They declined the meal – although if Peter had mentioned that he was hungry, Tony would have stuck around and made sure he'd eaten something before they left the sanctum. As it was, though, they were done early enough that they could pick Pepper up from the tower and save her a lonely drive back to the compound and when Tony suggested it, Peter nodded his willingness to forgo lunch. They could always pick something up on the way to the compound to hold them over until dinner.
"Thanks for the help, Peter," Strange said as he and Wong both walked them to the door. "It might not seem like much, but with your help today, we were able to accomplish far more than I expected."
"And found yourself a cool teleport rock," Tony added.
Wong shook his head.
"I brought that from London, so I'll have to give it back to them."
"But he gets to tell them what it does," Stephen added. "That's a win."
"We definitely wouldn't have figured it out without your help."
Peter smiled, still feeling worn out – and he could tell that Strange did, too.
"I had a good time."
"See if they want to get rid of you for a while next week – or the week after," Strange suggested, with Tony close enough to hear. "You can come spend the night and we'll find some trouble to get into."
"You realize he doesn't need help finding trouble, right?" Tony asked as they reached the door and he put his hand on the boy's shoulder, affectionately. "He's a teenager. It's second nature for him to find himself trouble."
"It's easier when there's magic involved," Strange pointed out.
"Get some sleep, Stephen," Tony told him. "You look tired."
"I will."
They said their goodbyes and got into Stark's car. As Peter buckled in, Tony looked over at him.
"You're okay?"
"Yeah."
"That teleporting rock didn't hurt you?"
Strange looked exhausted by it, and he was far more experienced with magical relics than Peter was.
"No, it just made me tired. I feel better, now, though. It wasn't that much, and it was pretty cool. It almost felt like the cloak does. Cheerful, you know?"
"I'll take your word for it," Stark said, starting the car. "As long as it doesn't follow you home."
OOOOOOO
Pepper was waiting for them in the garage of the tower, and Peter climbed the seat and got into the back so she could have the front and be with Tony. She greeted both of them and when Stark asked her about her day – abbreviated though it was – she started telling him about things he didn't understand and people she'd spoken with that he didn't know.
He dozed off, leaning against the window behind Tony's seat.
Pepper noticed, of course, and she smiled.
"He looks tired."
Stark nodded.
"Him and Stephen both."
He described their time at the sanctum that afternoon, and the finale with the rock that had scared the liver out of him – although he played it down so she wouldn't freak out as much as he had.
"He had a good time, though?"
"Yeah. I think so. He likes that magic stuff. Probably because he can feel it."
"Did you feed him?"
"We decided that we'd rather come get you and stop somewhere on the way for a snack."
"Let's just go home. I don't want to wake him up to eat a couple of chicken strips or something."
"Not to mention he'll probably spill fries all over the back seat if he falls back to sleep before finishing them. We'd never get the smell of French fries out of the leather."
They both smiled at that, and he reached over and took her hand, placing it on his knee and holding it down with his.
OOOOOOOOO
Peter wasn't so tired that he didn't wake up when they pulled into the compound parking. He glanced over at his car, and smiled, automatically, and then got out of the backseat and shut the door, waiting while Tony opened Pepper's door for her.
"How was the nap?" she asked him, brushing her hand against his cheek.
"Good. Thanks."
"We'll eat in an hour or so," Stark told him, looking over at Pepper to see if she was okay with that. "Find something to do in the meantime that doesn't include homework, or vanishing into thin air."
Peter grinned and nodded.
"We're eating in the lounge," Pepper added as he headed for the outside exit instead of the one that led into the corridors.
The boy waved to show that he had heard and left them alone to walk to their quarters. He went outside, figuring that there would be some drills going on and he could watch them. They were always interesting – even though he had no intention of joining the military. There was definitely a precision that he liked to watch, though, and they never seemed to mind if he was there.
Instead, though, he found Steve and Natasha hanging out in the field alone – with the chocolate lab puppy, clearly trying to teach it tricks. Both smiled at him when he walked up, and the puppy barked and wagged his tail, running over to see what treat the new comer might have for him.
Despite his reluctance to become too familiar with either puppy just then, Peter reached down and picked him up, cuddling him and rubbing his belly and asking him who's a good dog.
"Not him," Steve told him, answering the question for the puppy.
Natasha grinned, and touched the puppy, first, then slid her hand along Peter's shoulder in greeting.
"Someone chewed up daddy's wallet."
"Really?"
Steve shrugged and nodded.
"And then he peed on it for good measure."
"Which is why we are outside," Natasha told him, obviously amused by the whole thing.
Of course, it wasn't her wallet, or something else of hers, so she could be.
"Where's the other one?" Peter asked, putting the puppy down so he could run around – and to avoid being accidentally peed on.
"Clint took him home."
"Really? Already?"
Natasha nodded.
"When he told his wife about the choice, she decided for him. She wanted the yellow one, and then told the kids – so now he has to make a special trip home or they will just die if they have to wait until Friday to see their new puppy."
"Apparently the kids want to name it Nick Furry."
Peter laughed at that.
"Does Nick know that?"
"I'm not telling him," Rogers said, equally amused.
"What are you going to name this one, then?" Peter asked.
"No clue," Steve admitted with a casual shrug. "He's an Avenger, so we'll let the Avengers decide. Maybe we'll do some secret balloting tonight and come up with some choices."
Natasha smiled, and pulled Peter into her arms for a quick hug now that he didn't have the puppy in his.
"How do you feel? You look tired."
"I am."
He told them both about the rock that had transported him, and the way he felt drained after, and they both frowned.
"Bet Tony didn't like that…" Natasha said.
"Not really."
Steve shook his head, easily imagining Stark's reaction to that, and then he scooped up the puppy.
"I'm going to go feed Sir Pees A Lot before dinner. I'll meet up with you guys later."
He left and Natasha looked over at the boy, brushing her hand along his cheek, looking concerned.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. Just felt like the energy was drained out of me for a minute. I napped on the way home, so I should be good."
"Stephen wasn't hurt, either?"
Peter smiled.
"No. He looked tired, too. That's all. He said he was going to get some sleep."
"Good. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah."
She hooked her arm through his and they headed for the door, just in time to see the puppy stop in the corridor ahead of them and leave a puddle now that he was inside and off the grass.
Rogers rolled his eyes and shrugged silently at them, and Natasha smiled.
"Now you know why I don't have a puppy."
Peter agreed completely, but he let her go and offered to go find some paper towels for Steve.
