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Secret Agents

Tony didn't look up from the boy on the bed until he was sure the kid was asleep. Trying his best not to look over at the bloody rags that Bruce was cleaning up, he focused on Peter, holding his hand now that there was no danger of it crushing his own. The kid was breathing fine, and the hole in his shoulder was healing, the skin knitting back together under the gauze. The blood flow had already slowed down, but he knew the area would be tender for at least the rest of the day.

He hadn't exactly studied Peter's ability to heal...there really wasn't a way to study it unless he came to the lab already hurt, which the kid rarely did. There was no way he was willing to hurt the boy for the sake of science, especially since he'd failed to make any kind of pain meds that would work with his metabolism. The kid got banged up all the time doing his superhero thing, but rarely complained. Tony thought of Steve and decided the two of them would probably get along pretty well. Both self-sacrificing and stupidly noble. He knew Peter tried to hide injuries all the time, never wanting to worry him, which was why he'd had FRIDAY scan the kid every time he came over so Tony would know what he was working with.

It had never been bad. Usually bruises. The kid might hold himself too stiff or limp a little, and once, Tony had patted him on the back only for the boy to flinch, gasping, and Tony had pulled his hand back so quickly he might as well have been burned. He hadn't thought it likely that he'd hit him too hard...his kid was stronger than almost anyone he knew. Still, he'd put his hand carefully back onto the kid's shoulder. "Are you alright?" Peter had tried to brush him off but had apparently seen in his mentor's expression that the man wasn't about to let it go.

"I just got cut up a little...it's taking longer than usual to heal." Tony had ordered him to take off the t-shirt that had probably said something about math or science and had flinched at the ragged cut going from shoulder to shoulder. "A couple of guys had this girl surrounded...one of 'em got me…" He had hesitated. "I was going to try and sew the suit but…"

"Holy shit, kid. Do not ever try to sew the multi-million dollar suit. Ever. Just bring it here if it needs repairing." He'd urged, running a hand down his face at this kid...this kid who would play off any injury and pretend for as long as possible that he was fine. It was why Tony had to watch him like a hawk sometimes, always on the lookout for some potential problem the kid would refuse to share.

He hadn't even seen the gun. Neither had the Shield agents, which Tony found hard to believe. Then again, they'd been more worried about Loki. They didn't trust him, which Tony could understand, but apparently, his kid cared enough about the guy to save his life. Then again, Peter had saved the life of that Vulture idiot too, so the kid had low standards. Still, he had a feeling that Thor and Loki would be even more inclined to protect his kid now, which was never a bad thing. The gods of thunder and mischief were good friends to have on your side.

"Tony?" The man sighed at Bruce's voice, squeezing Peter's hand before dropping it back onto the bed, then tucked a sheet from the foot of the bed around him.

"He'll probably only sleep for about an hour," Tony told them, even though they hadn't asked. "FRIDAY, where are we on that shooter situation?"

"The man is currently in police custody. No one else was injured. Agent Hill is downstairs waiting to speak with you." He swore under his breath, rolling his eyes. He didn't have time for Shield. He just wanted to get Peter back to the compound where he would feel a lot safer. He would need to up security at the Tower...get rid of the protestors outside and make sure Peter would be safe coming and going.

"Tell her to call me later."

"She's insisting, sir."

He'd been giving a stupid speech...he gave them every day. He hadn't been paying any attention to Peter who'd been all but hiding behind him and Pepper, his back to the wall, probably wishing he could bolt at any second. Hands had shot up when he'd announced his guardianship over the boy, but Pepper had stepped in.

"We will not be answering any questions about the boy under his legal guardianship, nor will Mr. Stark be revealing any information about the boy. We ask that you all respect this decision and the privacy of all parties involved." Her words had been reasonable, but her tone had been made of steel. Every hand in the room had gone back down, and then Tony had gone on to explain the presence of Thor and Loki. He'd been explaining the part about King T'Challa, and briefing the press on the king's arrival, when Peter had yelled behind him.

He'd turned in horror to watch Peter spring across the strange, arms going around the god of mischief and knocking him across the stage...and then he'd heard the gunshot, screams of terror echoing around him. Torn between Peter and Pepper, he'd stood frozen for a horrible second before Thor had stepped in, moving himself between Peter and the crowd, expression fierce as he'd blocked his kid from view, and so Tony had turned and grabbed Pepper's hand, keeping himself between her and the crowd as he'd led her to where Happy waited to get them both to safety.

But of course, he hadn't gone to safety. He'd hurried back across the stage, watching as Rhodey had started to move forward and help but had waved his friend off. "Help Happy get Pepper to safety. Make sure no one else is hurt." He'd ordered, and his friend had nodded, hurrying off the stage. Then he'd found himself kneeling next to Bruce who had been on the ground beside his kid, hand on the boy's shoulder which had been soaked with blood, his breath coming in frightened gasps.

It had been Loki's face that had surprised him the most. Thor had looked concerned and sad, Bruce worried...but Loki had been furious as the idiot in the crowd had screamed at them, calling the Asgardian a murderer. Loki's gaze had gone from the man being dragged away to the too-pale boy on the ground, and something in his expression had hardened. His hand had come up, a slight green glow starting to illuminate his fingers, and Thor had given a sharp shake of his head. "Loki! Not now." He'd hissed.

The hand had dropped, and the Asgardian had opened his mouth, maybe to argue, but Tony hadn't been able to focus on their family squabble. Instead, he'd gotten Thor to pick the boy up and they had all rushed to the medbay. This self-sacrificing, noble, too-selfless child would be the death of him one day, but he was going to enjoy every moment of it, he was sure.

"Tony?" Bruce asked again, the quiet voice jerking him back to the present moment. Sighing and running a tired hand through his hair, he turned to Bruce.

"Yeah?"

"Peter is...he's a mutant?" Tony waved a hand.

"Enhanced individual." He parroted the kid. "You heard him. He's like Steve...got bitten by a radioactive spider and it messed with his DNA."

"Are there any other side effects?" Bruce wondered, that curiosity getting the best of him for a minute, and Tony shrugged, not wanting to get into that. Not without Peter's permission. Sure, the boy had told him about the enhanced metabolism, but not the spider powers, so maybe he still wasn't ready for anyone to know about his web-slinging alter ego.

"I haven't run any experiments on him yet." Bruce managed a weak smile at that, glancing at the boy.

"How long has he been…"

"Little over a year...maybe more. I didn't know at first either. But he doesn't want anyone to know. You've seen how they talk about mutants in the news. He was worried about what would happen if anyone found out."

"We will not tell anyone. You have our word." Thor spoke up, voice soft and serious. "Will he be alright?"

"Yeah...yeah, he's...he heals pretty fast. He'll be sore for a while but…" Tony broke off, remembering walking into a hospital room to find the boy unconscious, an oxygen mask on his face, tubes and wires running from his arms to machines at his sides. Remembered waiting for days for his kid to wake up. "He'll be fine. We'll go back to the compound as soon as he wakes up. We can go out the back way...keep him away from any reporters. I was going to try and get him back into school by Monday. We're going to be moving here…I wanted to take a look around upstairs, see what needed to be done before we moved back." There was so much to do...so many things he needed to take care of. Thankfully, he knew Pepper was more than willing to help.

Bruce finished disposing of the bloody rags and cleaning up and took a step forward. "You can go ahead. Look around, talk to Agent Hill...I'll stay with Peter." Tony wasn't so sure...didn't want Peter to wake up without him around. But who safer to leave him with than Bruce Banner, Thor, and Loki?

"We will not allow anything to happen to your son," Thor assured him, and Tony managed to roll his eyes.

"He's not my son." He told him on instinct, barely processing the words he'd spoken before Thor shrugged.

"Close enough." Blinking for a moment, Tony finally cracked a smile.

"Yeah. I guess he is." He reached out, patting Thor on the shoulder. "FRIDAY, tell me when he wakes up. Inform Agent Hill that I'm on my way downstairs. I'll meet her in the conference room. Ask Pepper to start ordering things for upstairs...I want the living area ready in two days. Furniture, Peter's stuff...the labs too. Get Happy to help."

"Yes, sir," FRIDAY responded, her voice on a low setting, probably so she wouldn't wake Peter. He touched the boy's hair one last time, long past worrying about how he looked to the others. Thor had already said it out loud...Peter was practically his son. And none of them seemed inclined to tease him about it, so he ran a hand through his kid's curls.

Nodding to Bruce who had taken a seat by Peter's side, and to Thor and Loki who stood at attention by the door, he headed to the elevator which he took back down to the conference room. Walking away from the boy's room felt wrong, especially when he was unconscious...when he'd just been shot. But he had to deal with this...get it over with so that he could spend more time looking after Peter. He knew that Pete would heal pretty quick...he just felt like it was one thing after another hurting his kid. Tony's phone buzzed as he reached the first floor, pulling him out of his thoughts, and he pulled it out, answering immediately when he saw Pepper's name.

"Is he okay?" She asked before he could even say hello, her voice wavering.

"He's going to be fine," Tony assured her, leaning against a wall. "The bullet went into his shoulder, but Bruce was able to get it out." He was glad she hadn't been there for that part...hadn't had to watch the fifteen-year-old have a bullet dug out of his shoulder without anesthetic. Hadn't had to listen to him scream.

"Okay." He heard her take a long, deep breath and knew she was still worried. Then again, so was he.

"He's asleep. His healing tires him out. Bruce and company are staying with him."

"Good. That's...good." She took a deep breath once more, obviously trying to focus. "I'm going to make some calls and take a look around upstairs. Go ahead and talk to Agent Hill." He wished she was there with him so he could hold her for a moment...take her hand and actually comfort her. Instead, he just listened to her breathe for a second. "He's really okay?" She confirmed softly.

"Yeah. He's really okay." It was a fact he was delierously grateful for. It would have been so easy for the boy not to be okay...if the shooter had aimed a little higher or lower...Peter could have been dead. That wasn't something he wanted to think about, though, so he pushed that thought away and told Pepper he would see her later.

It wasn't just Agent Hill waiting for him downstairs. Natasha Romanoff leaned against the wall of the meeting space, eyes on the street outside, shoulders tense, and Tony wondered why he was surprised. Agent Hill was sitting in one of the chairs around the small table, her hands folded on the tabletop, a stack of folders beside her. "Agent Hill." He greeted, nodding, and she gave him a weak smile.

"Is the boy alright?"

"He will be," Tony told her, glancing over at Natasha who turned just a little to face him. "Agent Romanoff."

"Hello, Stark." She greeted, still tense, and he wondered if she thought he was going to attack or something.

"Who else is around?" He wondered. He hadn't seen her in the crowd but he had been more focused on getting it over so he could get Peter home and away from the crowd of reporters.

"Just me. Steve said he called you?"

"Yeah." Tony took a seat across from Agent Hill and gestured for Natasha to join them, and she did after a moment, sitting at the head of the table.

Agent Hill wanted to know about Loki, but there wasn't much to tell. "He sits in my living room and reads novels when he isn't hanging out with his brother. That's about it." He told her with a shrug, wanting to get back to his kid, but knowing that it would be a while before he could. "Who was that asshole?"

"He was a reporter...he lost his family in the attack on New York." She explained. "Obviously he is in police custody." Tony nodded. "We're going to have Shield watching the Tower for a few days...make sure no one gets too close. Agent Fury wants to have a meeting with you."

"I'm in the process of moving my family back to the Tower this week. And my kid just got shot." Tony told her simply. "So send my regrets but I don't think I'll be able to have any Shield meetings for a while. Agent Hill sighed.

"I'll have him call you." She told him simply, and he let it go. He could talk to Nick on the phone if he had to, but he wasn't making time for any more meetings, not for a while. "No one else was injured, but we're speaking to all of the reporters. Is Loki going to stay with you?"

"At the moment, the plan is for Loki, Thor, and Bruce to stick around for a while. Not sure how long...that's up to them, but they're welcome to stay here for as long as they need."

"And if we asked you if we could speak to Loki?"

"That's not up to me. I'll let him know as soon as my kid isn't bleeding from a bullet wound." He snapped a little, hands clenched into tight fists in his lap.

"I'm sorry." She murmured then, leaning in across the table and meeting his eyes. "We were keeping an eye on Loki...we weren't as focused on the reporters as we should have been."

"Thor says he trusts Loki, and I trust Thor," Tony told her simply. "Until he becomes a problem, he's a guest of mine, so if you want to talk to him, you're welcome to come to the compound for a visit. We'll all be relocating to the Tower by the end of the week though, as soon as the Asgardians are on their way to Wakanda. We've been working with the Swedish and Norwegian governments to find them homes in those countries, but in the meantime, they'll be staying with King T'Challa."

"Understood. Thank you, Mr. Stark." He nodded, remembering that Mariah Hill had been a friend of his. Of course, after Ultron, Shield, in general, had been a little less friendly, but maybe they could all finally move on from that.

"And you're always welcome to stop by. I'm sure Pepper would be glad to see you. Nick too, if he wants to stop being a spy for a couple of hours." Mariah smiled at that, finally seeming to lose some of that tension.

"I don't think he ever stops being a spy, but I'll let him know. Thank you, Tony. Really."

"Of course. I can get you in contact with Happy Hogan...he's still my head of security. I'll have my guys here, making sure the Tower is secure for us, but it never hurts to have Shield watching our backs." She nodded, pushing over a folder that, he realized after a quick peek, held the information of the reporter that had shot Peter, more information on the protests along with a couple of notable protesters, and information on members of the UN that were against allowing Loki to remain free.

"There is one more thing before I go...Agent Fury said that you brought a new vigilante to German during the...argument with Captain America." Tony felt his blood run cold but didn't let it show on his face. At least, he hoped it didn't show, but in a room with two of the best spies in the world, he wondered if he was really fooling anyone. "Spiderman, right? The one from the internet?"

"Yes."

"Have you been in contact with him since?"

"Not really." He lied, waving a hand and shrugging. "The kid wanted to stick low to the ground...keeping on helping the little guy or something. I figured I ought to leave him alone, but he has my number in case of emergencies. Why?" He wondered, hoping he'd mixed just enough of the truth in with the lies that they would swallow it.

"Agent Fury would like to speak with him as well."

"Spiderman isn't a superhero." He lied through his teeth, silently apologizing to the boy as he spoke. "He's barely a vigilante. He rescues kittens from trees and gives old ladies directions. Tell Nick to leave the guy alone." She stared at him for a minute, eyes darting over to meet Romanoff's, then nodded.

"I'll pass along your message. Tell Pepper I said hello." He waved as she saw herself out, then turned in his chair to face Natasha who had been strangely silent for the last few minutes. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms.

"Well...to what do I owe this surprise?" He wondered.

"I did some digging." She told him simply. He lifted an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. "Peter Benjamin Parker, son of Mary and Dr. Richard Parker. Both deceased. Taken in by his aunt and uncle, both recently deceased." He felt his hands clench back into fists, knowing he shouldn't take it personally but still feeling a wave of protectiveness for Peter. Natasha did background checks on everyone...but she couldn't find out Peter's secret. He'd promised the boy.

"That is my kid, Romanoff." He warned her softly, leaning in and hoping he looked at least somewhat intimidating.

"Biologically?" He brought a hand down on the table, smacking it just hard enough to make a sound.

"That doesn't matter, nor is it any of your business. Now, I already told Cap that we can all meet up, talk about how things went down, try to get the band back together, whatever. But Peter is my kid and he has nothing to do with any of this. That means you don't go digging into his past or trying to find out whatever it is you like to dig up on people. Am I making myself clear, Agent Romanoff?" If he didn't know better, he might have said that there was hurt in her eyes. It was gone after a second, and she leaned back, obviously relaxing her body to put him at ease.

"I was only trying to understand." She told him, dropping her voice. "You never said anything about a son, so...I was curious. I didn't mean to overstep. Of course, I won't share any information about him that isn't already public with the team." He didn't know what to make of that statement, but she went on before he could ask for some clarification. "He was your intern?"

"Yes. And his aunt was a family friend." She nodded, apparently accepting that.

"And...he isn't yours?"

"He's mine in every way that matters." He told her, his own voice going soft. There was a smile turning the corners of her mouth and immediately he tensed. "What?"

"Nothing." She chuckled. "It's a good look on you." Snorting and rolling his eyes, he leaned back in his chair again, trying to relax. "Why are you moving back to the Tower?"

"It's closer to his school." He decided to throw some honesty in there, and she accepted it with a sharp nod.

"Midtown School of Science and Technology. Good school. And he was your intern...so he's smart. Genius level smart."

"Yeah." Tony chuckled. "He is." She hesitated for a second, then softened, leaning forward over the table.

"Is he really okay?" She asked, real concern leaking into her voice.

"Bruce took care of him. He's going to be okay." He noticed her flinch a little at Bruce's name but she didn't say anything about him, and he decided to ignore that.

"Good. Maybe we'll get to meet him." Tony nodded. He wasn't sure he trusted these people with his kid just yet, but he knew that Peter would be excited to meet the rest of the Avengers, even if he didn't quite trust them. They'd take things slow.

"Yeah. I think he'd like that." He was about to answer when his phone chimed in his pocket. Glancing at the message, he frowned, heart clenching. It was from Bruce.

"He's waking up, but he has a fever. You need to come back."

"Is everything okay?" Natasha asked, genuine concern on her face.

"Peter's waking up...we need to move him back to the compound…" He trailed off, shaking his head and struggling to focus as he stood. "Come back to the Tower next week. Bring Cap and everyone...we'll work this out. For now, I need to…"

"Go." She urged, standing when he did. "I'll tell Steve...we'll call before we come over. I hope everything is okay with Peter." He muttered a thanks, hurrying out of the room and to the elevator, heart pounding as he tried to make it back to Peter's room before he was fully awake.

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