Author's Note: I don't own Spiderman or his friends. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
xxxx
As soon as the IV needle was in his arm, Peter had pulled the IV out. At that exact moment, Bruce had stabbed him with a tranquilizer dart he had hidden in his hand. Peter moved to leap away but he was too sluggish leap onto a wall or the high ceiling and soon fell asleep on the floor. Mariah carried the sleeping boy onto a cot and hooked up the IV. Mariah said, "We can't knock him out the next time."
Bruce said, "He believed I would become the Hulk and his body still fought."
"That poor child," said Mariah.
"I should remove his mask while he sleeps," said Bruce.
"I need to respect his privacy."
"What if he vomits inside his mask?" said Bruce.
"Good-bye, Bruce," Mariah said. "Tell him I'm sorry."
"I will." After Mariah left, Bruce removed Peter's mask then took off one of his gloves to take his pulse. "Peter, I won't let you become a monster."
A few hours later, Bruce left Peter in Carrie Ann's care and went to Mariah's lab to find her notes, enough medication for several months of treatments and a cell phone number. He returned to the make-shift hospital room to find Peter still sleeping. Normal sleep since the tranquilizer was long out of his system. The boy's brain patterns were normal, meaning he wasn't in a coma.
Bruce sat with him until he woke. "Peter, you slept the day away."
"You stabbed me with a tranquilizer dart," said Peter.
"You made me promise that I wouldn't let you become a monster," said Bruce. "You need to come back tomorrow to check the size of your tumor, spinner or whatever you want to call it."
"I can't web-sling home half-doped up with tranquilizer," said Peter.
"I can take you home by taxi or have Happy drive you home."
"You have Happy drive me home then Aunt May will be certain we're having an affair."
Bruce brushed Peter's hair away from his face. "Peter, you're a lovely boy, but you're young enough to be my son and you're my patient."
"How do I explain away my hair falling out and the vomiting?"
"Pot will help with the vomiting," said Bruce. "I have no advice regarding the hair loss."
"Gwen's dad was a cop." Peter laughed. "What if I get caught?"
"Tony asked me if my secret was mellow jazz, bongo drums or a big bag of weed," said Bruce. "I don't do jazz or drums. Jarvis, don't tell Tony I'm sharing my stash with young Peter."
"Dr. Banner, I do not keep secrets from Mr. Stark," said AI.
"Invite him then," said Bruce. "We can pass around the joint."
xxxx
Feeling terribly naughty, Peter went upstairs to the penthouse and ran into Bruce's room. Bruce got his stash out of his hiding place, which Peter was sure was going to be moved to a new location after Peter left. They were passing the joint around and giggling when Tony entered the room. "Hulkie and Spidey are having a party and you didn't invite me."
"Mutant weirdos only," giggled Peter.
"I'm married to a mutant weirdo." Tony sat on the floor beside Bruce and wrapped his arms around him. "Doesn't that count for anything?"
Bruce inhaled then passed the joint to Peter. "Poor judgment."
Tony kissed Bruce full on the lips. "I get high just kissing you and you insult my drinking."
"I like to have you around in twenty years," said Bruce. "Have Happy get us take-out. Since Spidey and I are both stoned, we won't care what cuisine as long as it's fresh since I still have my nose."
"How can you smell anything in this room?" teased Tony. "Pot is illegal and his girlfriend's late father was a police captain. She'll smell it on him."
"I'll bathe and wash the uniform before I see her," said Peter. "If that doesn't work, I'll tell her it's for medicinal reasons. I don't know if the chemo is working, but my pain is gone."
"That's the pot," said Tony.
"I'll find a new hiding place once he leaves," said Bruce.
"How are you going to hide the hair loss?" Tony started playing with Bruce's thick curls. "He's too young to be going bald."
"I'll think of something, I always do." Peter took another drag of the joint then gave the now much shorter joint to Bruce. "Where's Dr. Crawford?"
"She left when I removed to your mask to keep you from choking on your own vomit," Bruce explained. "She left enough medicine for two months worth of chemo and a number and email to be reached. She, probably, went back to Africa to be with her love."
"You're stoned," said Peter.
"I'm tired." Bruce put out the joint on an ashtray. "I'm going to sleep now."
Watching the middle-aged man climb into the daybed, close his eyes and fall asleep, made Peter giggle.
"Let him sleep," said Tony. "His plane arrived just after midnight, then less than an hour later, he gave Dr. Crawford the blood sample. Afterward, he slept until you arrived here. It's been a hard day for him. How are you managing?"
Peter said, "I'm starving."
"That's the pot talking." Tony called his chauffeur and told him to get enough take-out for 3 people unless Happy wanted to join them then he better make it four. "And you know Bruce, so only the freshest ingredients will do."
When Happy arrived 45 minutes later, Bruce was still sleeping but Tony had hid the pot and Bruce's room smelled of incense. Peter thought it was funny that Tony sat at the kitchen table with the chauffeur, especially after Bruce said Tony doesn't let the help into the penthouse. Tony must have considered Happy a friend and not help.
"Happy, this is Peter Parker," said Tony. "Bruce let him interview him a few days ago. Peter, this is Happy Hogan."
Happy offered Peter his hand. "Good interview. Tony, Pepper and I accept your invitation for Thanksgiving dinner."
"Peter?" asked Tony.
"Gwen and I will be there," said Peter. "Aunt May will also be coming."
"Pepper and Happy, Peter, Gwen and May, Steve and Bruce and myself. Eight people," said Tony. "I'll tell Bruce when he wakes."
"What about Dr. Crawford and Rhodey?" asked Happy.
"Rhodey has other plans, and Mariah left this morning for parts unknown," said Tony.
"Aunt May doesn't know about Bruce's green little problem," Peter explained - it was hard to think of someone you smoked pot with as Dr. Banner. "So no calling Bruce Hulkie, Big Guy or any of your nicknames."
"I'll have to call him Honey and Sweetie all night." Tony started taking the food out of the brown paper bag. "He'll love that. Bruce will say the most sexually suggestive things and cook breakfast just wearing an apron, but you show the slightly interest toward him and he blushes like a schoolgirl. It is so adorable."
"Chopsticks?" asked Peter.
Tony handed him a pair of chopsticks.
After removing the chopsticks from the paper and splitting them apart, Peter, finally, got to his food.
Tony said, "You have to excuse Peter for his lack of table manners. Dr. Crawford gave him chemo this morning and Bruce thought pot would help ease the symptoms. Peter has never been stoned before."
"A virgin," teased Happy. "You'll never have that same high again. They call it chasing the ghost."
Peter swallowed the food in his mouth. "I feel good - real good - just hungry."
Tony smiled at the boy. "Then eat."
Peter took another bite of food. If he didn't have Spiderman's agility, he wouldn't be able to eat with chopsticks while stoned. Peter chewed his food and tried to keep from giggling. Tony and Happy both appeared to be enjoying watching him eat more than they were enjoying their own food.
Then Peter realized why they were smiling at him. "Oh my God, I'm still dressed in my Spiderman outfit. That's embarrassing. And Mr. Stark, thanks, again, for the outfit. It's so comfortable that I forget that I'm wearing it."
"Wear it in the best of health," said Tony.
"Where are my mask and gloves?" asked Peter.
"In the yoga room," said Tony. "I'll get them for you when we're done eating. I can make you another one, so you have one to wear and one to wash."
Peter said between bites, "You don't have to go to the trouble."
"No trouble, I just put the fabric in the hopper and the machine does the rest," said Tony. "The pattern is already in the computer. It's just hitting a button."
"Mr. Stark, you knew I was compromised," said Peter. "And you didn't tell me to get clothes on."
"You look dressed to me," said Tony.
"Gwen, Ms. Potts, you, Dr. Banner, and now Mr. Hogan," said Peter. "I'm not real good at this secret identity thing."
"Steve doesn't know. Let's not tell him." After dinner, Tony sent Peter off with another uniform. They left food in the refrigerator for Bruce who was still sleeping. Since Peter had the munchies real bad, it wasn't as much as they would have liked. Tony suggested, "You take the rest home. I'll get more for Bruce."
"Sure?" asked Peter.
"He likes his food to be freshly prepared," said Tony.
"He told me," said Peter. "Shouldn't I say good-bye?"
"Let him sleep," said Tony. "He spent nearly a day in the air and he hates planes."
"He told me."
Tony packed back the leftovers in a leak-proof container. "Maybe, I'll get you a new backpack for Christmas. I've always had a tree for Pepper. Being married to a Buddhist, I may do without the tree this year."
"Next year?" asked Peter.
"Will take care of itself," said Tony.
"You're dying." That wasn't a question.
Tony touched the arc reactor in his chest for less than a second. "I'll see you at Thanksgiving."
Happy helped the boy pack while Tony watched. Then Tony gave the boy his gloves and mask. Tony waved good-bye to Spiderman. Peter waved back before leaving with the chauffeur.