Peter and Ned were both waiting in the front of the school when Pepper drove up to take her son home. They were chatting about the upcoming party, and Ned was telling Peter about his costume. A costume that Peter had already seen, of course, but that was going to be great in a room filled with superheroes. Ned was pleased with it, though, and Peter was always supportive of his friend. Not supportive enough to be Aquaman, of course, but supportive, nonetheless.

When the car stopped next to the boys, Pepper smiled, automatically, at them, but both of them saw the moment that she noticed their faces, because she lost her smile, immediately, and frowned.

"What happened?" she asked, putting the car into park, and turning off the engine.

"What?"

Peter tried for the innocent what do you mean, there's nothing to see here look, first, and Ned rolled his eyes, knowing that wasn't going to work with Pepper.

"Don't you what me, young man," she said, getting out of the car and walking over to stand in front of them. She reached out and took his chin in her hand, turning his head to get a better look, and then repeating the process with Ned, who smiled, cheerfully, at the manhandling. "When you left the tower, I happen to know that you were perfectly fine, and Happy didn't mention anything happening on the drive here to drop you off. What happened?"

"It's nothing serious," Peter said, giving in. "Just a couple of guys trying to be cool."

"What does that mean?"

Peter told her the story, pretty much as it had happened, and Ned added to it from the moment that he'd come around the corner and saw the two bigger guys jumping Peter and had joined the fray.

"That's when he elbowed me," Peter explained.

"And when I got hit," Ned added.

"Who were these boys?"

Peter hesitated. He recognized that she was upset about what had happened, but he was worried that she was going to make a big scene, and he didn't want that to happen.

"Just a couple of guys," he said. "It's not a big deal. Really."

"Someone needs to know," she disagreed. "To make sure it doesn't happen, again."

"They were just jealous that they couldn't go to the party, Pepper," Ned told her. "It won't happen, again."

"Mr. Harrington knows," Peter assured her. "He's the one that broke things up before they could get out of hand."

"It got out of hand the moment those two thought they could bully you."

"They've always been bullies," Ned said. "We're used to it."

That wasn't the best argument, and Peter knew it. Pepper's eyes flashed, annoyed.

"Then more reason to make sure that behavior stops."

"It's okay," Peter told her. Again. "Really. I don't want to make it a big deal, right now."

"Why not? They-"

"Because the other kids might get caught in the middle of it all," Peter interrupted. He gave her his best look. "I'm fine. Ned is, too. They couldn't have hurt either of us, I just didn't want to hurt them."

"You should have punched them out."

"That's what I told him, Pepper," Ned agreed. 'If I'd have been thinking more and reacting less I could have done it, myself."

"And probably gotten suspended," Peter pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe." Ned didn't look too concerned. "The black eye will make me look cool for a few days, anyway," he said, smiling. "And I'll get all the sympathy hugs from the girls, right?"

"I don't know that Superman ever had a black eye," Pepper said, looking a little less upset, now, much to Peter's relief. "How are you going to explain that?"

The boy shrugged.

"Mike Tyson wearing kryptonite gloves?"

She smiled.

"How are you going to explain it to your mother?"

"She already knows," Peter said. "She was here, before you, and we've already had this conversation with her."

"And she said…?"

"She wasn't happy. But she's proud of me for jumping into the skirmish to try and protect Peter."

"Some protection," Pepper snorted. "You gave him a black eye to match your own."

"Continuity," Ned declared. He looked at his phone, which had beeped at him. "she's coming, now. You're okay?"

Meaning was Pepper still upset? And did Peter need him to stick around and defend their actions?

"We're fine," Pepper told him. "We'll see you, this evening."

Ned's smile was excited.

"Yeah. I can't wait to see the haunted house. It's going to be awesome."

"That, it will," Pepper agreed. She moved to the other side of the car and opened her door, but waited until Peter got in. "Put some ice on that eye."

"I will."

Ned's mom chose that moment to pull up, and the boy headed over to meet her. Pepper and Peter both waved, and Pepper got behind the wheel.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. I've done a lot worse sparring. Or when I learned spear fighting. Ned's got a hard elbow, is all."

"I can't wait to see your father's reaction…"

"To what?"

"Your first fight at school."

Peter hesitated.

"Think he'll be mad?"

"I think he'll be worried," she said as she pulled out into traffic and headed them for home. "And then, once we've calmed him down, he'll be cheerful, because fighting at school is one of those things that we haven't had to deal with from you, yet."

"True."

"And something I don't want to have to deal with again," Pepper added, pointedly.

"Oh. Yeah. No, I know."

She smiled, and patted his knee, feeling a little cheerful, herself, really. He'd gotten into a fight, yes, but that was a teen thing, and while it was serious, it was also common, and she couldn't wait to tell Tony. And couldn't wait to see his reaction. She wondered if she could manage to record it without him noticing, just to get an authentic reaction.

OOOOOO

They definitely weren't acting normal, Strange decided, taking a quick break and wiping his brow as he looked at the small horde of minor demons who had been tracking him. They weren't howling, and slathering at the mouth, or beating their chests with their fists like he'd seen in movies, but they were definitely stalking him. He recognized it, now, despite just how odd it was for them to behave in that manner.

Discretion had won out over hubris, before, and he'd popped himself from Dormammu's realm, deciding that he was better off elsewhere, just then. And the sorcerer had been shocked when the demons had followed him. Not because they couldn't change locations as easily as he could – at least in the dimension that they dwelled in – but because they really didn't have a reason to follow him. He hadn't threatened them, or done any serious magic that would call to them, beyond what he already had. They should have stayed back when he'd vanished from their world, content that they had driven him away from their place.

Instead, here they were, with more coming every couple of moments. As if they were being summoned. Strange behavior, and odd enough that Stephen was curious. He could capture one, maybe, and get answers from it – probably – but while it was tempting, it was also dangerous. A minor demon wasn't a huge threat to him, but any demon could be dangerous, and while he was dealing with the distraction of the single one there was always a chance that the others might take advantage of that distraction to attempt an attack of their own, or something else.

It wasn't something that he was willing to test.

"Do we go home…?" he asked the cloak, softly. "Or stay and continue our quest…?"

A dozen more of the creatures were suddenly in the area, and he realized that he might have waited too long to make his decision.