Stephen actually froze for a minute in the doorway to Tony's lab when he saw a teenager at the workbench with the engineer, and realized it wasn't Peter. He wasn't aware of any others that Tony might have taken on as a personal intern since Peter kind of completely took over that position, and he didn't recall his husband mentioning any visitors either. Which begged the question.

Who the hell was this kid?

Was he the reason Peter came up to the family floor instead of directly to the lab after school, looking despondent? He had asked his cub what was wrong, but Peter didn't answer and slunk off to his room with his shoulders slumped, causing alarm bells to go off in the sorcerer's head. Stephen then decided he would try and investigate what might have been the cause of Peter's depression. He would talk to Tony first, and if that came up empty then he would have to ask Peter about school. Calling the school would be a waste of time since they couldn't tell him if Peter was being bullied again. They had too many students to focus on one.

This kid may very well be the answer though. Someone else was allowed into the lab that wasn't Bruce or Stephen, and lab time was Peter's sanctuary.

"Anthony. Edward. Stark." Stephen hisses out between clenched teeth, finally getting his husband's shocked attention.
"Uh oh. What did I do now?"
The teen beside Tony regards the doctor with a raised eyebrow. "Who's he?"
The embers in Stephen's eyes turns into full blown flames at the question and his husband cringes at the expression. "That's Stephen. I told you I'm married now."
"Oh, right."
Tony recovers from the sorcerer's fiery gaze and gives him his best shit-eating grin. "Anyway! Mama Bear, this is Harley. Harley Keener. I invited him here for a few days. I told you-"
"No you didn't." The sorcerer interrupts.
"I didn't? Shit, that must have been a dream then."
"I'm assuming he's staying in the guest room."
"Yup." Tony wipes his hands on a soiled towel. "I'm waiting for Underoos to come home so I can introduce them."
"He's home. In his room, looking like someone kicked him." Stephen says coolly.

Tony curses, probably coming to the same conclusion that Stephen did, and mutters that he'll be right back to Harley before slipping past Stephen and out of the lab. Harley silently nudges a pencil around on the workbench in front of him as Stephen studies him, and then finally snaps after a few minutes of scrutinizing from the elder man.

"Take a picture. It will last longer."
Stephen blinks at the snide remark. This kid was the complete opposite of Peter. "I might have to with how forgetful Tony can get." The sorcerer returns.
"I can see why he married you. You're a sarcastic asshole too. Is Peter one?"
"Hardly."

They stand there staring each other down until Tony finally comes back with Peter, who stops just a bit behind the sorcerer when the engineer returns to the unoccupied side of the workbench. God, Stephen could practically feel the jealousy and hurt rolling off of Peter in waves. His cub wasn't used to even the thought of having to share his parents attention with another kid, let alone the fact that lab time apparently wasn't strictly for Peter and Tony anymore. Now there was suddenly this stranger that just walked in and got all of his father's attention.

"Peter, Harley. Harley, Peter." Tony says as he motions between the two. "This kid helped me out a long time ago after I raided his garage."
"Hey, nice to meet you."

Harley holds out his hand and Peter shakes it without a word, tightening his grip just enough so that the other teen's lip twitched to keep back a grimace. Oh, his cub was sizing Harley up and trying to decide if he was a threat to his relationship with Tony. Harley may have a smart mouth but he was only going to be here for a few days, so even if he got most of Tony's attention during his visit, it wouldn't be permanent. Stephen would just watch from the background for now. If Peter needed an escape, he would provide it.

"I'll leave you three alone. Please don't blow up the lab." Stephen eventually says after Peter drops Harley's hand.
Tony grins. "No promises babe."
The sorcerer sighs and looks at Harley. "Do you have any bags?"
"Just a couple." He points toward the bags piled on the couch across the lab. When the bags drop through a portal, his eyebrows disappear into his hairline. "Uh..."
"They're in the guest room." Stephen reassures him.
"Thanks I guess."

The doctor gently nudges Peter forward by his lower back before leaving the lab, and the vigilante makes his way over to a separate workbench where a new prototype for his web shooters were laying. Thankfully, Tony didn't say anything and let him distance himself for now, but he knew it wouldn't last very long. His father always asked for his help or his opinion with something and would doubtlessly use it as an excuse to get him included.

He never did though. He actually asked Harley for his opinion and it made Peter's stomach drop. He was being ignored. Tony and Harley were talking and laughing amongst themselves and the vigilante had the sudden feeling that he was invisible. It made him put down his unfinished web shooters. He lost all motivation to work and so decided that he would go back up to his room.

Peter turns and walks out of the lab without a word, and even though he expected it, it still hurt when Tony didn't notice. Maybe he would just wait out Harley's visitation. The other teen obviously meant something to his father, and he wasn't about to ruin anything because he was a little jealous. Peter got to see him every day. Harley apparently hasn't seen him for years, so it was only fair that he got all of Tony's attention.

At least he still had Stephen...right? The sorcerer was being hospitable but didn't seem inclined to spend time with the new teenager. He could really use Mama Bear cuddles right about now anyway. So when he took the elevator back up to the family floor for the second time and found Stephen reading a book in the living room on the couch, he silently padded over and laid next to him, resting his head in the doctor's lap. Stephen hums in acknowledgement as Levi floats over and settles over the curled up teen, and Peter sighs when a hand brushes through his hair.

"Let the excitement blow over." He mutters gently.
"I know. I get to see Dad every day."
"Want to watch a movie?"
Peter shakes his head. "Just wanna lay here. Is that okay?"
"Of course."

The two spend the next couple of hours in quiet, only broken by the periodic turn of a page in Stephen's book. It was also the only time the sorcerer pulled his hand from Peter's hair, but he always returned it with a gentle scratch before turning it back into a massage. After a few more minutes of that, Stephen checks the time, asks FRIDAY to order some pizza, and then closes his book to place on the small table next to the couch. Peter had his eyes closed, but Stephen knew he wasn't asleep based on his breathing. He was just enjoying the doctor's ministrations.

"Feeling better?"
"A little...thanks Mom." The teen mumbles.
"I know it's hard seeing him with another kid."
"It's not that...just never expected to see someone else allowed in the lab. I thought that was our thing." Peter huffs out.
"I gathered as much. Just remember that Harley may take some lab time from you, but he can't take Spiderman away."
"...what about Mama Bear?" Peter whispers.
Stephen snorts. "I only need one cub...and from the little bit Tony has said about Harley, he still has his mom. He doesn't need another."
"He doesn't seem like someone who wants one anyway."

Their conversation is interrupted by the elevator opening around the corner, and Tony and Harley's chatter fills the floor, causing Peter to shrink more against Stephen's thigh. The engineer and teenager soon appear in the living room and Tony takes a seat on an adjacent couch once he realizes the one Stephen is on is completely occupied.

"You feeling okay Pete?"
"Tired." Peter half lies.
"So he does talk. I thought he might have been mute or something." Harley says with a bit of surprise.
"Usually the trick is getting him to shut up." Tony says jokingly. "Did you order something for dinner Stephanie?"
"Pizza."
"Look at that Keener! You get to try authentic New York pizza!"
"It's the real reason I came here. Seeing you was just a coincidence old man."

Peter actually sniggered into Stephen's ribs at the comment.


Tony and Stephen jolt into a sitting position when a loud explosion disturbs their sleep, and they look at each other through the last hazes of their sleep before realization dawns on them and they scramble out of bed. They both tear out of their room and check both Peter's room and the guest room, and when they find both rooms empty, they make their way down to the lab. It was about halfway to the door of the lab from the elevator when the thought of using a portal crossed Stephen's mind, but it didn't matter at that point. Tony was already yelling for FRIDAY to open the door to the lab and it slid open half a second later, letting the couple in to assess the damage.

There wasn't any. There was some smoke, but nothing was broken.

Harley and Peter were giggling like maniacs on the other side of the room though, and Tony's worry turned into exasperated annoyance. Stephen was just glad that Peter seemed to be bonding with Harley over something...even if that something was lab explosions.

"You little shits! What are you doing down here at ass o'clock in the morning?!"
"Causing explosions and possibly waking the whole tower." Stephen adds.
"Oh! Harley told me about his potato gun so I said we should make a marshmallow version!" Peter rambles.
Harley grins. "We might have gotten distracted by some wires and one of your gauntlets."
Tony rubs his eyes. "Okay. New lab rule. Peter and Harley are not allowed to be in the lab alone together without adult supervision."
"Come on! It was a controlled explosion!" Peter complains loudly.
"Controlled my ass!"
"It was Boss. I made sure of it." FRIDAY says.
"You stay out of this Fri. You two!" Tony points at the cackling teens. "Back upstairs! No lab today!"

Both boys grumble and push past the older men and quickly get excited about a potential junk for breakfast meal as they disappear onto the elevator. Tony inhales deeply as he surveys what's left of the explosion, and then turns to Stephen with a raised eyebrow.

"You're on birth control right?"
"Seriously, Tony?"
"Hey, I have no idea what your magic is capable of!"
Stephen pauses to ponder his words. "I actually have no idea if magic can make that possible."
Tony rolls his eyes. "Some Sorcerer Supreme."
"There may very well be a spell."
"Burn it. We can't take any chances."
Stephen chuckles. "Regretting introducing two teenage boys?"
"That both like science? It's in the top ten."
"Well now those two teenage boys are upstairs raiding our cabinets."
"Fuck! My poptarts!"

Tony dashes for the elevator and Stephen laughs as he opens a portal.