Hey Pep. I'm sure you're freaking out, and I'm sorry. I can't talk yet, but you'll be home in a few. That mark you insisted was a blank on my arm? You were right, of course, and I found out for sure when I got upstairs and saw Peter.

Little dots popped up immediately to let him know she was texting back.

Are you serious? I told you!

Yep. You're usually right. We're trying to get a hold of May too. I'll see you soon. Love you.

I'll be home in ten. Love you both!

He also sent a quick text to Rhodey.

Hey Honeybear. You available?

Yeah, what's up?

Can I call?

Sure.

"FRIDAY?" Tony waited a moment while FRIDAY connected the call.

"Hey Tony," Rhodey said, sounding apprehensive. Considering lots of the calls he'd gotten from Tony, that was fair. "What's up?"

"You remember how I told you Pete developed a platonic blank earlier this week?"

"Yeah…"

"And a romantic blank also, early this morning, but that's besides the point."

"Whoa. Are you kidding? A double soulmate? I don't know of many of those."

"Well, you know at least two now."

"Huh? Who else?"

"Well, when Peter and I saw each other this afternoon, we both had quite the reaction, and we've got a pair of coalesced soul marks on our hands."

"Wait… what? But you don't have another blank…"

"Apparently I do. You remember that weird light mark on my arm?"

"Kind of? You said that was a scar or something, though..."

"It developed at the same time as my romantic, but it was so small, and it never reacted to anyone. I just figured it was a dud or something…"

"Oh, Tones."

"No, it's fine. Obviously it's exactly what it was supposed to be, and apparently, Peter and I are soulmates."

"Tony, this is… this is crazy, man. Only you! So, did you guys already accept?"

"Not yet. It was literally ten minutes ago. Pepper's on her way back, and we're trying to get a hold of May at work. I know you're probably unavailable, but if you are and you wanted to be here, I'd love to have you. Just so you know."

"Wow. I mean yeah, I'd love to. I can probably get away from here in maybe fifteen minutes? And with the suit, I can be there 30 minutes after that. Will it be before that?"

"It might be later than that, depending on when we can get a hold of May. But we'll wait for you, if it's sooner."

"Tones, I'm just so happy for you. And for the kid. This is amazing."

"Thanks, buddy. We're excited, too."

"I'll let you go, so I can extricate myself."

"See you soon."

Tony put his phone in his pocket and went back out to the living room. Peter was stretched out on the couch, fiddling with his phone, looking drowsy.

"Hey, kiddo, you look like you could use a nap," Tony said, lifting Peter's feet so he could sit on the other end of the couch under them. He touched the kid somewhat often, but this time there was a slight tingle when they made contact after being apart for a few minutes. He figured Peter felt it too, because he looked up, eyebrows raised in surprise at Tony's touch.

"What was that?"

"Just the pre-bond connection, helping us be more aware of each other." It settles down after we accept the bond, but it's a little startling, huh?"

"Uh, yeah. That's pretty weird." Tony stayed quiet, knowing from experience that Peter might have more to say, but not if he jumped in to hide the silence. His patience was rewarded after another minute or two.

"This whole thing is pretty crazy, honestly. I'm not sure what to think. I mean, I'm super happy it's you," he met Tony's eyes briefly, and smiled softly, then turned back to focus on the TV while he talked, "but I didn't think it would be anyone I know, you know? Or that it would happen right away. It's just a lot to take in. I mean, what happens now? Don't we have to like… be together a lot for a week or two?"

Tony let his hand settle on Peter's ankle as he leaned back and sighed lightly. "Yeah. Honestly I'm trying to remember everything myself. It's been a minute."

"Look at you talking like the cool kids five years ago."

Tony gave the teen a quelling look, and ran a finger up the bottom of Peter's sock-covered foot, prompting the boy to pull it away quickly. He was definitely ticklish. "Do you want me to tell you stuff, or not, Spiderkid?"

Peter sighed at the nickname, but slipped his foot trustingly back in Tony's lap. "Yes, please."

"Yeah, once we accept the bond, we're pretty much joined at the hip for a few days, at least. Almost literally. We have to have pretty frequent physical contact for the first 3-4 days, then we should be able to start going longer periods of time pretty quickly after that. Every pair is different, and usually platonic is usually a little less intense than a romantic bond."

"When you say 'frequent,' what do you mean?"

"Uh, like I said, each bond is unique, but we probably can't go more than fifteen to twenty minutes apart for the first 48 hours at least. Maybe a couple days more. I think Pepper and I were about four days out before we could go thirty minutes, and it wasn't comfortable. From what we can tell, our bond was pretty average for a romantic one."

Peter's face showed his surprise, and he turned back to focus on Tony. "Really? Um, wow. I guess… it's a good thing it's winter break?" he said weakly.

"Yeah, it's a good thing. But haven't you ever been in a class where kids had "visitors" for a few days, or maybe kids missing 4-5 days, that weren't really explained?"

"Huh. Yeah, I guess. Just a couple times with the visitors thing, and always older kids than me…"

"Probably a new soul bond, and they still couldn't be apart."

Peter looked like he was thinking over everything Tony had said so far, so Tony stopped talking for a few minutes, and just let the kid process. Of course, at that moment, FRIDAY spoke.

"May Parker is calling, Boss."

Tony couldn't lie, he was a little nervous about this conversation. He knew May would be supportive of Peter, and happy that he had found his soulmate, but he also knew she felt like Peter already turned to Tony more often than these days, and he knew it was a bit hard for her. And this would change the dynamics even further.

"Pete, do you want me to tell her, or would you like to?"

"Um, I don't know. I'd like you to tell her, but I think she'd probably rather me tell her."

"I think you're right. I still will, though, if you want me to."

"I can do it."

"Do you want me to go out?" Tony leaned forward, a hand braced on the couch, like he was going to go give Peter some privacy.

Peter pushed up onto one arm abruptly, alarmed. "No! I mean, no. Please stay?"

"Okay, Pete. No problem." Tony settled back in his seat. "FRIDAY, on speaker." He raised his eyebrow at Peter, asking if that's what he wanted. The teenager nodded, and sat up properly, pulling his legs under him for support.

"Hey, May."

Peter

This was beyond crazy. He just couldn't get his head around it. Tony was his soulmate? That part was great. It was just weird, because his expectations (that he didn't realize he even had) were all thrown on their ear just a few days after getting his blank marks. He had just gotten used to the idea that he would have soulmates. Plural! But for some reason he realized he was anticipating two people both about his age, and he was thinking it would be a while before he met them. A while before he had to figure out how to be a soulmate. From what he could tell, it was amazing for most people, but also a very dependent, vulnerable situation.

He was pretty deep in his introspection when May called. Crap. Peter thought she probably had some of the same expectations he did about this whole "soulmate" thing as it pertained to her 17-year-old nephew.

When Tony offered to leave the room to let him talk to her alone, he felt a jolt of unease. He needed wanted his support. Thankfully his mentor was happy to stay, and put it on speaker phone, maybe so he could jump in if needed. Because Peter definitely didn't know what to say, except to tell her what had happened.

"Hey, Peter. What's going on, honey? Why did I have a not-an-emergency-but-kinda call from Tony? Are you okay? Did you guys have an accident in the lab again? Do I need to come home?"

"Um… I'm fine, no accident, and maybe?" He looked at Tony for confirmation on that last one, and his mentor nodded.

"Wait, if you're fine, why do I need to come home? What's going on?"

"Well, I kind of… found out who my platonic soulmate is?" Peter heard how tentative his voice was. Was he that nervous about her reaction? His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of May sitting down hard on something through the phone.

"What?" She sounded winded. "Already? I… who? Did you know them already? Where are you? Are you okay? Are you at the Tower?"

"May, don't freak out. Yes, I'm fine, I'm at the Tower, and yes, I know them."

"Well, who is it, then?"

Peter was quiet for a breath, and he made eye contact with Tony, whose expression was calmly supportive.

"It's Tony, May."

Peter heard May's quiet gasp. She didn't say anything.

After a moment, Peter finally spoke again. "May?"

"Sorry, baby, I just needed a second to process. That's… that's… unexpected."

"Yeah, me, too. But I'm pretty happy about it."

"Well, of course you are, honey. Tony's already really important to you." Peter could hear emotion in her voice, but without being able to see her face, it was hard to decipher. He hoped some of it was happiness for him.

"Yeah," Peter said, smiling shyly across the couch at his mentor.

"Um, I'm guessing you guys have decided to accept the bond? I mean, of course you have..."

"Only with your blessing, May," Tony chimed in quietly. "And, of course we'd like you to be here. Is it possible for you to slip away for an hour or two? 'Family emergency' and all that?"

"Um, I need to talk to the other nurses about covering for me, but we're pretty quiet today. I should be able to. Now?"

"Now would be best. We're supposed to be headed down to the Compound, and I'd like to get ahead of the worst of the storm."

"Oh, of course. Yes, I think I can…"

"Can I send Happy for you? He can give you an ETA, but I'm guessing roughly 20 minutes?"

"Yes, that will work, unless I call back to let you know otherwise. Thanks, Tony. Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, baby. I'll be there soon."

"Thanks, May."

"End call. FRIDAY? Let Happy know what's going on? And ask him to head out ASAP?"

"Of course, Boss."

Peter sat quietly, eyes unfocused as he continued to process.

"Mr. Stark?"

"Tony, kid," the man said gently.

"Tony, sorry. How much are things going to change, do you think? I mean, I'm going to need to stay with you for at least a week or two, right?" That would cover most of the holidays and his break.

"Probably, Pete, yeah. Maybe longer. It just depends on what our bond does. But May can come over, or stay over, as much as she wants. And you can go over there as often as you need to. We'll make it work, I promise."

"Yeah." Peter was still excited. Just a little overwhelmed. Tony was pretty good at reading him at this point, and opened an arm in invitation. Peter only hesitated a second before scooting across the empty cushions to lean against the older man, who wrapped his arm around Peter's shoulder. This was a familiar position, at least, thanks to countless movie nights over the last several years. Tony's hand came up to touch his head lightly, stroking the back of his hair once.

"You sure you're okay with this, Pete? We can wait a while if you're not sure. Not a really long time, but I think we've got at least 8-10 hours with a platonic bond before we start having physical symptoms from the unaccepted bond. We can wait, and stay here this weekend while you decide."

"What? No, I'm sure. I want this, definitely! It's just… a lot, you know? And I think it might be a little hard for May? She hasn't said anything, but I think she already feels like I spend more time with you than with her, and I worry she might be a little sad about it sometimes. And this will be… more." His aunt always tried to be a good sport, but as Peter got older, between Spiderman stuff, and internship stuff, and even just common interests, he spent a lot of time with Tony. Plus, the two just really enjoyed being together. At least Peter loved being with Tony, and it seemed like the feeling was mutual. Really, it made complete sense that the man was his platonic soulmate. They were basically already there, minus all the extra physical contact stuff that was apparently involved. It was still a big surprise though.

Just then, the elevator dinged. Pepper was home.

Tony and Peter stood up and turned to greet her. When she walked into the room and saw them there together, her hand slipped up to her mouth, and her eyes were suspiciously shiny. Peter hadn't thought of any of this from her perspective. It was probably a little crazy to suddenly realize her husband and soulmate had a second soulmate, right? Peter hoped she wasn't upset about it. He didn't know her nearly as well as Tony, but they had spent a lot of time together, and he liked her a lot. He was pretty sure it was mutual, but now he felt a little insecure again. He was just a big bundle of nerves.

"Sounds like some pretty exciting news here this afternoon," Pepper said casually, taking a moment to set down her things before moving closer to the pair. Tony stepped forward to greet her with a kiss, which made Peter wrinkle his nose, even though it was nothing he hadn't seen before. This time he noticed that during their quick embrace, she rested her palm on Tony's upper chest. Just where his other soul mark was, actually. Peter couldn't believe he hadn't picked up on that before. His newly-sharp gaze noticed his mentor relax at her touch. He hadn't realized Tony was a little tense until he saw his shoulders drop. There was probably a lot of small interactions like that he hadn't noticed until he was looking for them.

Pepper turned to him. "Peter," she said brightly, "congratulations!" To his surprise, he found himself drawn into a strong hug. Pepper had ruffled his hair in passing, or set a hand on his shoulder or arm often, but never this. It was… nice. She smelled like honey and vanilla, and he could feel her nails lightly brush the back of his neck.

"Did you get a hold of May yet?" she asked both of them as she stepped back from the hug.

Tony nodded. "She should be here within thirty to forty minutes, hopefully. Happy went to pick her up. Rhodey should be flying in, too. He turned to Peter. "Is that okay, that I invited Rhodey down? I probably should have asked you."

That was new. And weird. Why was Tony asking him if it was okay if Rhodey came?

"Yeah yeah yeah, that's fine," Peter said quietly. He realized that he felt unprepared for the shift he felt in their relationship already.

Peter yawned. He'd forgotten how early he'd been up that morning.

Tony noticed. "Hang in there, bud," he said, smiling. "We'll either get you a nap," Peter shot him an affronted look, "or get to bed early tonight."

Peter sat back down on the couch, pulling a soft throw over the top of him. Pepper continued talking to Tony. They were quiet, but of course Peter could hear them.

"Tony, this is huge."

"I know, honey. Great, but huge."

"Do you have anything you can't miss in the next week?"

"No, I don't think so. You might have to cover for me a couple times. Sorry."

"No, no sorries. I'm happy to help. I'll check in with FRIDAY. You guys are heading for the Compound tonight, right?"

"Yeah, probably right after. I'd rather not still be driving when that storm hits. Nat and maybe Clint were already planning to meet us there to answer questions for Peter. I guess they can answer some for both of us." They stopped talking, but Peter heard the rustle of clothes that probably signified some kind of embrace.

Tony walked back over. "Hey, Pete? Do you need to pack anything here? I know you have a few things at the Compound, but I'm not sure how long we'll be there. Could be longer than Monday. You want to grab some extra clothes and anything else you might want or need?"

"Yeah, I'll do that," Peter said, standing up and heading back to his room. Technically it was the guest room closest to Tony and Pepper's, but nobody would ever guess that by all the teenager paraphernalia scattered throughout, or dare to call it in Tony's presence. It had been Peter's room for quite a while now. He grabbed some extra jeans, t-shirts, and sweaters, his favorite blanket off the bed, and a LEGO set he hadn't had a chance to put together yet. He slung the duffle bag over his shoulder, and tucked the blanket under his arm, then decided to change into fresh clothes that were a little more comfortable than what he'd been wearing at school. He had the foresight to choose a regular t-shirt topped with one of Tony's old MIT hoodies rather than another long-sleeved sweater. It was just as warm, and would give better access for when they accepted the bond.

Sheesh, his brain just wouldn't stop whirling about all that. So many details he was trying to remember, so many emotions, so many differences in his life all of a sudden. Even though none of the thoughts were unpleasant, the sheer volume and speed of the whirl was making him feel anxious.

He grabbed the bag and headed out of his room just as he heard the sound of Rhodey arriving.

"Hey, Peter!" his mentor's best friend greeted as he walked into the living room.

"Hi, Colonel Rhodes," Peter smiled uncertainly, setting his duffel bag next to his backpack. Why was everything so weird right now? He reached out to shake Rhodey's hand, and the older man pulled him into a quick hug. Was everyone just going to start hugging him now? That was definitely fine with him, even though it was a little weird. His conversation with Tony earlier that week flashed through his head:

"Um, if they have family, I kinda get more extended family? Is that right?"

"Yep. Their family is your family too, most of the time."

He guessed Pepper and Rhodey were the closest thing Tony had to "extended family," and they both seemed more than ready to accept Peter in even more than he already had been. It was a heady feeling.

"Sheesh, kid. I think you've grown since I saw you last. That sweatshirt actually fits you these days."

"It has been a few months, sir," Peter said with a grin.

"Don't remind me, Honeybear. Kid's going to be 18 next year." Tony's face showed what he thought of that.

"May Parker has entered the building," FRIDAY interjected. Peter swallowed and wrapped an arm around his midsection. Things were about to get real.