Happy Saturday — and if you celebate, Happy Easter for tomorrow, too!

Hope you all had a great week. Mine was good. Things are going better for me now in my personal life, and I got a little writing done. I don't have much time, though, as I'm running the Irondad Creators Awards which are a lot of work. Still, voting begins next Saturday, so I'll have more time.

This is the last 'fun' chapter before the Homecoming events, so enjoy them. It's about to get a little bumpy :-(

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Steve could see that Tony was struggling to control his face as they sat around the conference table, copies of the Accords in front of them all with many strikethroughs and additions in red ink.

Ross was speaking, his voice mild and calm, but Steve knew this had to be killing him. Ross had fought for these Accords, though he'd hidden his passion for them with a blank mask and feigned disinterest, and the Avengers were finally coming out on the other side with the changes they wanted made. It had taken months, they were now basking in the heat of late July, but it finally looked good for them.

If this meeting went the way they all hoped, it would be the last before they gathered to see them formally ratified. Tony had his pens ready for them to sign, the FDR ones he'd once tried to persuade Steve to sign the Accords with the first time they lived through this year.

Steve was happy to sign this time.

"One more thing," T'Challa said. "The rule about underage heroes. Wakanda is in full support of the addition that makes it law for them to be able to maintain anonymity until they come of age."

Ross' lip twitched. "Are there any underage superheroes that should sign?"

"None," Tony said. "I can guarantee that we know of no minors that think they're superheroes."

That was pure truth. Peter was hyperaware of the difference between him and them. They all saw him as the hero he was, but according to what Tony told them and what Steve had seen, Peter thought himself very much inferior to them.

"Very well," Ross said. "Are we all in agreement?"

He looked from face to face of the twelve representatives of the Accords nations which had been chosen to negotiate with them.

"Why do minors need protection?" Vasily, the Russian, asked.

"It's just a safety measure," Tony said smoothly. "You've seen the publicity and scrutiny we live with. None of us want that for a child."

'Besides," Bennett said, "what child is capable of these actions?"

"None," Ross said firmly.

Tony's eyes narrowed a moment, but he quickly corrected.

It was hard for those of them on this particular journey back through 2016 to have Peter's potential in this dismissed because of his age, as they all knew what he was capable of and what he would do, but they had to live with the discomfort and move past it. It was to protect Peter that they were doing this.

They were lucky T'Challa had seen his proof and come to their side, as he was pivotal in improving their situation. Many of the nations respected him and his opinion, and the others were persuaded eventually that this was the right thing. Some countries had taken more persuasion than others, Great Britain and Germany among them, but they'd come around.

"I have no objection," Larsson, the Swedish representative, said.

The other assembled representatives shook their heads and murmured their agreement.

"In that case, we can have them reprinted with the alterations and additions and ready for signing next week," Ross said, getting to his feet and putting his copy back into his briefcase. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your time."

He strode out of the room, head held high, and his fellows followed him, leaving Steve and the other Avengers with T'Challa sitting at the table wearing matching expressions of incredulous delight.

"So, it's over?" Clint asked. "Just like that? We're free?"

"We're free to act within the US, but outside the country, we need permission."

"Which we won't need," T'Challa said. "The threat you say is posed will come to New York and Wakanda. You have open permission to come to and act in Wakanda for any reason, and New York is within your territory." He rubbed his chin. "I think we've won."

"We have," Tony said with a laugh. "Is it wrong that I wanted Ross to fight a little harder? I really wanted to pound it to him when we got the changes made."

Steve shook his head, amused. "We should be grateful he didn't; it would have slowed us down. Really, T'Challa, it was you that swung this for us. We can't thank you enough."

T'Challa shrugged. "It is worth the trouble of registering among you all and opening myself to analysis and registration as the Black Panther."

"I think that's part of what swung it for us," Natasha said. "You are one of them, T'Challa, part of their power core. If they can see you as a superhero, it makes it a bit easier for them to accept us as having rights, too."

T'Challa nodded. "You may be right. I am glad it's over, though. I do not like leaving Wakanda so often, though it was my father's wish that we came out of the shadows and joined the world. I will fulfill his wishes. I plan to start that joining on a more personal level. I want to make right what happened to N'Jadaka by helping other children in his home."

"That's great," Steve said enthusiastically. "It doesn't have to be huge. Small things make a difference, too."

"What's happening with Killmonger?" Tony asked. "I mean N'Jadaka.

"His trial begins in two weeks. He will be tried for attempted regicide, as he is Wakandan by blood, so my father was his king. Though his guilt is obvious, he is pleading not guilty, so it will be a process for us to face to bring justice."

"Yeah, that's gotta be tough," Tony said. "Well, thanks for giving us your time while you have all that going on."

T'Challa smiled and rose to his feet. "I need to return home now, but I will see you in Vienna for the ceremony."

He said his goodbyes and strode out.

"He's going back to Vienna," Sam said when T'Challa's footsteps had faded to nothing. "I'm not sure I could do that if it was me after what happened to him there."

"He's strong," Steve said, his voice knowledgeable with familiarity. "And there's nothing he wouldn't do for Wakanda or his father's legacy. He felt, before, that he had a lot to make up for after what his father did."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

Steve knew Tony could relate as his life was littered with things he felt he needed to make amends for. Some of them were deserved, Tony had made mistakes, but not all of them. Tony had a tendency to take responsibility for things outside his control.

"I don't know about you," Clint said, "but I want a drink, a strong one. This has all taken too damn long, and I want to celebrate."

"Absolutely," Sam said eagerly. "I'll pour."

They all rose to their feet and headed back through the compound to the common room where Tony and Sam headed straight to the drink's cabinet, and everyone else fetched themselves glasses. Tony sent a message through Friday for Bucky to join them, and he arrived a moment later, apparently having been waiting close by.

Tony came back with a bottle of tequila and said, "You guys remember the party after the press conference?"

Steve chuckled. "Yeah. That was a good night."

"Press conference?" Clint asked. "That's a 2023 thing, right?"

"Yeah," Steve said. "We had to go up against the press to support Ellis' reputation and boost public morale. We got all the people that fought with us up on a stage and got medals."

"And after," Bucky said with a wide smile, "Peter and Thor got into a drinking contest."

Sam looked up from the glass he was pouring tequila into for Natasha and said, "A kid was drinking with Thor? How the hell did he survive that?"

Tony shook his head, smiling fondly. "He was fine, but Thor was wasted.."

"Yep," Bucky said, taking his shot from Sam. "And he lifted Mjölnir!"

Sam and Clint's heads snapped up, their eyes wide and incredulous, but Wanda and Vision didn't look surprised. Perhaps they'd heard and—for Vision seen—enough about Peter now that there were no more surprises for them.

"Seriously?" Clint asked.

Tony smiled smugly. "Yep, he had no problems."

"Steve can lift it, too," Bucky said, nudging his friend with a fist.

"Damn," Sam said. "This all sounds crazy."

When everyone had a drink in their hand, Tony set down the bottle, raised his glass, and said, "To winning!"

"To winning," they chorused and knocked back their shots.

Clint held his glass to his chest and said, "You know, I wouldn't have minded retiring, not really, but I'm damn glad I didn't need to."

"You said that last time," Natasha said. "And then you showed up for battle and ended up under house arrest. Really, Clint, you were a dumbass."

Steve fixed his eyes on his empty glass, thinking of that fight. In some ways, he knew he was right to do what he did in what the press called the Avengers Civil War, but in others, he'd been wrong. He should have stopped to talk, to explain. He'd been consumed with protecting Bucky, and that made him reckless and harmful. He'd hurt people he cared about doing it.

One of the things he regretted most about that fight was Rhodey's injury, but that had been averted. He was not paralyzed anymore, fine on his own two feet, and that was one of the best things to come out of this return to 2016.

He wondered how it would be for Rhodey in 2023. If he knew already that Peter had helped them save him from that, or if it was still to come. Mind said time wasn't moving forwards for them now, so it could be that it was something still to come.

Whenever it happened, Steve knew Rhodey was going to be elated by the change.

Tony poured them more drinks, his eyes distant and the smile on his face fond, and Steve guessed he was thinking of Peter and what this meant for him. They had successfully protected him from the Accords now, and that was big. Though Ross hadn't targeted him in 2016 before, there was always a chance he would, and Peter would soon be making noise with the events of The Vulture.

He was protected, though, safe from prosecution, and they just had to see him through another two months before they could all throw themselves into being there for him fully, one trial left to face.

It was going to be hard for them all to watch him go through the events of September again, the warehouse collapse and plane crash, but after that, there was nothing they couldn't do for him—they had Mind's promise.

One more period of pain and distance, and then they would be able to support him and love him without barriers.

Steve couldn't wait.

Happy was taking his time to get to know Peter. After years of staying locked down when outside his small circle of family, so unused to being open, it was hard, but it was happening.

At first, he just rode with the divider down and tried to listen to the kid when he was rambling, which had obviously surprised Peter. That wasn't enough, though, as Happy didn't ask his own questions, so when he picked him up the Saturday after The Avengers had gone to Vienna to sign the finalized accords, he got there early and went up to Peter's apartment to collect him.

The door was opened by a woman with long dark hair, dark brown eyes, and a soft smile.

Happy was used to beautiful women, he'd steered Tony away from them for years, but they'd had no appeal to him—too groomed and fake. Pepper was what he called a real woman—beautiful, kind, and natural in her looks. She was the best thing to ever happen to Tony.

But this woman… This woman was stunning in a way that seemed naturally effortless and wholesome.

She pushed her glasses up her nose and said, "Mr. Hogan, right?"

"Happy," he corrected, holding out a hand. "Happy is fine."

She took his hand, and her skin was soft and smooth. "Nice to meet you at last, Happy. Peter's talked about you a lot."

What he had to say, Happy had no idea. Unless he told her how Happy had refused to speak to him for weeks, which Happy didn't want this woman to know.

"I'm May Parker," she said. "Come on in. Peter's just getting ready."

"I'm early; he's got time."

She led him into a homely living room, with family photos, blankets draped over the back on the couch—even in July—and a strange smell in the air.

"Excuse the smell," she said, possibly noting his wrinkled nose. "I tried to make these fancy omelets for Peter, but they were a disaster."

"I can't smell anything," Happy lied.

She smiled sweetly at him, her eyes crinkling, and called, "Peter, your ride is here."

Peter came into the room, his eyes worried. "Happy, sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting. I guess I lost track of time."

"I'm early," Happy said. "I figured I'd come up and get you instead of sitting in the car with the AC running down the battery. It's a scorcher out there."

"It is," May said. "I've been to the building's manager about our AC again, but he's not shown up yet."

"I told you I can fix it," Peter said. "I'm good at that stuff, May."

She ran her fingers through his hair, and he leaned into the touch, a sweet moment Happy felt he should look away from but didn't. "I think you might have to," she said. "When it hits noon, I'm going to roast."

"I thought you were going out for lunch with your friends," Peter said.

"I invited them over here."

Peter grimaced. "You should go out and treat yourself," he said. "You'll enjoy it more if you don't have to cook."

She considered and nodded. "You know what, honey, I think you're right. I will."

Peter looked relieved, which puzzled Happy. However, before he could find out why, Peter grabbed his backpack from the couch and said, "I'm ready."

May kissed him goodbye, and Peter led Happy out of the apartment.

They walked to the elevator and entered, and Peter said, "I can't believe this was fixed at last. It took like a year of complaining to get it done. It's great because some of our neighbors are elderly, and May comes home from work so tired."

Happy nodded obligingly, but he was smiling. He knew Tony had a hand in the repair as he'd overheard him making a call to the building's manager offering a sizable tip for the job being done.

He'd not understood why he'd bother when it happened, but now he understood the relationship between Tony and Peter, he got it.

They headed out to the car, and when Peter headed to the back door, he said, "Sit in the front today, kid. I'm tired of looking at you in the mirror.

Peter looked surprised but happy, and he climbed into the front.

Happy settled in the front seat, started the engine, then turned on the stereo, and Crossroads Blues started to play.

Peter frowned and said, "Who is this?"

"Robert Johnson," Happy said. "And he was a god, so you don't get to complain."

"Not complaining. I've just not heard it before. It's good."

Happy nodded, pleased, and steered them into traffic. "I know Tony is all about classic rock, but I'll educate you on the real greats."

Peter looked pleased and settled in his seat.

Happy took a breath and said, "Okay, kid, tell me what you've been doing lately," in an attempt to set him on one of his rambling talks, which he would actually pay attention to now in an attempt to work out what made this kid tick.

"Well, the brace I made for my best friend's grandma is much better now Mr. Stark let me work on it with his tools, and she's talking about dancing now, and me and Ned went to…"

Happy listened to him ramble, nodding in what he thought were the right places, and paid attention to the details.

He wanted to know Tony's son, find out how they'd grown to have that relationship, and maybe start building his own.

"Okay, kid," Happy said, steering him through the lobby and watching as Peter swiped his security card, "I'll leave you here. Friday will tell you where Tony is. Have him call me when you're ready to go home."

"Thanks, Happy," Peter said cheerfully.

Happy waved and went to the elevators, which led to the office parts of the tower. Peter went to the private elevator, the only one that went all the way to Tony's private areas, and Friday greeted him with, "Good morning, Peter. Boss is waiting for you in the penthouse with Miss. Potts."

Peter grinned. "Okay. Great."

The elevator slid smoothly up, and the doors dinged open into the penthouse. Peter called a greeting, and Tony called back, "In here, kid," from the kitchen.

Peter went in and saw Pepper was sitting at the counter, a magazine in front of her, dressed in yoga pants and a vest. Tony was wearing his Kiss the Cook apron and stirring a skillet of eggs on the stove.

"Breakfast," he said, spreading his arms expansively. "We've got eggs, sausage, pancakes, and bacon. Fill a plate, and I'll bring the eggs as soon as they're done."

Peter grabbed a plate and served himself to reasonable sized portions. As hungry as he usually was, he'd already attempted to eat May's gooey omelets for breakfast—with liberal amounts of ketchup—so he wasn't starving.

Pepper greeted him and asked how his week had been, as he hadn't seen her since the weekend before. He filled her in on the time he'd spent with Ned, the decathlon practice they'd had in the library—omitting the fact Flash had greeted every one of Peter's correct answers with a sarcastic, 'good job, penis.' He told her about patrolling the evening before and how he and Karen had found an armed robbery in progress in a jewelry store, and how the cops had been less scathing than usual for his help.

"The suit working out okay?" Tony asked, turning and tipping eggs onto their plates.

"Yeah, it's great," Peter said, as he did each time Tony asked this question, which was frequently. "Thank you."

Tony waved a hand, filled his plate, and took a seat on Peter's other side. "No problem, kid. I'm just glad you've got some real protection in place now."

They ate in comfortable silence, and then Tony said, "I got a package yesterday, Pete, from Wakanda."

Peter's head snapped to him, his forkful of eggs forgotten midway to his mouth. "The vibranium?"

Tony nodded. "Yep. We can finally get working with vibranium and nanites."

"Wow," Peter said. "That's awesome."

Tony grinned. "And T'Challa sent enough for me to upgrade Bucky's arm. He was working out okay with the alloy one I made him, but vibranium is better than what I've got."

"Can I help?" Peter asked.

He was eager to do some work on the arm as it was way more complex than the brace he'd made for Ned's grandmother, with a level of nerve connection and sensation which Peter had never imagined was possible.

"I'm counting on it," Tony said. "I need your mind in on this."

Peter knew he was overstating it, as there really wasn't anything he could do that Tony couldn't, but he was excited.

"What about you, Pep?" Tony asked. "Busy day?"

Pepper stretched languidly. "Not at all. I've got no meetings until Tuesday, so I don't need to prep until Monday. I've set up an out of office autoreply for my email. I am going to work out for a while, and then I'm having a day of leisure reading."

"Good for you," Tony said. "We can go out for dinner if you like."

"I'd love to," Pepper replied. "Peter, you want to join us."

"Thanks, but I want to patrol," Peter said.

That was the truth, but he also wanted to give Tony and Pepper their space. He knew Tony was missing out on time with Pepper to spend with him, and though he never showed that he minded—it seemed opposite even—Peter was conscious of it. Besides, the more time he spent on patrol, the more people he could help.

He'd felt like he was making a difference before, but now, with the new suit, he could do so much more. Karen alerted him to things he would have missed before, and he'd not spent an evening with only one cat rescued from a tree to show for his time.

When they'd eaten, and Peter had helped Tony load the dishwasher, they went down to the lab, and Tony instructed Friday to put on his playlist. Peter was getting better at recognizing the artists and tracks now, was even starting to like them, and he smiled as AC/DC's Back in Black started playing.

Tony gestured Peter into a seat, pulled up his own stool, and said, "Okay, kid, here's what we've got, and here's what we need to make." He swiped a hand, and a rotating hologram of a metal arm appeared.

Peter took it in. He didn't know what he could do to help as it looked great already, but he thought he was going to learn a lot, and he was excited to start.

Tony opened a plastic crate, pulled out a sheet of metal, and said, "This, Pete, is vibranium, and we're going to test out what we can do with it.

Excited and mind racing with possibilities, Peter reached out a finger and touched the cool, silky metal, and said, "Awesome!"

Tony was enjoying his morning with Peter, but he knew he had to lay the groundwork for what was to come in September, and he was worried about how Peter was going to take it.

He looked up from the joint he was testing in Bucky's new arm and said, "Did I tell you about the base change?" conversationally, knowing well that he had not.

Peter frowned. "Uh… no?"

"Must have forgotten," Tony lied smoothly. "We're moving most of the assets from the tower to the compound. The Avengers haven't lived here for a long time, so it makes sense to have all our stuff in one place. We're setting up the framework now—Happy's in charge—and we'll transfer it all at once in September."

Peter's eyes were a little wider than usual, but his voice was steady when he said, "So you'll be based at the compound?"

"In a way," Tony said. "Most of my time will be spent there for Avengers business, though Pepper is staying in the city, so I'll be living here unless she's out of the country."

"Oh," Peter said, biting his lip. "So we won't do lab days anymore?"

"Actually, I was thinking we could do them at the compound sometimes. Happy can still drive you over, but it will be a longer journey—a couple hours each way—so you might want to stay overnight, have a couple days, then go home Sunday."

Peter's mouth dropped open, eyes wide, and he said, "You mean stay at the compound, where all the Avengers live."

Tony smiled at his response. "Exactly. It won't be until late September—" when the events with Toomes and his crew were over, and Tony was free to be with Peter without holding any of himself back as he would never have to betray him again by taking his suit and breaking his heart—"but then, yeah. What do you think?"

Peter licked his lips. "Mr. Stark, that sounds amazing. Really. I mean…" he took a breath, "I won't get in their way, I promise, I'll be careful, but I'd love to go there. I've seen the compound on the news, and it looks incredible."

"That's agreed then," Tony said. "I can keep enough of my own stuff here for our Wednesday sessions, but we'll do the real work on weekends."

Peter nodded eagerly. "That would be awesome."

Tony smiled and turned back to his work, a thrill of happiness brimming in his chest. There was more to the feeling than Peter staying over, getting extra time with him. When the events of September had passed, when, as Mind said, it was the right time for them all to have a chance to bond with Peter, he could introduce him to all the Avengers and let them build those relationships.

Tony would have done it already, he'd agreed to do it when the Accords were signed, but Mind dropped into the celebration and advised them that they needed to keep a partial distance between them all until Peter had been tested by events of Homecoming night and what came before. He said it would be harder for Peter to stand alone and face it if he had all of the Avengers to rely on for help, especially as he did not have the drive to prove himself this time around the way he did before.

Steve and Rhodey were most disappointed by this, and Steve had not been happy to give his agreement that he would distance from Peter until the right time, but they all accepted that Mind was right. If Peter had all the Avengers on his side, he would not face it alone, which was apparently vital.

Peter had passed on his agreement and apology through Mind, but, as he said, it was only two more months of the eighteen that they would have together after.

Tony would never need to hide from Peter again.

So… The Accords are done! As I said before, they don't interest me at all, so I did as much of it as I could in the background. We won't be revisiting them now. Unfortunately, we're about to start the Homecoming events. I do it as briefly as possible, I make it as original as I can, and I do not copy/paste script to cover canon events. It's still not my favorite part of the story, and I doubt it will be yours, but after, it's all about the bonding and new events.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx