"I want to be with Peter," Morgan said as she took Peter's hand in hers. The two of them were waiting for the conference to begin. Even though Morgan wasn't going to be there during the actual conference, she was wearing a dark purple dress and a bow in her hair for the party.
"But don't you want to be with me after this boring press conference? Wouldn't you rather hang out with me?" Tony asked, smiling slightly as he picked up Morgan. He probably knew there was no way that Morgan would want to go to that. "Or maybe with your mom."
"Want to be with Underoos," Morgan said, looking at Peter.
Underoos? Morgan was now calling him that?
"Little Miss, that's my special name for Peter," Tony said. "You don't want to make him jealous."
"Jealous? Really?" Peter asked. "That doesn't even make sense."
But really he didn't mind being called that. He didn't mind any of Tony's nicknames for him. Tony always gave people nicknames.
Tony opened his mouth as if he was going to reply, but then Pepper came in with Happy, Rhodey, and Captain America for some reason.
Mr. Rogers must not have seen Tony in person yet, despite how they had played Fortnite together, because he hurried over to Tony and hugged him. Tony barely had time to pass Peter Morgan.
Morgan grinned.
Tony awkwardly hugged him back.
"I'm glad you're okay, Tony," Steve said. "I thought that you…"
"Died? Yes, everyone did." Tony pulled away. "I'm actually glad you're going to be here for the party."
"Everyone?" Peter asked. He had mostly hung out with Morgan after school. Pepper and Tony had asked him to watch her while they got ready.
Morgan was obsessed with Frozen again so they had been watching it. She knew the words to every song and even though she was the most adorable girl ever, she didn't have a great singing voice.
Not that Peter would ever say that.
"Well only reporters and my closest friends. You know the people I told I was still alive."
Steve beamed for a moment, but then covered it with his hand.
"Don't get excited, Steve," Pepper said. "His closest friends includes pretty much everyone. He told his Uber Eats driver he was alive and invited him."
"Hey that's not fair, Pep," Tony said, putting his hand on his heart. "Jerry has always been my favorite Uber Eats driver. He missed me!"
Pepper rolled her eyes. "He could have told the press prematurely."
"Jerry wouldn't do such a thing," Tony said. "And he's coming to the party later."
"Hopefully this party won't end up like your birthday party all those years ago," Rhodey said. "I don't want to have to…" he looked at Morgan. "Don't want to have to clean up after your mess."
"Daddy made a mess?" Morgan asked wiggling away from Peter.
"Yes, I remember that," Pepper said. "It was a horrible, horrible mess."
Peter did end up watching Morgan during the conference when the adults left. She made him watch even more Frozen which was fine.
Eventually Mr. Rogers also came in.
"Where's Mommy at?" Morgan said jumping off the couch and into Steve's arms. He smiled at her.
"She and your dad are still at the conference," Steve said.
Peter could only image how much the media was freaking out about this. Tony seemed to think he would be free after the conference but if anything he wouldn't be because of the paparazzi.
"I'm bored," Morgan said. "Cappy, I want to play with your shield."
"Why?" Steve asked as Morgan jumped away from him and over to the couch which she leaped on.
"Want to ride it down the stairs!"
"That's…" Actually it sounded fun but obviously Peter couldn't say that. "That sounds dangerous."
"Yes, I don't want you to get hurt," Steve said.
"Daddy always said you weren't fun," Morgan said to Cap. Peter tried not to laugh but then she glared at him too.
"I…" Steve tried to say.
"Let's do web slinging!" Morgan said. "We can fly through the city."
Peter wished that he could show Morgan how amazing that was. He knew that she would like it. It was amazing the feeling of falling through the air. It was better than any roller coaster.
But Tony and Pepper wouldn't let him just take Morgan out to do that. Pepper would be worried that it was dangerous.
"Absolutely not," Steve said. "I'm glad I came here because the two of you would do something you're not supposed to."
"Boo!" Morgan said and she jumped at Peter and managed to whack him exactly where Eddie hit him.
Peter couldn't help but wince, but he didn't drop Morgan.
"Petey?" Morgan asked.
"Did you get hurt on patrol?" Steve asked.
Peter hadn't had an excuse lined up if something like this happened but that was the obvious one. "Yeah, but I'm fine. Someone just punched me."
Steve sighed and shook his head. "I can't believe someone would hurt a kid."
"They… they didn't know I was a kid," Peter lied his voice breaking. He didn't want to have this discussion with Captain America who probably thought he was too young to even be a superhero.
The last thing he wanted to have to do was defend why he did this right now.
Morgan presses her face against his shoulder which caused him to wince again.
"It's just… it's dangerous," Steve said, shaking his head.
"Says the person who dropped a jet bridge on him," Tony who was now standing in front of the door frame said. He had his arm around Pepper's waist and was grinning.
"I didn't know he was a kid!"
"How was the press conference?" Peter asked.
"Great."
"Great? The media is going to go crazy."
"You're great at managing them, Pep. You're great at most things."
"I suppose I'll manage," Pepper said.
"Yes, you always do. Now it's time to get ready for the party." He looked at Peter. "You're still wearing your school clothes."
"Uh yeah." The last thing Peter had wanted to do after Eddie struck him was get more proper clothes. "I… I can go get something else at home…"
Tony slung his arm over Peter's shoulder. "Kid, I have things you can wear here that will be exactly in your size. Or you can just wear this. I doubt Thor's going to show up in formal wear."
Peter smiled up at him.
"You're getting taller actually, Spiderling. You might be able to fit in some of my suits."
"What? Really?" He couldn't believe that Tony would even let him wear any of his suits. His were expensive and well… his… Peter was a random orphan.
"Yeah, kids grow, Underoos. Not that crazy."
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Peter said. "I don't wasn't to mess up one of them."
"Don't worry about that. I have more money than I need."
"Wear Daddy's suits. Then you can be pretty like me." Morgan grinned. She grabbed his hand.
He couldn't help but nod even though he was still worried he would do something to ruin the suit. Also when he was trying them on, he had to make sure that Tony didn't find out about the bruise because he could actually watch the recording from his patrol.
But he managed. After Morgan made him wear a tie that matched her dress.
The party wasn't wild like Peter had been worried about. There were a ton of people here and Peter was introduced to many of them. He actually met Thor who had been amazing. Even Captain Marvel was here, despite that she was often busy being off world.
But despite how everyone was here, it was different than the parties he had heard about in the magazines. There was no Tony getting so drunk that he got in a fight in his Iron Man suit with Rhodey. There was no tech being used during the party, although Thor was having people try and lift his hammer.
But even though Peter wanted to sneak away with MJ, it was like Morgan's mission was to not allow that. It was almost as if someone had set her up to it. But it could have just been Morgan.
"No!" Morgan yelled when Peter tried to get her to see Uncle Rhodey. "I want you to play with me!"
"But Peter—" MJ tried to say.
"No!" Morgan cried. "Want you to have Shirley Temples with me."
Peter exchanged looks with MJ who shrugged.
"They're the bestest. We can have juice pops too!" Morgan said. "You can have one too." Morgan looked at MJ who nodded.
They followed Morgan, but they didn't get to the juice pops or Shirley Temples when Thor came over, grinning at them.
"Thor!" Morgan said, grinning. She jumped into his arms. "I'm gonna get juice pops."
"Daughter of Man of Iron, those sound delicious."
"They are!" Morgan said. "The best! I'll get you orange."
And with that she jumped out of his arms and ran off to fetch him one. Peter was about to follow her when Thor put an arm on his shoulder.
"Man of Spiders, I've been searching for you," Thor said. "I've been having people attempt to pick up Mjolnir and now it has come time for you to attempt to."
"I… I don't know," Peter said, running a hand through his curls. There was no way that he was going to be able to pick that up.
"Oh come on, nerd," MJ said, lightly punching his shoulder. "You should try. Otherwise I'm going to and well… I'm probably worthy. I might try anyway."
Peter wouldn't be surprised if she was. It would be amazing if MJ was.
"Come on, try it," MJ said again when he didn't say anything.
"Yes, Boy of Spiders, it's worth an attempt."
Now he was Boy of Spiders instead of Man of Spiders?
"Okay, I guess," Peter said as Morgan came back with juice pops and gave them each one. His was grape. "But I'm not going to be able to pick it up."
"Can't like no one except Thor?" MJ asked.
"And Captain America," Peter said.
"And Vision," Thor said. "I suspect that Lady Jane could have wielded it as well."
Jane Foster… Peter knew about her for many reasons. She was one of the world's best astrophysicists and had done amazing things. Plus, obviously she had dated Thor for awhile, even if it hadn't worked out between the two of them.
"I can try." Peter shrugged his shoulders.
This caused both MJ and Thor to grin at each other. And with that Peter followed them over to where the hammer was sitting on the floor. Tony was sitting on a nearby couch but grinned and stood up when Peter came over.
"Good, Underoos. We need someone completely Team Stark to lift the hammer," Tony said. "I think Cap is letting it get to his head that he can lift it."
Cap who was also on the couch rolled his eyes at this comment but remained quiet.
"I doubt I'll be able to pick it up," Peter said as he went over to it. Even just by looking at Mjolnir, it was obvious that it was special.
Tony shrugged. "Well, if Capsicle can, then it shouldn't be that hard."
"You can't pick it up." Steve didn't even blink when he made that comment.
Tony shrugged yet again. "Well I used to not be able to, but now that I've saved the world yet again, that could be different."
"Man of Iron, you can attempt to lift Mjolnir again," Thor said.
"Nah," Tony said as he went back over to the couch and sat next to Steve. "I'd rather see if my mentee can do it. You know it's what every mentor wants, to see their protégé surpassing them or something."
Thor smiled and pushed Peter toward the hammer. This was… maybe it wouldn't be that embarrassing since pretty much no one here could pick it up. He would just be like everyone else.
But then he went over and lifted it effortlessly. Eyes were on him. He could feel it. This… it shouldn't have been possible. It had been easy. Now around him, it was quiet.
Peter let out a laugh. "Where's the real one?" Still no one said anything. "I mean it, where is the real one?" Because there was no way this was actually Mjolnir.
And that was when Thor laughed and put his arm around his shoulder and Tony grinned.
"Man of Spiders, that is the real one."
"But I…" Peter tried to say. He was still holding Mjolnir, which seemed pretty light.
"Always knew you would be worthy," Tony was still grinning. "I always knew that you were special."
"Yeah, that's really impressive, nerd," MJ said, trying to hide a smile, but she wasn't doing a good job of it.
The party was even more fun after that. There were times when Peter could actually forget what had happened earlier with Eddie. He was getting to spend more time with the Avengers, who had been his heroes when he had been growing up. Also he got to be around MJ more, and everyone here seemed to like her.
It was great.
But then May rushed over and hugged him. "Baby, I heard what happened."
Peter froze in her arms. How could she know what Eddie had done? How could she? Eddie wouldn't have told her, and Peter wasn't ready today. Yes, he was going to talk to her, but not today. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would tell her.
At least most of what happened.
Had Eddie actually told her the truth? No, there was no way that he would have done something like that. Not when he had ordered Peter not to. Peter had saw the fear in his eyes.
"You can pick up Thor's Hammer. I'm not surprised at all," May said as she let go of him and then touched one of the curls on his head. "You've always been so good."
Peter wasn't sure about that, but he forced himself to smile. Being around her… he was going to have to tell her the truth very soon.
"I need to tell you something tomorrow," Peter said. "Something really important."
He had already asked Tony if he could just stay here tonight and he was fine with it. Maybe it wasn't a good idea, but Eddie was supposed to be gone with friends tonight and he wouldn't hit May, right? If he did, Peter would never ever forgive himself or Eddie, but mostly himself.
"Is everything okay?" May asked.
Was everything okay? No. Still he forced himself to smile. "Yeah, everything is great. I just have to talk to you about something tomorrow. Something important."
She frowned. "Are you sure you don't want to-"
"No, and don't worry about it," Peter said, forcing himself to smile, despite the twisting in his stomach. "And just… can you not tell anyone about this?"
He was sure that May would have a ton of questions when he said that and they would be hard for him to answer, but instead she nodded.
"Okay, baby," May said. "You know I larb you very much."
Peter nodded and forced himself to smile. "I larb you too, Aunt May."
And he did and that was why he had to tell her. So he could protect her.
(AN: Thank you so much for reading. Please comment! It brings joy to my life!
ItsBeenAwhile8: Yeah, he's coward like abusers usually are. I'm glad I've been able to do quick updates. I'm putting my fast writing ability to use.
Moorsey23: I will keep at it. I like updating fast :D
I.D.'s Fantasy: Yeah, Peter could totally kick his ass just by himself. He's strong.
Rissy298: Peter is just a strong person, and I'm glad you're looking forward to seeing Tony find out what happened.
skydancer121: Yes, it has been. Tony now knows the truth about what happened in Europe more or less. Thank you so much for reading.
Mayonaka Yue: May is awesome. I think she could take Eddie if she wanted.
kellentia: I just love writing about family drama. So much fun. I hope that this story is fun for people to read.
PicassoPenguin: Peter deserves good father figures. I felt so bad for him when watching FFH. And as for my writing speed, this is just how I've always been. Think it's all the HP rping I did as a preteen. I wrote an insane amount during NaNoWriMo last year. I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I wrote lol. When I'm inspired and have free time, I can put forth huge numbers.
Karlicm: Aww thank you. I love writing Tony. He's amazing and probably my favorite superhero now.
