Stephen fled from the Tower the moment heavy metal music echoed through the surrounding floors of the lab. It wasn't that he hated the music, it was the fact that he knew exactly what it meant.
Tony and Peter were blowing things up.
He could meditate through a majority of things that went on in the Tower. Like if Clint and Sam took over their living room to play video games, Peter crawling all over the ceiling, Tony cursing at something he's tinkering with on the coffee table...or Clint crawling through the air vents. Their floor was constantly taken over by the other Avengers, and he had grown used to it, but explosions from the lab was another thing entirely. It was random and had different levels of noise that startled Stephen's astral form back into his body and left him momentarily confused and disoriented. Not a fun feeling.
Stephen sighs when Wong drops a stack of books on the table in front of him and he opens a single eye. "Do you mind?"
Wong ignores him as he sits down. "AC/DC?"
The sorcerer supreme stretches out in his chair. "Metallica."
"Wouldn't blasting music hurt Peter's ears?"
"He's used to it. He's usually the one controlling the volume anyway." Stephen slumps in his chair.
"How's motherhood treating you?" Wong grins.
Strange groans. "Not you too. How did you know?"
"Tony calls you Mama Bear almost all the time. It was obvious." Wong flips through one of the books. "...and I heard Peter call you Mom."
"That boy will be the death of me."
"I thought I saw some more grey hair."
He wouldn't be surprised. Both Peter and Tony had very little consideration for self-preservation to the point that...well...they were blowing things up in the lab. He could confidently bet the Eye of Agamotto that he would go home to at least one of them in need of first aid. Bruce only helped them in emergencies for how often they got themselves into trouble. He was tired of fishing glass out of broken skin because of a stupid idea.
"I'm tempted to cover them in bubble wrap so I can have a minute of peace without having to worry about what trouble they're getting into."
"Your domesticity is nauseating."
Stephen smirks. "You're just jealous."
"Hardly."
Stephen's phone starts ringing and he looks at the screen, sighs, and answers.
"Yes Spiderling?"
"Holy crap! Where are you?! Dad got knocked out by the fire extinguisher-"
Stephen coughs to hide his laugh. He was definitely going to watch today's recording of the lab to see how that happened. "I'll be there shortly."
He hangs up before Peter can utter another word and glances at Wong.
"What's the damage this time?"
Stephen grins. "Technical knockout by a fire extinguisher."
Wong laughs.
"Peter I swear-" A Lego smacks painlessly against Stephen's forehead. "Did you just throw a Lego at me?!"
The teen flattens himself against the ceiling. "That was my venom! I'm a spider!"
The Vishanti are testing me.
Peter had just recently gotten all of his wisdom teeth pulled and was on very strong pain killers. Something Stephen prayed he would never have to give the boy again because he was a menace. Peter refused to stay in bed and had taken to the ceiling instead, leaving Stephen no choice but to follow him and try to coax him down. He hoped to whatever entity that was listening that the boy wouldn't fall and hurt himself.
The first thing he tried was Levi but Peter stubbornly clung to the ceiling so he had to wave the cloak off from that attempt. Bribing him with ice cream was a dead end as well.
"Spiderling, you don't spit venom." Then another idea came to mind and Stephen didn't know why he didn't think if it before. "How does a movie night with cuddles sound?"
Peter looks at the sorcerer and seems to think over his offer. "'Kay."
Peter was a sucker for physical contact no matter how high he was.
Stephen sighs with relief when the teen moves down from the ceiling and immediately clings to the older man's front like a baby. The sorcerer wraps his arms around Peter to hold him steady, and makes his way back to the boy's bedroom where he gently deposits his burden. He murmurs to the boy to stay while he leaves to change into something more comfortable, and thankfully returns to Peter's room a couple minutes later to find the boy curled up under his blankets.
"Where's Dad?"
"At an Accords meeting. He'll be back by dinner." Strange slips into bed next to Peter and the teen wastes no time in curling up against him. "What do you want to watch Spider-Baby?"
"Disney movie."
Stephen has Karen (Tony connected Peter's AI to his bedroom) start a Disney movie, and gently strokes brown curls. It didn't take long for Peter to pass out between the ministrations and snuggling. One would think the boy was touch starved.
The tower was calm. Peter was at school and Tony was at a meeting, so Stephen felt he could relax. He really should have known better. As soon as he stretched out on the couch with an actual book not related to the mystic artes, Tony strode out of the elevator with blood streaming down his temple. The sorcerer sighs when his boyfriend flops onto the couch when he sits up, and he retrieves the first aid kit and some ice through a couple of small portals.
"I'd ask how your meeting went but that would be pointless."
Tony hisses when Stephen applies some antiseptic. "The meeting was fine. The private meeting Ross wanted...not so much."
"Just say the word and I can have him free-falling for a couple of hours."
"That would be counter productive since I'm trying to keep you and Peter out of the Accords. You're both special cases."
The doctor finishes by applying a butterfly bandage and then hands Tony the ice. The engineer did have legitimate reasons for keeping Stephen and Peter away. Stephen was the Sorcerer Supreme, and had a responsibility to protect the world from magical attacks. Peter was simply underage.
"Head feeling better?" Stephen asks softly.
Tony nods and grimaces as he places the ice pack on his head. "I think I'll live."
Scott slips into the living room and sits in an armchair sipping at a juice pouch. "Hey Strange, your Mama Bear is showing."
"That better not be Peter's Capri Sun."
"Case and point." He grins and loudly sucks every last drop.
"Quit raiding my fridge Lang." Tony snarks.
"Quit buying all the good stuff." Scott kicks his legs up onto the coffee table and turns on the t.v.
Stephen simply laid out on the couch again with his legs across Tony's lap and read while the other two watched reruns of Friends. He would take the quiet while he could. It was a rare occurrence.
"Doctor Strange, you have an incoming call from Peter." Victor calls from his bracelet.
Stephen sighs and puts his tea down to pull his phone out of his pocket. He was at school so either he had gotten into trouble (Not likely unless it was an attack an earth kind) or he wasn't feeling well. Something still unlikely because of the spider bite.
"What's wrong Spiderling?" The sorcerer asks when he accepts the call.
"Uh...Doctor Strange?" That was not Peter. In fact it sounded like...
"Ned? Where's Peter?"
"We're in the boy's bathroom on the second floor. I think Peter is going through a sensory overload."
Shit. That was the one thing that Peter truly hated. "Alright. I'll be there in just a minute."
Stephen hangs up, uses his magic to change into his street clothes, and then opens a portal to just around the corner to the school. With long strides, he shoves his way through pedestrians and into the school and makes a quick stop in the office.
"I'm here to pick up Peter Parker." The secretary looks up, blushes, and reaches for the intercom phone until Stephen reaches out and stops her. "Please don't. He's not feeling well and the intercom will only make things worse. I know where he is if I may go get him myself."
The woman quickly gathers herself. "Of course sir. I just need your name and have you sign him out."
When he relayed his name to her, she looked at him with a mixture of confusion and skepticism, but thankfully cleared him to retrieve Peter. She was probably wondering where his robes were since he was dressed like any other person.
Stephen rushes out of the office and up the stairs and to his relief finds the bathrooms fairly quickly. He wrinkles his nose in disgust as he walks in but says nothing when he spots Peter curled in the corner with his hands over his ears. Ned looks up and relief crosses his features as he promptly moves away from his best friend and the doctor takes his place and gently pulls Peter's hands down.
"I'll get you home in just a second Spiderling." Strange looks up at Ned and accepts Peter's backpack from him. "Thank you for calling me."
Ned nods. "I can call him later and tell him what his homework is."
"I'm sure he would appreciate that."
He then turns and opens a portal, the sound of the sparks drawing a whimper from the suffering teen beside him, and Stephen ignores his breaking heart as he helps Peter through. He closes the portal and leads the teen to his bed where Peter quickly sheds everything but his boxers to, Stephen assumed, get rid of his itchy clothing.
"Karen, Overload Protocol please."
In an instant, the window is covered, the lights are dimmed, and Peter finally relaxes when the room is soundproof and nearly dark. Stephen gently lays the covers over his son and Peter cracks open an eye in response.
"Mom?" Peter croaks out.
"Just relax Spider-Baby."
Peter nods and rolls onto his side before settling against his pillow.
An explosion startles both Stephen and Happy from their naps on their respective couches, and both jump to their feet before rushing down to the lab. The sorcerer punches in the code to open the lab door and he looks around the trashed and smoking lab for Peter and Tony, faintly registering that DUM-E was successfully taking care of any fires. He soons spots the engineer slumped against the wall and he rushes over before kneeling down to examine him and tend to his injuries.
"I've got Peter!" The bodyguard yells from the other side of the room. "He looks fine. Just knocked out!"
Stephen exhales when he finds Tony in the same condition. "Tony is the same. It must have been a repulsor explosion."
Tony groans and slowly opens his eyes. "Peter..."
"He's alright. What happened?"
The billionaire stands with the doctor's help and rubs the back of his head. "One of my gauntlets short-circuited."
Happy approaches them with a smirk. "The kid just woke up and he's talking a mile a minute. I'm pretty sure he's fine. I'm going back upstairs to finish my nap."
Tony rolls his eyes as Happy leaves the lab and both parents walk over to Peter to find him patting DUM-E.
"Good job putting out the fire buddy. Now Dad won't have to donate you to a community college." The robot trills at the praise.
"Now FRIDAY is risking reprogramming." Tony says irritably.
"I tried to warn you Boss but you didn't listen." Could AI be annoyed? FRIDAY definitely sounded annoyed.
"That sounds like something you would do." Stephen drawls and Tony throws his arms up.
"Traitors! I'm scrapping FRIDAY and breaking up with you!"
Peter looks up at Tony's declaration and watches the couple in alarm, but Stephen simply smiles and the teen relaxes and turns his attention back to DUM-E. The poor kid really feared that his family was going to fall apart over something trivial and it hurt Stephen. It really showed how much Peter loved them.
"You won't have anyone to kiss your boo-boos then."
Tony stares at Stephen until he barks out a laugh that turns into something hysterical. "That's true. Brucie isn't the type." He finally wheezes out.
Stephen then decided to take it a step further. "Besides, if we break up, I'm taking Peter."
The boy himself pouts. "Don't drag me into your marital problems."
"Okay, first of all kid, we have to be married to have marital problems. Second, Stephanie, he was my kid first."
"You guys might as well get married. You already act like an old married couple." Peter grumbles and the older two glance at each other.
"...and there's the headache I get from dealing with you two." Stephen says and rubs his temples.
+1
Stephen groggily opens his eyes when a cool hand finds itself on his forehead and he purrs when he finds Tony leaning over him. Something he would completely deny later because he wasn't even aware he could even make that noise.
"Feeling under the weather Mama Bear?"
"I'm fine."
"I'll believe that when you stop trying to hack up a lung while you're sleeping."
The sorcerer bats Tony's hand away and sits up, only for his boyfriend's hand to settle on his chest to stop him from getting up. It was weird for him to be fussed over and he also wasn't about to let a cold keep him from the research he needed to do.
"If you put one foot on the floor I am going to sic Peter on you."
That actually got Stephen's attention. Tony had gotten sick a few weeks back and when Peter got wind of it, he hovered. The teen took it upon himself to make sure that the engineer took some medicine, fed him, and even checked in on him to make sure he was resting. Stephen found it hilarious and let the boy help take care of Tony as long as he didn't disturb him.
To be on the receiving end of that though? That was a scary thought. He was the doctor in the family. He was supposed to worry about them, no matter how many headaches that might cause, not the other way around.
So he laid back down.
"That's what I thought. The only acceptable reason for you to get out of bed is for the bathroom."
"Asshole."
"I love you too Mama Bear. Now let us take care of you." Tony kisses his forehead. "I'll send Peter in with some water and pills."
Stephen glares up at him. "You're going to let him hover anyway?"
Tony frowns. "He already knows you're sick. He promised not to hover."
"...fine."
After Tony left the bedroom, Stephen expected Peter to stumble in a couple minutes later.
He never did.
Tony was the one to bring him whatever he needed, and the doctor immediately knew something was wrong. It took him a few minutes to think about what happened, but then he finally remembered Peter's enhanced hearing. The boy probably heard his parents' earlier conversation and assumed Stephen didn't want to be bothered by him and decided to stay away and respect his wishes.
Just the thought squeezed the sorcerer's heart painfully.
Precious, wonderful Peter ignored his own insecurities so Mom could rest without disruption.
Tony's cellphone ringing pulls Stephen out of his own head and he watches as the older man looks at the screen. He grimaces in irritation before pocketing the phone and places a glass of water on the nightstand by Stephen.
"Pepper needs me for something SI related."
Stephen waves him away. "I'll be fine. I'll have FRIDAY annoy Bruce if I need something."
Tony opens his mouth as if to say something but seems to think better of it and closes his mouth again. Stephen relaxes against his pillow when the billionaire leaves and allows himself to doze off until a thud and a soft curse wakes him later in the evening. Blue eyes blink open at the disturbance and he immediately makes eye contact with doe-like brown eyes wide with horror.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you! I'm only in here because Dad asked me to check on you. Y-You're obviously fine so I'll...go. Yeah." Peter turns to leave and Stephen quickly reaches out and grabs his sleeve.
"Come here Spiderling."
"I swear I wasn't hovering!"
Stephen smiles softly and pulls the younger onto the bed next to him. "You can watch tv if you want...just keep me company."
The horror slowly eases away as the sorcerer pulls him into a hug, and Peter quietly turns on the tv with low volume. If this wasn't enough to show his son he wasn't bothered, he didn't know what was. He really did need the company though. After living in the chaos of the tower for months, the quiet was unnerving.
Stephen found that he really didn't mind.
