hands, “Just trying to help man.”

Peter took a deep breath and looked apologetically at his friend, “I'm sorry, Ned. I shouldn't have taken my frustrations out on you.”

His friend gave him a small smile, “I'm sorry, too. I just wish Mr. Stark would do something to prove them wrong.”

Peter grimaced. If he was being honest, he absolutely did not wish that. The only thing worse than people taunting him about the internship was the thought of having Mr. Stark embarrassing him.

The two teachers chaperoning the trip, both newer ones who had begun teaching at Midtown during the Blip, joined the students, carrying a stack of SI visitor badges.

“Ok, listen up,” the first teacher, Mr. Martin, spoke, “Here are the badges. Please wear these at all times. Once we go through security, there will be a spot for you to store your bags and coats. You may bring your phones, however you may only have them out for pictures in certain areas. If you attempt to take any at other places, your phone will be confiscated for the remainder of the trip.”

As he began to pass out the badges, Ms. Holland, the other teacher, pulled both Peter and Lauren aside, “Both of you have permission to leave from here at the end of the trip.”

Lauren looked at Peter skeptically but didn't comment, choosing instead to murmur her thanks to the teacher. Peter quickly did the same, before rejoining the rest of his class to grab a badge

“Don’t you have a badge already?” One of his classmates quipped.

“I did five years ago,” he retorted, “But it was lost in the Blip.” Or something like that. Chances were that his badge had been misplaced prior to the Blip. He lost them quite frequently, much to Happy’s vexation. The comments continued all morning. Nothing overt enough to alert the teachers and SI tour guide, but enough to begin grating on his nerves.

To top it all off, he managed to stump his toe on the corner of a work bench in one of the labs, which caused him to stumble slightly into a robot.

“Please be careful, Peter,” Mr. Martin scolded as he shot his arm out to steady the boy, “We really cannot afford to replace this equipment.”

Yes, because destroying a lab was exactly what he needed. He could only imagine the looks on Tony or Pepper’s faces if that were to happen.

By the time lunch came, Peter was starving and desperate for some peace and quiet.. Unfortunately, since he'd have to eat with students who were not familiar with his large appetite, he would have to be aware of how much he ate. He chose an Indian place that seemed to be giving fairly generous portions, hoping it would take the edge off his hunger.

Once his order was ready, he grabbed his food laden tray and headed to the table. Unfortunately, his Spider-senses didn’t seem to extend to inanimate objects at the moment, so he caught his foot against a chair that was only partially pushed into a table, causing him to stumble and several of the containers of food to fall to the floor. He bit back a few choice words and turned to look helplessly at one of the SI food court staff. He could feel his face flaming.

“Don’t worry,” the staff member waved him on, “We’ll have someone clean it up.”

He nodded and slunk to the end of the table, eager to be away from the giggles and prying gazes of those around him. Could anything else possibly go wrong today?

It turns out, several things could still go wrong. As they were touring one of the labs, he went to move out of the way of one of the SI employees and banged his head on the corner of a cabinet.

“Ouch,” One of the girls near him winced in sympathy. He sighed and reached up to rub the spot. Seriously, why couldn’t his senses warn him of things like that?

“Wouldn’t you have known that cabinet was there if you had an internship here?” Lauren queried in a low voice, so the teachers wouldn’t overhear, “This is the main lab where interns work.” Flash snickered.

“It’s been five years,” He muttered, his face flaming yet again.

“Right,” the girl muttered derisively.

Then, after the tour ended, they were given an opportunity to browse the gift store. Peter managed to bump into a display case which caused him to then knock over a rack of t-shirts.

Ms. Holland let out a sigh, and Mr. Martin ushered him to the exit that opened onto the lobby, saying, “Why don’t you wait out here, Peter.”

As he headed back to stand in the doorway to keep an eye on both Peter and the students still paying, the enhanced teen heard the man mutter, “Out there where he can’t do anymore damage.” Peter could feel his face growing red once more. He realized that the man hadn’t meant for anyone to hear the comment, but the teen couldn’t help feeling ashamed once more. By the time the rest of the class was finished in the gift shop, he was more than ready to leave the group to go find Happy for his ride to the cabin. He was just getting ready to ask Ms. Holland if he could leave when his classmates erupted in gasps and whispers.

“It's Iron Man,” someone breathed, voice filled with awe.

“And Pepper Potts,” one of the girls added appreciatively.

Peter turned the direction the rest of the class was facing, focusing his senses to pick up the familiar heartbeats. Sure enough, they were there. As he caught sight of his mentor and listened to the uneven beat of Tony's heart, he felt a sense of calm wash over him for the first time that day.

Morgan, who had been clinging to Pepper's hand, caught sight of the teen at that moment.

“Petey!” She squealed, pulling free of her mother's hold and launching herself at the boy. 

“Hey, Mo,” Peter caught her and swung her up into his arms, ignoring the shocked looks of his classmates.

“He knows Morgan Stark?” Lauren gaped, clearly questioning everything she had been saying all day.

“Of course he knows me,” Morgan said, clearly affronted that anyone would question one of the most basic facts of her life, “He's my brother.”

Flash's eyes bulged, as if suddenly horrified by the fact he had been mocking Tony Stark's son, and he stammered, “Brother?”

Morgan didn't get an opportunity to reply, because at that moment her parents joined the group.

“Hey, Pete,” Tony greeted with a large grin, wrapping an arm around him.

“Sweetie, are you ready to go?” Pepper questioned. She glanced over at the teachers, saying, “There should have been a note from the school that Peter was leaving from here with us.”

Ms. Holland snapped out of her obvious shock of seeing the Stark family to glance at her notifications, “Yes, I do have updated permission that he is leaving with…Tony Stark.”

Peter set Morgan down, and the family moved to leave.

“Wait!” Flash blurted, “Is he really your son?”

Tony turned slightly to look at the boy, answering, “Yes.” He then walked away, his wife and children close behind.

As he followed his family, Peter marveled that the answer wasn't “practically” or “adopted”. Instead it was a simple acknowledgement of who Peter was to him.

“How was your day, honey?” Pepper asked as they climbed into the car.

Peter sighed and leaned his head back against the headrest, pondering the question. He finally answered, “SI is awesome. It was great seeing so many of the labs.”

Tony arched a brow, studying the boy in the rearview mirror. Finally, he prompted, “But?”

“I woke up late. I missed my bus. I stubbed my toe twice. I bumped into a robot. I tripped and sent half my lunch flying. I hit my head on a cabinet. I accidentally knocked over a display at the gift shop, and-” Peter ranted.

“How are you so accident prone for someone who has heightened senses and spends his free time swinging around the city?” Pepper interrupted glancing back at the boy.

Peter ignored her in favor of finishing his rant with a pout, “And no one believes I have an internship, and they kept commenting on it all day. And I am so hungry!”

The man chuckled, “Somehow I doubt they'll be saying that you don't anymore.”

“And now everyone thinks I'm your kid, and I'm still hungry,” the teen whined.

“You are my kid,” Tony reiterated.

“Well, I know that,” Peter muttered, “But it doesn't mean I wanted them to know it.”

Morgan took that moment to pipe up from her seat, “I'm hungry, too, Daddy. Can we get cheeseburgers?”

“Cheeseburgers sound amazing,” the boy brightened at the suggestion.

“They are just like you,” Pepper rolled her eyes at her husband. She added, “We should probably feed them, though.”

Tony's grin was blinding as he put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking spot. Peter couldn't hold back his grin, either. Being just like Mr. Stark and Morgan sounded just fine to him. And after having the day he just had, cheeseburgers with his family sounded perfect.

Chapter Text

“No problem,” he had said.

“It will be a breeze,” he had said.

Famous last words. Stupid Parker Luck.

It was his first time babysitting Morgan at Aunt May’s apartment by himself. She was away with Happy for the weekend, and Tony and Pepper had a fundraising event for one of SI’s charity arms. MJ had scheduled an extra AcaDec practice after school to prepare for an upcoming meet (and he'd already skipped out on practice too many times in the two weeks since the field trip due to needing to escape his sudden popularity as “Tony Stark'sson”, and while the fuss was finally starting to die down, he was fairly certain MJ would end him if he missed again), so he had offered to watch Morgan at the Queen’s apartment. Tony had picked him up from practice and dropped them off before heading to meet Pepper for the event.

Right now, he was regretting the decision. He should have told MJ he couldn’t be at practice (maybe the fact he was 67% sure she liked him would have worked in his favor) and watched the girl at the lakeside cabin. The significantly smaller cabin. Where he had previously babysat her. Not the apartment. In Queens. Where normally May was the adult in charge. And he definitely should have said no when she suggested playing hide and seek. Or specified that she hide IN the apartment. He really hadn’t thought he needed to spell that out, but Parker Luck and all that. And of course he didn’t have his suit right now. That was at the lakehouse, confiscated for repairs after a fire meets Spidey incident earlier in the week (he still maintained it was not his fault, but neither Aunt May or Mr. Stark were in agreement. Hence the currently benched vigilante.)

“Stupid spider couldn’t have given me x-ray vision,” he muttered, raising his hand to knock on yet another neighbor’s door. This really wasn’t how he had planned on getting to know everyone who lived in the building. When no one answered, he sighed and contemplated what to do next. Maybe, for once, she was tired and had gone back to the apartment? Or he could continue knocking on doors. How many apartments were in this building, anyway? He glanced back at the watch on his wrist and stifled a groan. It had already been close to forty-five minutes since they started playing.

“Geeze, Mo,” He grumbled, deciding to go back to the apartment to regroup. Maybe ask Karen to get FRIDAY to track her watch? Or would that be cheating? When he thought of facing Tony and Pepper with the fact he was a horrible babysitter compared to Morgan’s wrath at using the AI to find her, he wasn’t sure which one was worse.

Once in the apartment, he quickly looked around one more, listening carefully for her heartbeat and breathing. He quickly ascertained that he was the only one in the dwelling.

Deciding that he would much rather deal with an angry Morgan than her irate parents, he slunk onto the couch and hit the button on his own watch to activate Karen, “Hey Karen, can you have FRIDAY track Morgan’s location?”

The AI beeped to confirm she was processing the request. A moment later she spoke, “Morgan is located in the living room.”

Peter looked around, frowning, “No, she isn’t.”

“FRIDAY pinpoints her location to be on top of the coffee table,” Karen responded. Peter leaned forward and saw her watch tucked beside a stack of textbooks. Great. RIP Peter Parker. He'd been saved by Iron Man only for the hero to kill him again. Or ground him for life. Or, Thor forbid, never give him back his suit. It was official. Life was over.

“Mo,” he groaned, “Where are you?” He grabbed her watch and shoved it into her pocket. With his luck, Tony would randomly decide to track them or something, and he did not need the man thinking he'd left the girl alone in the apartment. (Peter was really hoping the lack of a livid call from the man meant that locations had not yet been tracked.)

He set back down to begin checking the floors he hadn't visited yet. He checked the nooks and crannies. He knocked on doors. (Did he mention this wasn't how he had thought he would meet the neighbors?) He glanced at his watch. It had been over an hour. This was the worst game of hide and seek ever. And he was absolutely never playing it again.

He sighed and trudged back up to the apartment. He had just slunk into it and was slumped against the door, debating the next steps, when the hairs on his arm started raising and trickling, his skin started tingling, and the apartment went dark.

He frantically hit the button on his watch, “Karen, what happened?”

“Reports indicate that a traffic accident downed power lines,” the AI responded.

This was it. He was never going to babysit Morgan again. Even if Tony and Pepper didn't end him for this, even if for some dumb reason they were insane enough to trust her with him again, he was through. Between escaped convicts and power outages, obviously his Parker Luck made it unsafe for him to be alone with Morgan.

He reached out to find the wall and fumbled his way to the counter, where his phone lay. Just as he picked it up, it vibrated, Tony's picture flashed on the screen.

He groaned, but picked it up, stammering,"Hello.”

“Hey, Pete, FRI told me about the power outage. You and Morgunna OK?” Tony replied.

“Mr. Stark,” the teen choked out, voice shaking.

“Roo,” Tony soothed, “Is everything ok?”

“I messed up,” he whimpered, “I really messed up.”

“Hey, hey, it will be ok,” the man murmured.

“I lost Morgan. We were playing hide and seek, and I forgot to tell her to stay in the apartment! And she took off her watch, and she left! And I've tried and tried to find her, but I can't! And now the power is out!” He was sobbing now.

There was silence on the other side of the phone. A significant pause. As he waited, Peter closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the confrontation that would rival the ferry boat.

“Hey, bud,” the voice returned, soft and calming, “I'm headed your way. Pep will be right behind me. I just messaged Bucky and Sam. They're in the city and can be there soon. They're coming over to help, so why don't you head down to the lobby to meet them. It will be OK.”

“OK,” he whispered hoarsely, reaching up to swipe the tears that had fallen. He used the flashlight on his phone to help him see as he dug through the junk drawer in the kitchen looking for a stronger flashlight. Once he located it, he took a deep, steading breath and headed down to the lobby to meet Bucky and Sam.

“Hey, Pete,” Sam greeted as the teen let them into the building. Tony was just landing in the street and quickly made his way towards them, his armor retracting into his watch as he did. He slipped on his sunglasses as he stepped into the lobby, murmuring instructions to FRIDAY.

“I'm sorry,” Peter whispered, eyes trained to the floor, unable to bring himself to face the disappointment that was sure to be in the man's eyes. He startled when he felt arms wrap around him, pulling him close.

“Nothing to be sorry for, Roo,” his mentor murmured, “Morgan knew better than to leave the apartment. And she definitely knew better than to take off her watch.This isn't on you.”

The boy peeked up at the man. Tony reached down and gently wiped away a tear that was rolling down Peter's cheek, murmuring, “We'll find her, Kid.”

Sam cleared his throat, and the pair turned towards him.

“I sent Red Wing to do some scouting,” the former soldier explained.

Tony nodded, still not releasing his grip on Peter. He cleared his throat and replied, “Good call. I'm having FRIDAY conduct some scans as well.”

“Boss, I'm detecting a small life form in the basement,” FRIDAY chimed at the moment.

The billionaire looked over at Sam, “Can Red Wing get a clear visual of the basement?”

“It seems the door is locked,” Sam shook his head. He glanced at Peter, “What's down there, Pete?”

“The laundry room,” the teen answered. His eyes widened with horror and he whirled to face Tony, “You don't think she climbed into the washers or dryers or anything to hide do you?”

“Hey,” the man soothed, pulling the boy into for another hug, “Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's figure out how to get down there first, and then we can worry about if she's stuck inside anything.”

Peter nodded and broke away to lead the men down to the laundry room door. Sure enough, the rickety door had jammed shut.

“I've got it,” Bucky stepped forward.

“Wait!” Peter yelped, “Don't break it! The super will be pissed!”

Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Kid, I will replace the door. Bucky.” He motioned for the other man to go ahead.

Using his vibranium arm, the man lifted it off the hinges. Peter trained his hearing and could pick up a rapid heart beat and whimpering coming from the corner of the room. He pushed past Bucky and rushed into the room, following the sound and calling, “Morgan!”

“Petey!” The girl peered out from between a few washing units and crawled out of the space. Tear tracks were evident on her cheeks. Peter slid to the ground beside her, and she launched herself into his arms, sobbing, “Petey, you found me!”

“Don't scare me like that, Mo,” Peter scolded as he held the girl close.

She had the decency to look chastened, as she whispered, “I'm sorry, Petey.”

“Thanks for coming,” Tony said softly to Bucky and Sam. He removed the glasses, placing them in his pocket and gave them a genuine smile, devoid of its usual smirk.

The former Winter Soldier gave him a nod, while Sam answered, “Glad we could help. Let us know if you need anything else.”

The two men left, and Tony crouched down beside his kids. Morgan quickly scrambled to his arms, crying, “Daddy, it was so scary. The door got stuck, and I couldn't get out. And then it got dark.”

The man stood, holding her with one arm and wrapping the other around Peter. He agreed, “I'm sure it was, munchkin. You know, I think it was also scary for your brother.”

She looked down avoiding his gaze, saying, “I'm sorry, Daddy. I wanted to find the bestest hiding place, and Petey knew all the ones in his house.”

“Next time, let's remember to stay in the house unless someone is with us,” her father's tone held an edge of firmness, “Ok?”

“OK, Daddy,” she answered. She glanced over at Peter, “Sorry, Petey.”

Peter forced a smile, his nerves still feeling on edge, “I forgive you, Mo. But please don't do it again.”

The trio trudged upstairs, using Peter's flashlight to guide them. Pepper was just outside the lobby when they arrived.

“Mommy!” Morgan squirmed out of her father's hold and bolted outside to her mother.

“Hey,” Tony said softly, gently resting his hand on Peter's shoulder before the teen could move to join Pepper and Morgan. When Peter looked up at him, the man studied him intently for a moment before continuing, “You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I want you to know I'm here. I know that was frightening for you, but I do not for one moment blame you, ok?”

Peter took and deep breath and nodded, swiping at the tears that were pricking his eyes again.

“You're the best big brother, Pete,” Tony continued, arm around the teen, steering him out of the building, “And there is no one else I would trust with Morgan more than you.” He gently squeezed the boy. Peter took another deep breath and let himself be led outside towards his family. And while he didn't think he wanted to babysit solo anytime soon (or ever), he was more than grateful at that moment to have a family he could count on when things went wrong.

“Can we go home?” He asked softly.

Tony gave him another squeeze, “Yeah, Roo. Let's go home.”

Chapter Text

“Enjoy your time with the Starks this weekend! And be careful if you patrol today, sweets,” May had called as she left the apartment headed for a day of meetings with FEAST (and maybe something with Happy afterwards, but if Peter wasn't being honest, he tuned out most of what she said because she tended towards nagging as the months got colder…and anything with Happy was…well, he just didn't want to go there).

“I will,” the teenager dutifully responded as he popped another chip into his mouth, eyes trained on the television. His suit had a heater for Thor's sake. It wasn't like he'd be out there without using it. He clearly knew he couldn’t thermoregulate.

After the show finished, he stood and brushed the crumbs off of him, ready to get out and patrol. He glanced at his watch and was satisfied to see that he still had a few hours before he was due to meet Tony at the Stark’s penthouse. The man had a few business meetings in the city and had agreed to meet Peter there later in the evening. He quickly donned his suit.

“Hello, Peter. It appears as if the temperature-”

“No worries, Karen. The suit has a heater,” He brushed her off, slipping out of his window. He'd have to see if Ned could help him hack the suit to turn off the annoying weather updates.

The first part of patrol went well. He helped two ladies cross the street (no churros this time, but one of them gave him a donut, so score!), helped a distraught little boy find his equally distraught mother, stopped no less than two mugging, and rescued a cat from a tree. Successful, if he did say so himself. (Which he may have done…while attempting to imitate Thor…when he got Ned to help him hack the suit again, they also needed to figure out how to delete baby monitor footage without raising Mr. Stark's suspicions. Not all of it. Just the Thor imitations. And cat rescues. And maybe any of the times he was tracking alien tech weapons…)

“Thank you so much, Spider-Man,” the little girl who owned the cat flashed him a wide smile as she hugged the squirming creature closer.

“Thank you, Spider-Man,” the girl's mother reiterated as she pulled her daughter close. She frowned and looked around, “Will you be ok out here?”

Under his mask, his nose wrinkled as he stammered, “Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine. Why?”

“It's getting pretty cold,” she answered with all the concern of a parent. And really, Peter had enough of those in his life, thank you very much.

“I'll be fine,” He brushed her off, “Stay safe!” With that he swung away, eager to escape anymore unsolicited advice.

“The weather reports indicate that the temperature is dropping,” Karen chose that moment to dutifully report.

“The heater works fine, Karen,” he rolled his eyes. As crouched on the edge of a roof, looking and listening for any signs of trouble. His enhanced hearing picked up on some shouting in the distance. He swung towards the sound and saw a person yelling and chasing another person on a bicycle.

“Spider-Man!” The person on foot called as the teen approached, “He stole my bicycle!”

The vigilante immediately began pursuing the thief. As he swung after, the rain that had been threatening began to fall. Of course it would start raining. And of course the temperature would have to continue dropping. He involuntarily shivered as his heater battled to keep up with the growing cold. By the time he had caught up with the thief, webbed him up for police, and returned the stolen bicycle to its very grateful owner, he was more than ready to call it quits. His heater was not working as well as he would like, and he wanted nothing more than to bundle up blankets and drink hot chocolate.

If he could just get to the Stark's city penthouse, he was pretty sure he'd be fine. Even if Mr. Stark wasn't there yet, he was fairly certain that he could convince FRIDAY to let him inside to warm up. The rain pelted harder. If it wasn't for the mask, there is no way he'd be able to see anything. The wind had also picked up and even through his mask, was burning his lungs and stealing his breath. He had to pause more than once on rooftops to regain his bearings.

“Karen, are we still on course?” He attempted to peer through the mist and fog, but even his heightened senses didn't help with these conditions.

“Yes, we are still in course for the Stark penthouse,” she replied, far too chipper for the moment if you asked him.

At last, the balcony of the penthouse came into view, and one last swing had him stumbling onto it. He immediately felt strong arms catching him and helping him onto his feet.

“Easy, Roo,” Tony soothed, catching him as he tried to find his footing. The man guided him inside the penthouse.

“You're here,” Peter murmured as he tried to stop the shivering.

Tony turned to face him, raising his brow, saying slowly, “Yes. This is where we were meeting.”

“I wasn't sure if you would be here yet,” the teen explained as the man steered him towards the room that had been declared Peter's.

Understanding dawned on Tony's face and his expression softened. He gently explained, “As soon as FRIDAY told me that the weather was getting bad, I canceled the rest of my meetings and headed here so that we could get you warmed up right away.”

Even though Peter knew that Tony considered him a part of the Stark family, he couldn't deny the joy he felt each time the man prioritized him.

“OK, Spiderling,” Tony said, pointing towards the ensuite, “Go take a shower and change into dry clothes. I'll have food and hot chocolate ready for when you come out.”

When Peter rejoined Tony in the open living space of the penthouse, he saw that the man had a stack of blankets waiting for him on the couch, along with a mug of hot chocolate and bowl of soup sitting on the coffee table.

“Here,” Tony came into view, tossing a hoodie at the teen. Peter caught it, relieved to feel that it was warm from the dryer. He happily exchanged the one he had pulled on following his shower for the warmer one and collapsed on the couch, pulling a blanket around him.

“Ok, Roo” the man plopped down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close, “We'll head to the cabin tomorrow, but tonight, how does hot chocolate, movies, and being a blanket-burrito sound to you?”

“Perfect,” Peter replied, resting his head on Tony's shoulder. And more than anything, he was glad to know that no matter what, Tony would drop everything to be there for him.

Chapter Text

As the fall leaves faded and fell, the morning frost and freezing rain turned into gently falling snow, and the cool, crisp weather grew steadily colder, Peter couldn't help waiting for the next shoe to drop, the next thing to go wrong. As soon as he received a text from Rhodey, an invitation to accompany the man as he took Morgan Christmas shopping, he knew that disaster was inevitable.

“Petey!” Morgan greeted as he slid into the passenger seat of Rhodey’s car following school the next day.

“Hey, Mo,” the teen greeted, glancing back at her. He then turned and shot a grin at the man, “Hello, Mr. Colonel Rhodes, sir.”

Morgan giggled at the formal greeting, “That’s silly, Petey.”

“It is. Isn't it, Morgan?” Rhodey agreed, looking at his niece in the rearview mirror. She nodded emphatically as the man turned to Peter and said, “Seriously, kid, you can call me Rhodey.”

The teen felt his face flame, but he stammered, “Uh, yeah, sure Mr. Rhodey, sir.”

“We'll work on it,” the colonel commented as he pulled out of the pick-up lane and into traffic. He carried on conversationally, “So, do you have your list all made out for what you need to buy?”

“Mostly,” Peter replied.

“I’ll know when I see it,” Morgan interjected.

“I'm sure you will,” Rhodey chuckled. He glanced over at Peter, adding, “Last year, she bought Tones a sparkly purple tiara.”

“He wears it to all our princess tea parties,” the girl added. Peter had to laugh at that. During a few of his visits to the lake house, he had been privy to the exclusive tea parties and had witnessed his mentor proudly sporting the sparkly tiara. He took a deep breath and tried to relax against the seat, but he still couldn't shake the lingering dread.

The sensation kept growing the longer they spent shopping. He tried to shove it down as he followed Rhodey and Morgan through the various stores, stopping occasionally to purchase an item for one of the people in his list. He was surprised how quickly he had found gifts for May, Pepper, and Happy. As he trailed behind Morgan in a toy store she had insisted on visiting, he found himself taking mental notes of the toys she ooed and awed over. He also stifled a giggle as she grabbed a pair of hot pink heart shaped sun glasses for Happy.

“He needs these for driving in the summer,” she told Peter and Rhodey as she placed them in the basket Rhodey was holding. Peter had not yet found a gift for the asset manager, but he had a sneaking suspicion that while the man probably wasn't in the market for heart-shaped sunglasses, Happy would do them with confidence just to please the girl.

“Here is the one for Daddy,” the girl declared, dashing down the aisle to retrieve a pair of fairy wings.

“They'll go perfectly with the tiara,” Rhodey affirmed as she retrieved them.

Peter forced a chuckle as he inwardly began to spiral. Tony! What was he supposed to get Tony? This is where everything would fall apart. They paid for Morgan's finds and made their way to a clothing store next door.

Peter broke away from Morgan and Rhodey and began browsing the racks, not entirely sure what he was expecting to find? What did one even buy a billionaire? Peter had never given Tony a serious gift. The first Christmas they knew each other, they were barely past the Homecoming fiasco and the internship had only just become real. The second year, they were much closer, but not close enough for Peter to feel like he could give the man something meaningful. He'd bought the man a “World's Best Boss” mug and called it good. Then the Blip happened, and now that he was back, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were there.

This year's gift needed to be perfect. It needed to communicate to Tony how much the man meant to him. How did you find something like that for a man who had everything already? He came to the end of the racks and moved to a row of shelves at the back of the store filled with graphic tees. A display of Avengers themed shirts caught his eye. There, nestled among them was a shirt displaying Spider-Man swinging between two buildings with Iron Man hovering nearby. He reached out and fingered it. It was perfect. He began sorting through the shirts, fully expecting to not see the man's size. But there it was. The perfect gift.

The next time Peter felt the sensation that everything was about to go wrong was after he arrived at the lake house following his final exam. Happy had driven him out and dropped him off. Just as he entered, Tony called him into the kitchen.

“Hey, Roo,” the man greeted as he joined him, “I need to go get Morgan from a party. I'll be back in about half an hour, but the tray of cookies in the oven will be finished before I get back. Will you take them out and put the next tray in?”

He tried to ignore the mounting panic he was feeling. He couldn't be responsible for this. He was raised by May. Baking was not a part of her skill set and therefore not his forte. He'd burn the cookies. He just knew it. Christmas would be ruined. It would be the end of the world as he knew it. Not to mention how devastated Morgan would be.

“But…but…I-” He stammered.

“Breathe, Pete,” Tony said, “All you have to do is pull them out of the oven when FRIDAY tells you they're ready, and then put the next pan in. FRIDAY will keep track of time. Just listen to her.”

The teen gave a nod acquiescing, and Tony headed out to pick up Morgan.

“I can do this. I’ve got this,” He muttered to himself. He did have this. He was going to mess it all up. Burn the cookies to ash. Drop them all over the floor. Something was going to go wrong, and Christmas would be ruined. He nervously paced the hallway until FRIDAY notified him that the cookies were done. He tentatively opened the oven and carefully set the tray on top of the trivet on the counter before taking the next pan and placing it in the oven. He resumed pacing until that tray, too, was ready and couldn’t deny the relief he felt when Tony and Morgan returned before the third tray was ready.

“Great job, Spiderling,” Tony grinned as he took over the baking, taking the finished cookies of the tray to finish cooling before they were decorated.

“We’re going to decorate cookies, Petey!” Morgan danced around the kitchen, her enthusiasm contagious.

Now that he had been relieved of his cookie baking responsibilities, Peter couldn’t help but join in her excitement, “Yeah, Mo. It’s going to be great.”

And it was. They spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the cookies, although by the end, Peter was pretty sure that there was more icing covering Morgan than on the actual cookies themselves. As they were cleaning up, Pepper came in ladened with a stack of pizza boxes, and the family spent the evening stuffing themselves with pizza and cookies, while watching Christmas movies. The night went well, but the next day, the feeling of dread had returned. He’d gone downstairs to join the Starks for breakfast, only to find Morgan bouncing in her seat.

“We’re getting a Christmas tree today, Petey!” She announced in between bites of pancake, “And then we’re going to decorate it!”

Pepper handed him a plate of his own, overflowing with pancakes. As he ate, his imagination began running wild thinking of the things that might go wrong. He could accidentally drop it while carrying it. Or maybe he wouldn’t tie it to the top of the car right, and Tony wouldn’t realize he messed it up, and the tree would go flying off. Or maybe he’d accidentally knock it over while trying to decorate it. Or he’d shatter one of Pepper’s favorite ornaments.

“Whatcha thinking about, Roo?” Tony nudged him, interrupting his spiral.

“Huh?” Peter questioned, looking up to meet the man’s gaze, “Oh, uh, nothing. Just trying to wake up.”

Tony looked skeptical, as if he didn’t quite believe the teen, but he also didn’t call Peter on it. After the family finished breakfast and had washed dishes and tidied the kitchen, Pepper shooed everyone upstairs to change into warmer clothing. Once everyone was ready, they piled into the car and set off for the Christmas Tree Farm.

“We should get this one,” Morgan proclaimed as soon as they arrived at the farm, pointing to one towards the front of the lot. She frowned and ran further ahead, waving her arms around, “Or maybe this one! Or this one!”

“Slow your roll, Little Miss,” Tony laughed, reaching out and snagging his daughter, “Lordy, she’s just like you, Pep!”

“Me?” Pepper arched a brow, “Give yourself at least 12% of the credit there.” The man shot her a grin, while wrangling his exuberant child.

“What about that one,” Peter hesitantly pointed to one that looked about the right height and size to fit in the Stark’s living room.

Pepper smiled at the teen, “I think it’s perfect. What do you think, Morgan?”

The girl paused her wriggling to study the tree before giving a decisive nod, “It’s perfect.”

“Well, then” Tony stated, “Let’s get that one.”

Once their tree was purchased, the family headed to the car. Peter was relieved once he had it situated on top of the car. He hadn’t dropped it yet. He helped Tony tie it to the roof, double and triple checking that the ropes were secured. Thankfully, they made it home without incident. And got it inside the house without it being destroyed. It was only after the tree was finally decorated and they were sitting around the living room, sipping hot chocolate and enjoying the tree, that Peter felt the feeling of apprehension and dread lift. Maybe, just maybe, he would get through the holidays without Parker Luck striking. As the days drew closer to Christmas, he kept expecting the feeling to return, but it never did.

Christmas dawned far earlier than Peter had anticipated, but when one had a younger sister, one found themselves being dragged downstairs to dig into their stockings well before the sun rose.

“Can’t we sleep a little longer?” Peter moaned, attempting to roll back over and bury his head under his pillow.

“Petey!” the girl tugged on his arm, “You can’t sleep! It’s Christmas morning!”

“Fine,” he groaned, allowing her to pull him out of bed and lead him to the living room, where his stocking was promptly shoved into his hands.

“Merry Christmas, Morgunna, Roo,” Tony sleepily acknowledged them from where he stood in the doorway, watching them pulling out the stocking stuffers over a mug of coffee.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Stark,” Peter grinned. Soon enough, May and Happy joined, nursing their own cups of coffee. Once everyone was awake and breakfast had been eaten, everyone gathered in the living room, ready to open presents. As soon as Happy opened the sunglasses from Morgan, he slipped them on his face, modeling them for the group. Tony enthusiastically commented how the fairy wings would match his tiara.

“I know,” Morgan replied sagely, “That’s why I picked them.”

Much to Peter’s delight, Tony immediately pulled on the t-shirt, showing it off to everyone. The man then moved next to Peter and plopped down next to him on the couch, reaching over and tugging him close, "Thanks, Kid. It’s perfect. Are you having a good Christmas?”

“It’s perfect,” the boy grinned, resting his head on Tony’s shoulder. The man ruffled Peter’s hair before letting his arm on the back of the sofa. Peter sighed in contentment. His Parker luck would strike again, but right now, he was glad to savor the rest of the day surrounded by his family.