Finals taken, Christmas came and went without a hitch. Peter was pleasantly surprised that his dad managed to not go overboard. He still wasn't sure if it was restraint on his dad's part or Pepper's influence.

Morgan's homemade stockings were right at home next to Jarvis's homemade one that Tony had made decades ago. There had been some discussion about retiring it but Peter thought it was kind of cool, Morgan thought it was so awesome she modeled the other stockings off of it, and Pepper knew what it meant to Tony. So Jarvis's stocking stayed with the new ones, all in a row on the fireplace mantle, including one for MJ.

MJ looked up from her tablet when Peter walked into the kitchen at a time way past what anyone would consider breakfast time, she wasn't even sure if it could still be considered brunch. "What time did you and Tony go to bed last night?"

Pepper looked up from the cookie sheet she was sliding into the oven. "At least 4am."

Peter slid into the stool next to MJ and reached over and grabbed a cookie off the cooling rack, grinning at Pepper when she slapped his hand. "Where's Morgan?"

Pepper nodded towards the front yard. "Outside with Aunt Nat."

Peter looked over his shoulder at the door. "Are they using Steve's shield as a sled?"

Pepper shook her head. "Steve is coming up later with Bucky and Sam. Nat said something came up and she opted to let the boys deal with it."

Peter frowned and pushed himself out of the stool. Grabbing a jacking from the hook next to the door, he pulled the front door open and stepped out onto the porch. He could see Nat standing next to Morgan, instructing her in what Peter assumed was the creation of how to make a snow ball that would do the maximum amount of damage. Even knowing they were probably going to hit him with said snow ball and even with his Spidey sense going off, he still couldn't move fast enough in the snow to avoid getting hit not once, but twice by very well formed snowballs.

Wiping snow from his face, he trudged through the snow towards the two. "I thought you might have been using the shield as a sled."

Natasha laughed. "I hadn't even thought of that."

Morgan tugged on Natasha's hand. "Can we? Can you tell Uncle Steve to bring it?"

Natasha pulled her phone out of her back pocket and typed a quick text to Steve before sliding it back into her pocket and scooping up another handful of snow to start molding into a ball.

"You didn't actually tell him we wanted to use it as a sled, did you?" Peter shoved his hands as far into the coat pockets as he could in search of warmth.

Natasha scoffed. "Of course not. I told him you and Tony wanted to look at it."

Peter laughed and ducked as Morgan threw another snowball at him. "Morgan, you're going to be in for it when I get a couple more layers on." He looked back at Natasha. "When are they coming up?"

"In a couple hours. They just wanted to vet some information that came in last night."

"Information on what?" Peter thought the question came out as mere curiosity but based on the look on Natasha's face he could tell it hadn't. "I did not just ask to be briefed on an op. I just asked what it was about."

Natasha leaned down and placed the snowball in line with the others. "As long as you're grounded you have no clearance."

Peter shoved his hands further into his pockets. He had been arguing his case for weeks but neither Natasha nor his dad were anywhere near caving. "This sucks."

"Remember that next time you decide to run an op on your own." Natasha smiled and reached down to grab Morgan's hand. "Let's go back inside before you curl up in a ball."

"You know I'm not actually a spider, right?" Peter turned to follow Natasha and Morgan through the snow.

"Yes, but it takes you forever to warm up once you're cold." Natasha kicked the snow off her boots and walked up the steps to the porch. Pushing the door open she let Morgan run through it and waited for Peter before shutting it behind her.

"At least tell me what time they'll be here." Peter hung his jacket back up on the hook and followed Natasha into the kitchen.

"By lunchtime. When are the other four getting here?" Natasha reached over and grabbed a mug and poured a cup of coffee.

"Davis and Bobby are portaling over in about 30 minutes. Johnny and Wyatt are on their way with Sue and Reed. They should be here about the same time."

Pepper leaned against the counter, hands wrapped around her own coffee mug. She looked over at Morgan who had climbed into the stool next to MJ. "Why don't you go get daddy up."

With a squeal, Morgan jumped off the stool and ran up the stairs to Tony and Pepper's room. Peter knew exactly what was happening...Morgan was launching herself onto their bed and putting her face less than an inch from her dad's face and singing a completely made up song about waking up. Peter knew because she had done it to him multiple times. Pepper had figured out quickly that Peter and Tony were determined to spend as much time in the lab together as possible which meant late night and even later mornings. Morgan was the only one that wouldn't get a pillow thrown at her during the attempt to get either of them up.

Pepper smiled to herself when she heard the distinct sound of Tony moving around and Morgan talking up a storm. She looked over at MJ and Peter. "Can you make sure Gerald has enough food and water? We should be ready to eat by the time Steve, Sam, and Bucky get here."

Peter nodded and headed back outside, grabbing his jacket as he went. "I need more layers."

MJ smirked behind him as she pulled the door open to the shed near Gerald's paddock. "I don't know why you don't just wear the suit underneath and turn the heater on,"

Scooping feed into the bucket MJ was holding he shrugged. "I'm going to have to. I get the feeling this afternoon will dissolve into a snowball fight." Securing the feed bin, he took the bucket from MJ and made his way into Gerald's paddock. He still couldn't figure out why they had an alpaca, but then again he wasn't sure he could see them having anything as mundane as a dog or cat. He peered into the water trough to make sure it wasn't iced over and made his way back out of he paddock.

"A snowball fight with the Avengers. It'll end up the same way the water gun battle and the nerf gun battle did." MJ smirked and walked next to Peter on the way back to the house.

"Steve's nose was fine within the hour. The only people we have to worry about are Sam and Rhodey." He turned to look at MJ. "Speaking of, Pepper say if he was going to make it?"

"She said maybe for dinner, but probably not lunch." She walked through the door Peter had pulled open and slid out of her jacket. She heard Morgan's laughter and a distinct sound of a fire being lit in the fire place. She walked towards the den and saw Johnny manipulating he flames in the fire place into the shape of animals.

Johnny looked over as the fire horse bounded back into the fireplace. "I would have thought Steve, Sam, and Bucky would have been here already."

Peter jumped over the back of the sofa and settled in to the corner closest to the fireplace. "Something came up. I couldn't get Nat to tell me anything."

Johnny rocked back onto his heels and stood up. "Wonder if it's a lead on what Windsor was talking about."

MJ settled on the sofa next to Peter. "You two do realize you're grounded from active ops, right? The more you push, the longer Tony's going to dig his heels in."

Johnny sighed. "I know. He's even got Sue and Reed onboard with it." He looked over at MJ. "Hey...what is up with Jen. Wyatt's barely talked to her since we got back from school."

MJ shook her head. "She is completely wrapped up with some case that Foggy is working on. I've barely talked to her since she started interning for them and she's supposedly staying in our guest room. I tried to get her to come today but she said she had too much research to do."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Is she at least coming to the New Year's Eve party?"

MJ shrugged. "Have you all finalized the guest list yet?"

"We thought we'd invite Kitty, Doug, Warren, and Kurt in addition to all of us, Ned, and Betty."

MJ frowned and looked over at Peter. "How are you going to manage Warren and Kurt?"

Peter smiled. "What do you think dad and I have been working on? We've almost worked the kinks out of a holoprojector that will mask Warren's wings and the fact that Kurt is blue and has a tail."

Johnny sat down on the sofa across from Peter and MJ. "That's pretty cool. Imagine what you can do with a holoprojector. If you're outnumbered in a fight, just project more people on your side."

Peter frowned. "I really didn't think of it like that. I really just wanted a way to help Kurt feel more comfortable." In his head he was already running through safety measures they'd have to add to make sure the tech didn't end up being used by the wrong people.

MJ looked over at Peter. "Is is based on the BARF tech?"

"Partially. That and incorporating some of the stealth tech that's on the Quinjet." Peter looked over his shoulder as his dad walked into the room with a mug of coffee in his hands. "Hey dad. Johnny brought up the fact that the tech were working on could be used in a combat setting and I think we might need to put some safeguards in."

Tony nodded. "I was already thinking though some of that. I think for this go around we just code it to Kurt and Warren's genetic code."

Peter nodded. Of course his dad had already thought through the implications. He looked back at Johnny. "Where's Wyatt?"

"In the kitchen. Helping. Where you three should be." Tony took another sip of his coffee and watched the three scramble to their feet.

XXXXXXXXXX

Steve stood on the porch, arms crossed, next to Sam, watching Morgan, Peter, Wyatt, and Davis take turns using the shield as a sled. "I cannot believe I let them talk me into this."

Sam shook his head and laughed. "Morgan has been hanging out with Natasha too much. It didn't take her more than three "pleases" before you handed over the shield. We better hope she doesn't turn to the dark side. The world would be doomed."

Steve frowned as Peter flung a web to change directions, finally plowing into a snow drift. "Seriously, they shouldn't be using it as a sled...right?"

Sam patted him on the back and headed down the front steps. "It's vibranium. It's not going to break. And Peter's right. Testing the friction coefficient could open up some new uses."

Steve rolled his eyes and followed Sam to where the group was taking turns sliding down the hill. Sometimes they used the shield, other times they used an actual sled, and sometimes Bobby would craft an ice version of the shield to see which one was faster. Tony was filming the whole thing. Steve figured Tony had a way to measure speed from the video. Maybe this whole episode might come in handy.

Tony looked over as Steve and Sam approached. "I trust your morning adventures proved fruitful?"

Sam nodded. "Yes, but not what you're thinking. It didn't come from Windsor's files. It came from Kingsley."

Tony frowned. "Kingsley?

Steve nodded. "The police were able to put some pressure on him about why he was dressing up as Hobgoblin and stealing tech. He spilled everything. It didn't take them long to figure out they were over their heads and they called us."

"We got a name. Jackson." Sam crossed his arms and looked at the group that had amassed at the top of the hill. "Kingsley was selling the tech he had created - the gauntlets, the chain mail, hover vehicles."

"You three are looking into him?" Tony realized Peter had shifted slightly. Super hearing had probably given him all of the details.

"Four. Nat's coming too. You'll have to hold down the fort." Steve watched Peter make his way over to them. "You know he heard everything, right?"

Tony smiled. "Yep."

"You know we could help." Peter came to a stop in front of Steve, Sam, and his dad. He avoided making eye contact with everyone but Steve.

"You could have...but you just so happen to be grounded." Tony watched the wheels turning in Peter's brain. He had been battling this for three weeks.

"Grounded until when...it won't hurt to sit in on briefings. That way we're caught up when you let us back on active status." Peter was aware that Johnny, Wyatt, Bobby, and Davis had walked up behind him.

"Until you graduate." Tony crossed his arms and locked eyes with Peter. He hadn't given him a time frame and to be honest, it wasn't until this moment that it solidified into an date. "Which, if you actually focus this upcoming semester will be in about four months."

"What? That's ridiculous!" Peter was expecting the rebuttal to come from his dad so when it was Steve that spoke first it threw him off.

"Tony is right. Finish your undergraduate and you can go back to active status. Behave and we might start bringing you in on briefings earlier." Steve looked at the five boys who were all getting ready to argue. "Professor Xavier, Sue, and Reed are all on board. You can still train but no actual operations. And if anything comes up we're you're first call...". He locked eyes with Peter, "...because I know how you five are. Something will come up."

Sam offered a more sympathetic argument. "Enjoy being college students. Enjoy planning your masters thesis's. There's plenty of time to save the world later. I hear you're planning a New Years Eve party...no one over the age of 22 allowed."

Bobby shrugged. "That's only because Warren just turned 22. It'll be the most boring New Years Eve party ever."

Sam laughed. "Look...we know you're all capable. And for the most part we even understand why you did what you did. But the lesson you need to learn is that you have got to always rely on your team...always."