"Hey spiderling," Natasha shook Peter awake as he moaned and rolled over.
"Go away," He complained, pulling his duvet over his head, curling up in a ball and rolling over, trying to escape Natasha shaking him.
"Hey that's no way to address your favourite aunt," Natasha narrowed her eyes in fake annoyance as Peter continued burrowing under his duvet.
"This is no way to wake me at this time in the morning," Peter finally brought his head out from under his covers.
"Me and Steve were planning on going for a morning jog," Natasha smiled sweetly. "Work off Christmas dinner. Want to come with us?"
"Why would I want to go on a run?" Peter groaned.
"I persuaded Tony to let you out for a bit," Natasha told him. "Besides there's a bakery that we like to stop at."
"Ugh," Peter rubbed the sleep from his eye before nodding. "But only because of the food." Natasha laughed.
"Come on pipsqueak," She said. "We're leaving in ten."
"Ten?" Peter repeated, scrambling to get out of his bed. "Fine, get out so I can get dressed then." Natasha smiled, closing the door behind her quietly.
"You seem to be able to hold your own pretty well," Steve said a while later as they joked side by side.
"I can normally go quicker," Peter panted. "I'm still not fully recovered though."
"You've recovered pretty well, all things considered," Steve said, slowing his pace slightly so Peter wasn't struggling to keep up as much.
"I've got quicker healing," Peter shrugged slightly. "Ever since the spider bite."
"That's how you got your powers?" Natasha snorted slightly.
"Shut up," Peter glared at her defensively. "It's not funny, I've been petrified of them ever since."
"You're name's spider-man and you're scared of spiders?" Steve stopped at this as him and Natasha cracked up laughing. He turned his glare to Steve which made him begin to laugh.
"Anyway, isn't it time to head to the bakery?" Peter said, quickly changing the subject. Steve laughed a bit more at him for changing the subject so quickly.
"Ten more minutes," He told him as he and Natasha continued.
"Wait for me," Peter called before racing after them.
Peter sat up in bed panting heavily as he was pulled back to reality. It was just a nightmare. It was just a nightmare. He kept telling himself that. He had escaped. He wasn't being tortured. Ross was locked up. Tony would protect him. He sighed as he realised that he was covered in sweat. He knew that he wasn't going to get back to sleep after that so he may as well get up.
As he got out of his bed, he wondered why Tony hadn't come rushing through. He usually did when Peter had a nightmare. The protocol Tony programmed into F.R.I.D.A.Y must not apply at the compound or something. It was kind of nice being at the compound. Tony and Pepper were planning on staying until after the new year. They didn't want to rush Peter's recovery, even though he insisted that he was fine.
As the water hit his face, his chest began to restrict. He panted heavily, before he nearly slipped. He managed to grab onto the side and he switched the water off quickly. He panted heavily. This had been happening ever since the kidnapping. He had been washing himself with a face cloth and his hair in a sink.
Whenever he got in the shower, he got flashbacks. To the kidnapping. To the waterboarding. He couldn't breathe. He got dizzy. Blacked out. He had hoped it would go away. It hadn't though. If anything it got worse. He knew Tony would want him to tell him about it. He couldn't though. He didn't want to seem weak. He could deal with this on his own. He grabbed his towel and dried off the little water that had got on his face and in his hair.
"Peter, I think that Mr Stark would want me to inform him of these panic attacks," F.R.I.D.A.Y said and Peter sighed. He knew that if he didn't tell Tony soon, F.R.I.D.A.Y would.
"Okay," He whispered quietly, slumping onto his bed, knowing that Tony would probably be through shortly. He wrapped his blankets back round him suddenly cold from his quick blast in the shower. There were three short knocks on the door and Peter knew immediately that it was Tony. He always knocked like that. "Come in." Peter said quietly, so quietly he wasn't quite sure if Tony had heard him, but a moment later Tony walked in, looking dishevelled and only wearing a pair of joggers.
"Hey kiddo," He rushed to the bed and wrapped an arm around Peter, pulling him into his chest. "Talk to me. Fri didn't say what it was, just that you were distressed." When Peter didn't reply but he felt the kid shake from crying he prompted him. "More nightmares?" Peter pulled away slightly and shrugged.
"At first," He replied eventually. "I woke up sweating so I was going to have a shower but... I can't. Water... I haven't been able to since..." Tony sighed. His heart was breaking for his kid. He would've done anything to be kidnapped, tortured and shot instead of Peter.
"It'll be okay," Tony told him, fiddling with Peter's curly hair absent-mindedly, but smiled when he unconsciously leaned into the touch. "We'll work through this." Peter smiled slightly at the way that Tony said 'we'.
"How?" Peter asked softly. He didn't know how Tony could promise that things would be okay when he couldn't even have a shower without freaking out.
"Well to start with, Fri, order some dry shampoo for me," Tony said. "That'll save you from however you've been managing to wash your hair."
"Thanks," Peter smiled slightly.
"It's not a long term solution," Tony told him. "But it will help in the meantime."
"What abut everything else?" Peter asked, his eyes wide with anxiety. "How do we deal with that?" Tony smiled at how Peter was using the word 'we' as he had done earlier. He was finally getting that they were a team. Peter wasn't doing this alone.
"Baby steps," Tony shrugged. "If you want we can get a counsellor, or we can just do little things. Maybe start off with just splashing water on you, going outside in the rain."
"I don't want a counsellor," Peter said immediately, looking offended at the idea. Tony looked concerned at this.
"Are you sure?" He asked, squeezing Peter's arm slightly. "It might help."
"I'm a superhero, I don't need a counsellor," Peter insisted and Tony sighed again. He wished Peter wouldn't think that just because he was spider-man, he didn't need any help.
"Being spider-man doesn't mean you don't need one," Tony said. "If you don't want one, I won't force you, there'd be no point in it then. I really think you'd do better with one though."
"You don't," Peter changed tactic at that point, seeing as he would get nowhere with that argument. Tony paused for a moment thinking. His kid a point about that. Maybe he should get counselling. Pepper had been trying to get him to see one for years.
"Okay," He said after a pause. He knew it probably would help him. "I'll start seeing a counsellor if you will."
"Could we..." Peter trailed off, mumbling so that Tony didn't hear the end of the question.
"What was that kiddo?" He asked, pulling Peter closer into him and smiled as Peter leaned into him for comfort.
"It was dumb, doesn't matter," Peter said, thinking that Tony would think that he was too needy.
"You are not dumb," Tony said, wishing that Peter would stop being so self conscious around him. He was his son for goodness sake, of course he didn't think that he was dumb.
"Could we..." Peter trailed off again. "Can you be with me... when I see the counsellor." Tony smiled at this. He felt honoured that Peter would trust him to be with him when he saw the counsellor. He struggled to talk to him as it was, but have him there when he spoke to a counsellor. It was definitely a step in the right direction.
"I would love to," Tony told him, ruffling his hair. "We could go to that Delmar's that you love so much after the session." He offered and Peter beamed at that.
"Are you sure it's not too much bother to come to the city just for counselling?" Peter asked and Tony rolled his eyes.
"It'll be good practice for your driving," He replied. "You haven't been out in ages and you need the practice."
"I'm better than I was," Peter said defensively and Tony chuckled.
"That's not saying a lot," He smirked as Peter narrowed his eyes at him.
"Why don't you have your hair like this more often?" Tony asked, gesturing to Peter's curls. Peter shrugged.
"It makes me look five, it's annoying," Tony rolled his eyes.
"I like it," Tony told him. "You're always trying to be older than you are."
"I'm basically an adult," Peter protested, finally pulling away from Tony and crossing his arms in mock anger.
"Stop kidding yourself," Tony laughed. "You're a kid, my kid." They both smiled at that comment.
"No phones at the table," Pepper glared slightly at Peter as his phone began exploding with texts.
"Sorry," Peter murmured, quickly switching his phone on silent as Tony glared at him slightly.
"Have you started thinking about college yet then?" Tony asked changing the subject. "You'll have no issues getting in to any of them. MIT is obviously the best one though." Pepper rolled her eyes slightly and Peter shrugged slightly.
"I hadn't really thought about it," He replied, biting into a slice of pizza. "I've got over a year yet."
"It comes by quickly," Pepper reminded him. "It never hurts to start looking."
"Why do you need to look when you can go to MIT?" Tony asked, raising his eyebrow at Peter and Pepper kicked him under the table.
"Oww," He complained, reaching down and rubbing his leg where Pepper's high heel had kicked him as Pepper smirked at him across the table.
"Peter is not going to MIT unless he wants to go there," Pepper told him, smiling at Pepper.
"I don't even know if I want to go college," Peter said, shocking both Tony and Pepper. They had both assumed, considering how academic he was, he'd want to go to college.
"What will you do?" Tony asked.
"If you just don't know what you want to do that's fine," Pepper said quickly. "No point in going college for the sake of it."
"I just don't want to finish school to be stuck in a lecture hall," Peter replied. "Maybe it'll just be a gap year, I'm not sure yet. Besides, I need to save up."
"Save up?" Tony asked confused. "What do you need to save up for?" Peter looked at him like he was stupid.
"For my college fees," He replied, speaking slowly as if Tony was being stupid. Both Tony and Pepper exchanged looks at that.
"The college fees which I am paying for?" Tony asked, speaking equally slowly and Peter looked confused.
"Bu-" He began but Tony interrupted.
"No buts," He told him. "We adopted you, so we're taking care of you, including your college fees."
"You don't have to," Peter argued. He felt bad that Tony had already spent a ridiculous amount of money on the suit and he'd been looking after him ever since Thanos.
"I know we don't," Tony shrugged. "But would you expect Morgan to have to pay for her college fees?"
"She's your daughter, of course you'r-" But Pepper interrupted.
"Exactly, she's our child," Pepper smiled at Peter. "Just like you."
"But I'm-"
"Just as much our child as Morgan is," It was Tony's turn to interrupt this time. Peter wasn't sure how to respond to that, instead he took a large bite of pizza.
"You know Natasha and Rhodey have been having bets on how long it'll take for you to call them Aunt and Uncle," Pepper laughed and Peter nearly choked on his food.
"Why do you think that Nat keeps referring to herself as aunt to you?" Tony chuckled. "She reckons that she could get you to call her Aunt Nat within a month but Rhodey bet it'd be at least a year, considering that you still call me Mr Stark half the time." Peter paused, listening. Unsure what to think. The only other aunt and uncle he had ever had was May and Ben. Would it be disrespectful of him to call Nat and Rhodey his aunt and uncle? "Your aunt wouldn't mind." Tony said, knowing what Peter was thinking. "She'd be glad that you found another family."
"Isn't it... Isn't it like I'm replacing them?" Peter asked. Pepper shook her head.
"She wouldn't want you to be alone,"
"All she ever wanted was for you to be happy," Tony added.
"Can I go on my phone for a minute?" Peter asked suddenly. Tony and Peter exchanged a look, smirking.
"Just this once," Pepper said eventually. "Don't make a habit of it."
"Thanks," He flashed them a smile before pulling his phone out of his pocket. Ignoring the messages from Liz that had just pinged in, he tapped a quick message and sent it.
Peter: Hey Aunt Nat, can we do some training this weekend?
It was only a few seconds before a reply appeared.
Nat: YESSSSSS! You just won me $100. Why don't we go to Canada for a week after the new year? Ask your parents :)
"Can I go on holiday with Nat?" Peter asked. "To Canada in the new year." Tony and Natasha burst out laughing just as F.R.I.D.A.Y began speaking.
"Colonel Rhodes has asked me if you could lend him $100," She said, making Peter join in the laughter.
"Tell him that he should know better than to bet against Nat," Tony replied.
"Of course sir,"