Hey all
Sorry for the late update. Like I said last time, things aren't good. This is a fun chapter after so much angst, so hopefully you'll enjoy it xxx
Tony stirred the pan of pasta sauce and checked the clock. Pepper was later getting home than she'd said she'd be, but he supposed that was to be expected under the circumstances.
For the first time in the history of the company, Stark Industries was closing down for a prolonged period over the holidays. Some of the board members almost had apoplexies when she told them, thinking of all the missed revenue. But as Pepper was CEO and Tony the majority shareholder, it was their decision to make.
Tony felt a little guilty that he'd never done it before. He'd lost his love for Christmas after his parents' murders, though he'd tried to make it special for Pepper when they'd become a couple—choosing what he thought was the perfect gift but she called ridiculous. The giant bunny had been dumped into the pacific when his Malibu house was blown up, which was probably for the best.
Still, this was their first Christmas as a family with Peter, and both he and Pepper wanted to make it as special as possible for him. They didn't know how he was going to feel about it, his first landmark celebration without May. Though his grief had mostly passed while he was with her and Ben in the Soul Plane, there were residual pangs of that loss that still struck.
Tony's own grief for May had been poignant, but he'd been focused on helping Peter and dealing with the possibility of losing him, and that had overshadowed it at time.
But it was Christmas, the chaos of the team arriving was imminent, so he set aside his feelings and concentrated on the present.
Tony heard the elevator sliding open down the hall and then the click of Pepper's heels on the hardwood floors as she approached.
He turned to greet her, smiling as she stopped in the doorway and said, "I am done!"
"Rough day?"
Pepper shot him a wry smile and said, "I had meltdowns from the die-hards in R&D who all said four weeks out of the lab was going to slow them down by years."
"Possible," Tony conceded.
"And I had calls from three board members to try to hand me last-minute contracts to sign—all of which would have meant opening up again sooner And, finally, I practically had to carry Anita out of the office as she was convinced there was going to be a crisis in the office that she needed to be there for." She pulled off her heels and threw them into the corner. "But I am done! Our family Christmas can start now. She pecked him on the cheek and said, "Speaking of our family, where's Pete?"
"In his room," Tony said.
"Is he okay?"
"He was fine when he got home. He patrolled this morning, hung out with Ned and MJ. He came home a few hours ago and said, and I quote, 'I'm a man on a mission, don't get in my way'."
Pepper looked worried. "Does that sound okay to you?"
"It does when he's saying it with multiple bags from the craft store in his hands."
Pepper laughed. "Peter in a craft store? That's new."
"Yep, but I think it's a good thing—he seemed happy enough."
"That's good," Pepper said thoughtfully. "But I wonder what he's doing."
"He can't blow anything up with craft paper and scissors, so I'm not worried."
"Still, I'll go see if he needs help."
Tony turned down the burner and said, "I'll come with you."
She grinned and took his hand, and they headed down the hall to Peter's door, where Pepper knocked and said, "Pete, you okay in there, honey?"
"Uh… yeah, yep, I'm just…" His chipper voice became a groan. "No. I need help."
Pepper pushed open the door and they rushed in to see Peter sitting cross-legged on the bed, surrounded by strips of colored paper, some of which had been looped into paper chains.
"I ran out of time!" he wailed.
"To do what?" Tony asked.
"I was thinking about Christmas and how everyone's coming tonight, and then I got to thinking that we'd be downstairs in the common room as it's bigger than our living room, and then I got to thinking about how we've decorated the penthouse really well but we've done nothing down there and it's going to look so bare and it's Christmas, so I thought I'd make paperchains, because they're quick and easy to make, but they're not actually that quick, and I asked Friday the dimensions of the room and I am never going to get it done in time and they'll come and it'll be bare and I'll feel bad and—"
Pepper held up a hand, smiling fondly, "Honey, if you'd told us how you felt, we'd have arranged something."
"I didn't feel it until I was out with Ned and MJ and we were in the mall with all the decorations," Peter explained.
"Well," Tony said, rolling up his sleeves, "I'll put lunch on hold and me and Pep can help you."
Peter's face split into a wide smile. "You will? Thank you!"
Pepper crossed the room and kissed his cheek then pushed aside some of the paper to sit down. "Do you have a system to the colors?" she asked.
"Yes, blue, then yellow, red, purple, green and then orange."
Tony raised an eyebrow. Perhaps it was pure coincidence, but Peter had chosen the colors of the Infinity Stones in the pattern they were in his eyes in 2023. He'd not asked any questions about his future or how he came to be in the Soul Plane, or how he got home, but Tony wondered now if he knew more than they thought.
"That'll look great," Pepper said.
Tony nodded, said, "I'll be right back," then rushed back to the kitchen to turn off the burner, thinking the sauce would be fine to reheat, grabbed a couple of the protein bars that were good for maintaining Peter's blood sugar, then went back into Peter's bedroom.
Peter was threading the papers and dabbing them with a glue stick then passing them to Pepper for the next loop to be added.
Tony threw the protein bars into Peter's lap and said, "Stop, eat, and then you can do some more."
Peter grimaced, but he obeyed, setting down the chain he was building, and unwrapped one of the bars and took a quick bite.
Tony opened a package of paper and then began to thread the pieces together, his mind mulling over the colors and what they meant in the future.
He wouldn't ask because that would invite questions, but he would love to know what Peter remembered or knew of his future self and his power.
He hoped it wasn't much. He wanted his five months remaining before Thanos came to be peaceful.
xXx
Two hours later, Peter was hanging from the ceiling while Tony and Pepper handed up the chain to be affixed. Peter was taking it very seriously, counting the loops to it was perfectly even, and he had Friday backing him up by telling him the perfect placement.
They were on the last set of chains when the elevator pinged and Happy stepped out. "Hey," he said, voice a little gruffer than it used to be, a small sign of the pain he was in since losing the woman he loved. "Friday told me you were down here."
"Hey, Hap," Peter said cheerfully.
"You're decorating?" Happy asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yep," Peter said. "The others are all arriving tonight, and we'll be down here, so I want it to look festive." He grinned. "You're still coming for dinner tomorrow, right?"
"I'll be there," Happy said. "And you're coming out with me in the afternoon?"
Peter's smiled faded a little, but his voice was even as he said, "Yeah, of course, I promised."
"Where are you going tomorrow?" Tony asked.
Happy's brows contracted over his eyes and he said, "We're going to the cemetery."
"Oh," Tony said awkwardly. "Of course."
He'd not known Happy and Peter had made plans, but he supposed he should have expected it. Of course, they would want to mark the day with May, and in Peter's case, his Uncle Ben, too.
"Do you want to take some flowers?" Pepper asked. "There's that florist down the street. We can pop there and get something."
"No, we've taken care of it," Peter said. "Happy's got them at the apartment. I got her a pot of snowdrops. They're supposed to be hardy—at least that's what the florist lady told me."
"It sounds perfect," Pepper said.
"You going to be up there much longer, Pete?" Happy asked. "I thought we could run out and get a slushie for you."
Peter beamed. "Yeah, absolutely. Just let me finish." He crawled across the ceiling to the last corner and took the end of the chain Tony was holding up to him. He tacked it in place then dropped from the ceiling, flipped midair, and landed neatly. "It's okay if I go out with Happy, right?"
"Of course," Pepper said. "Have fun."
"We will," Peter said brightly, hugging Tony, giving Pepper a fleeting kiss on the cheek and then bouncing over to Happy's side.
Happy placed a hand on Peter's shoulder and led him into the elevator. As the door closed on them Pepper leaned her head on Tony's shoulder and said, "I wish we could do more."
"For Happy?" Tony guessed.
"Yes. I know spending time with Peter helps, but there are so many hours in the day, and he's so depressed."
Tony sighed. Happy was attentive to Peter, and he always seemed content when he was with him, but like Pepper said, there were a lot of hours in the day and Peter was always so busy with school, Spider-Man, his friends. Happy was getting as much time as Peter could give, but it wasn't enough to give Happy peace.
Tony had no idea how to help him. In all the years he'd known Happy, he'd never seen him like this—just as he'd never seen him as palpably content as he had been with May. They should have had years together, but it had been snatched away by Nemesis. The fact Nemesis were now trapped in 2023 and couldn't do anything else to hurt them wasn't enough to ease Tony's mind when he knew 2023 wouldn't be frozen forever.
"I know," he sighed. "But I don't know how to help him. And I don't know how he's going to handle losing Pete. He's forewarned, yeah, but I know that's not going to make it any easier for us, so why would it him?"
"We've got to find something," Pepper said. "We can't leave him like this."
Tony nodded. He had an idea of what might help Happy, the same thing that had saved Peter once and reached him another time—the same thing that had saved him when he lost Peter: Morgan. She had given Tony something to live for without Peter, and Happy was going to adore her. Tony hoped Happy would find peace when he had a brand-new baby to be uncle to.
"Oh!" Pepper said suddenly. "Peter didn't eat dinner. Those protein bars aren't going to keep him going until the team arrives."
"No problem," Tony said. "Fri, send a message to Happy asking him to add a burger to Peter's order."
"Done, Boss."
"Any reply?" Pepper asked.
Friday was silent a moment then said, "None from Mr. Hogan, but Peter sent a message with multiple drooling emojis."
Tony snorted. "Yep, that's our kid."
"That's our kid," Pepper agreed with a happy sigh.
xXx
Bucky was first out of the elevator in Tony's penthouse, and his eyes immediately roved the room, looking for Peter.
Tony and Pepper were sitting on the couch together, glasses of wine in their hands and welcoming smiles on their faces.
"Where's Pete?" Bucky asked as the others piled out of the elevator behind him.
"Yes, Bucky, it's great to see you, too," Tony said. "Yes, we know you missed us. Don't overwhelm us with greetings, though, you'll only embarrass us."
Pepper elbowed him. "Don't be mean. He's out with Happy," she explained. "He should be home soon, though. They only went to get a slushie and burger."
"How is he?" Steve asked.
"Good," Pepper said. "Really good."
"MJ and Ned are here most days," Tony said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "He's back to patrolling Queens most evenings, though he's mostly dealing with muggings, walking drunk people home after a night out, and getting cats out of trees."
Bucky grinned. They were all the ordinary parts of being Spider-Man that they could enjoy him doing—they were the side of Spider-Man that they didn't worry about because that was Peter in his element. It was the Avengers side of Spider-Man that worried them all, and that had been laid to rest until the end of May when they were all going to be fighting a full-on battle.
"What about that Flash kid?" Natasha asked. "He giving Pete a hard time."
Tony snorted. "No in the way you're thinking. Now Pete's living here with us, the kid can't call his internship a joke anymore, so he's gone in the other direction. He's playing up to Peter and suggesting they have decathlon meets here at the tower."
"Peter's having none of it," Pepper added. "He knows who his friends are."
Bucky nodded. Peter knew exactly who his friends were and who his family were.
"Is he making dinner?" Sam asked. "Because I'm down to help."
"No, it is his turn, but we're getting take-out," Pepper said. "We didn't think he'd want to waste his time with you all here in the kitchen."
Bucky felt the same. They all missed Peter—and Tony and Pepper—and they were only here until New Year's Day after which they'd head off on their mission again. Bucky wanted all the time with Peter he could get. He knew they were staying at the tower for Christmas Day so Peter could also visit May and Ben's graves with Happy, but after that they were going to the compound where they could all relax and enjoy the open air, even though the air was frigid. Snow was forecast, though, and Peter had suggested snowball fights in his last call to them on the road. Knowing the competitive nature of the Avengers, Bucky thought that was going to be quite the event. As long as Peter was on his team, he was happy to crush the opposition.
"You should come downstairs and see what Peter's done with the common room," Pepper said. "We thought we'd have more room down there with all of us, so we'll be there tomorrow.
Curious, Bucky followed Pepper into the elevator and down a floor to the vast common room the Avengers had shared before they moved into the compound. Bucky stepped out and looked around with a smile on his face. Peter, as Pepper had said, had decorated the ceilings with swathes of paper chains. They reminded Bucky of the kind of decorations he and Steve made growing up, though they'd made theirs with newspapers abandoned on the street. Peter had used colored paper which, he noticed as he paid attention, was the colors of the Infinity Stones. He wondered if it was just a coincidence, a rainbow theme, or if Peter remembered more about his voyage to the Soul Plane than he had ever mentioned.
"Wow, look at this," Steve said. "It's just like we used to do, Buck."
"It is" Bucky agreed.
"Peter wanted it to be special," Pepper said.
"He succeeded," Wanda said with a smile. "Look, Vis, that's your color."
"It is," Vision agreed.
There was a time in which Bucky would have looked to see who was speaking—Vision or Mind—but Mind had not spoken since the night Peter left for the last time. And, thankfully, he'd not spoken directly to Bucky either. Not that he'd be that bothered about talking to Mind, but he really didn't want Power to start chatting.
Friday spoke overhead, announcing, "Boss, Peter is on his way up to the penthouse."
"Great," Tony said, smile wide. "Let him know we're down here."
"Done," she replied after a moment.
Bucky's eyes moved to the elevator and he waited with a wide smile for the sight of the kid he loved. However, when the elevator door opened, it was empty.
"Uh…. What…" Steve said doubtfully.
Tony's brow furrowed, but Pepper's eyes bugged and moved to the window. "Friday, he's not climbing the tower again, is he?" she asked.
"Climbing the tower?" Bucky asked incredulously.
"He developed a habit of climbing the tower to get into his bedroom after patrols," Tony explained, exasperation and fondness in his voice. "We put a stop to it when we found out what he was doing."
"He's not climbing the tower," Friday reported.
"Then where is he?" Pepper asked.
Bucky heard a soft laugh, muffled, from inside the elevator. He saw from Steve's face that he had heard it, too, but no one else seemed to have. He had a feeling Peter's was messing with them.
"Steve," he said, nodding towards the elevator.
Steve nodded and walked forward, into the elevator car. Bucky waited for whatever Peter was about to do to him.
He didn't wait long. Steve entered the elevator and looked up, and then his eyes bugged as a jubilant voice shouted, "Cannonball!" and Peter dropped from the ceiling and onto Steve's shoulders. Steve managed the additional weight without issue, but he wasn't expecting Peter to cling to his back and cover his eyes with his hands, his knees digging into his sides and for him to shout, "Woohoo, bucking bronco," as Steve struggled to shift him.
Bucky howled with laughter, not alone in that, and rested his hand on his knee as he bent over.
Pepper was saying, "Peter, really?" without heat, and Tony was cracking up with the rest of them.
"Queens, can you, ugh, get down?" Steve asked, blinded and unable to shift him.
Tony took out his phone and snapped picture after picture of his friend bucking and Peter clinging on without a problem.
"Fine," Pepper said after a few minutes of this entertainment. "I'll get him off."
Bucky raised an eyebrow. He had no idea how Pepper, of all of them, was going to budge Peter, but he was interested to see it.
"Stand still, Steve," she commanded, and Steve obeyed.
"Oh, Pep, no," Peter said, immediately contrite. "I'll get down. You don't need to—" but before he could move, Pepper reached up and began to tickle him in the ribs. He dropped from Steve's back like a stone and began to wriggle and writhe, his legs giving way so he fell to the floor, Pepper pursuing him. He laughed and gasped and begged her to stop, but Pepper was merciless.
"How did we not know he was ticklish?" Bucky asked in wonder. "I mean, all that time in 2023 and we—" He stopped himself before he could mention how they'd taken care of Peter totally in the days of his catatonia. Still, he couldn't believe Peter had this weakness and they'd never known.
"Because I wasn't… stupid enough to… Please, Pep, stop…" Peter panted and Pepper finally relented, leaving him panting on the floor.
"He wasn't stupid enough to tell us," Tony explained.
"Which is actually really sneaky," Steve said, grinning down at Peter. "We'll have to make up for lost time."
In a whiplike movement, Peter flipped himself and jump to his feet, hands extended defensively. "No," he said firmly. "You are going to forget what you know."
"Why would we do that?" Sam asked, grinning.
"Because I can web your toilet seat closed in the night," Peter said.
Sam conceded defeat with a nod and wave of the hand.
Bucky walked forward and wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulders. "The decorations look great, bud," he said. "It's just like when I was a kid."
Peter rested his head on Bucky's chest. "I'll go bigger next year. It kinda crept up on me this year."
Bucky's eyes prickled, but he kept his tone even as he said, "I'll help."
Across the room, Tony's face became downcast and he turned away to hide it, going to the fridge to get beers and soda for them all.
Bucky knew what was upsetting him because it was upsetting him, too. There would be no next year as Peter, along with Bucky, Sam, Wanda, Vision and half the universe, would be gone. The next Christmas they would share would be in 2023 with Morgan among them.
If they had that.
He wasn't at all scared of dying, but he was terrified of Peter dying. Their fates were entwined, if Peter lived Bucky lived, which was the way he wanted it, but he couldn't imagine how life would go on for the other people that loved Peter if he didn't make it through the Snap.
He felt a stirring in his mind, like a soft whisper, and he knew it was Peter. He missed him so much. Peter didn't talk, but sometimes Bucky felt him there, communicating without words. He loved when it happened, especially when Peter would show him things happened where he was. From what he saw, Peter spent a lot of time with May and Ben, traveling on other planets, some of them markedly different from earth, and watching Tony and Pepper raise Morgan without him. It was interesting to see Morgan grow from newborn to toddler to the self-assured kid Bucky knew.
'Hey, bud,' he thought.
There was no verbal reply, but Peter showed him a vision of May and Ben wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and waving. Bucky felt a wave of contentment at the thought that both Peters were spending Christmas with his family.
Bucky smiled contentedly, and he noticed Tony's eyes on him, an eyebrow raised in question. Bucky looked to Peter, who was absorbed in conversation with Wanda and Vision. He looked from Peter to Tony, tapped the side of his head, and said, mouthed, "Happy."
Tony's face spilt into a wide smile, and he placed a hand over his heart and mouthed his thanks. Bucky nodded and joined Steve and Pepper's conversation. He would tell Tony and them all the full details of what he had seen from Peter, set their minds at ease for the future version of the kid they loved.
But for now, he was going to enjoy Christmas with his family.
xXx
As they planned to have their real Christmas feast on the day, they ordered pizza that evening for dinner. The poor delivery boy arrived laden with boxes, and Tony tipped him enough that the kid's eyes bugged and he stammered his thanks. They ate together and then arranged themselves on the couches in the common room to watch a movie.
In truth, they didn't watch much of the movie as they were catching up on each other's news, though Steve and the rest of the team heavily edited their news so as not to upset Peter.
Though he knew they were searching for Josef, he had said he didn't want to know more. Since the conversation in which he'd said he wanted him jailed and not killed, as almost all of them did, he'd said nothing about what happened. Instead, they caught up on Peter's news, stories of patrols and time spent with his friends, how he was settling into sophomore year and enjoying his classes, and how the decathlon team had regionals in the new year and if they won, they'd be going to nationals in DC in March.
Steve had enjoyed hearing him talking about his life as it was now, as it seemed to be a good one. He obviously still missed his aunt, but there seemed to be no residual trauma for what happened. As he'd thought immediately after Peter came back from the Soul Plane, Steve thought Peter's grief had been spent with May and Ben themselves, and that had made it easier for him to accept May's death in the aftermath.
About halfway through the movie, Peter moved from resting his head on Steve's shoulder to scooting down on the couch and lying with his feet in Steve's lap and his head on Pepper's. Pepper smiled fondly at him, a look in her eyes that reminded Steve of how she'd looked at Morgan many times in 2023. It really did make him feel good about the future to see the bond between Peter and his parents now, knowing how much that would mean to him when they got back to 2023.
And they would have Peter in 2023. The two people Steve loved most in the world were tied now in life and death, and he wasn't going to lose either of them. He saw the goodness in Bucky, the strength that had only grown stronger since he and Peter were bonded, and he saw Peter's recovery. He couldn't believe that Peter's feeling about himself would betray his Worthiness in the future when he had Bucky's own goodness backing him up.
"So, Bucky, what did you see earlier?" Natasha asked.
Steve's eyes moved to him, wondering what he'd missed that Natasha picked up on.
"Peter," he said with a contented smile. "He's with May and Ben right now."
Pepper stroked a hand over Peter's cheek, a look of peaceful affection on her face. "That's good."
"And he's okay?" Sam asked.
Bucky nodded. "He doesn't talk, but I can kinda feel what he's feeling. It's like another sense through the connection. And yes, he was very happy. They were having their own Christmas."
"Can you talk to him, though?" Sam asked. "I mean, can you pass on messages?"
Bucky nodded. "I think so. He's not watching all the time, he's got his own stuff going on, but yeah, I can feel it when he checks in, so I can pass on messages. Why, you got something to say?"
"Just that we miss him," Sam said.
"And that we love him," Pepper said, looking down at Peter, who was fast asleep.
"I'll tell him," Bucky promised. "But he already knows."
"Knowing it and hearing it aren't the same," Tony said with a sigh. "I know he's right here, and I love him more than I can say, but he's also out there, alone, and I wish he could come back."
"He's not alone, though," Steve said. "He's got Bucky and the Stones."
"The Stones," Tony said, glancing at Vision whose eyes were decidedly blue and not yellow. "Yeah."
Pepper began to comb Peter's hair with her fingers, making Peter sigh contentedly and Pepper smile softly. "I don't know the Stones, obviously, and I've not seen enough of Peter in the future with them to understand, but Mind seems to really care about him." She looked to Tony. "I think he's okay with them."
Tony sighed. "Yeah, that's what he'd say, too."
"Then trust him," Vision suggested. "I do know the Stones. I have spent more time with them than anyone but Peter, and I see how much they care for him. Though they can be contentious—like Power—Soul and Reality are gentle and kind to me, so I can only imagine that's increased one-hundredfold with Peter."
Tony stared at him, seeming to search for a lie, and then he nodded. "Thanks, Vis," he said.
Vision looked a little bemused, but he smiled and leaned into Wanda when she rested her cheek on his shoulder.
"How are preparations for Thanos going?" Steve asked.
"Mostly okay," Pepper said. "It's hard to do everything we need when we can't tell anyone why we're doing it, but I think we've prepared as much as we can for the aftermath for now. We'll be able to do more nearer the time."
"Five months," Sam said dourly. "Hey, Bucky, did it hurt?"
Bucky looked up from Peter, who he'd been staring at, and said, "No, it was uncomfortable, and scary as hell watching it happened to your own body, slipping away into nothing until you're gone, but it didn't hurt."
"Pete was scared," Tony said quietly, his eyes on his son. "He knew what was coming, as we'd already lost Quil and his team, and Strange, and he was…" He wiped a hand over his face. "It was awful."
"But you were there," Pepper reminded him. "He wasn't alone."
Tony huffed a laugh. "I was useless—no help at all. All I could do was hold him while it happened."
"It'll be different this time," Steve said. "You're closer than ever, and that'll help him. And you can tell him it's not forever. We're going to fix it."
"In five years," Tony said dourly.
"Which won't be the same for him as it will be for those of you that stay," Bucky said. "Really, Tony, it felt like we'd been gone minutes."
Tony smiled, his eyes distant. "That's what Pete said. He was so damn chipper. You know what he's like when he's got that hyper thing going on. Hell, he found me on a damn battlefield, and he was chattering like we were in the lab." He ran a hand over his face. "God, I missed that."
"We won't miss it this time, though," Steve said. "We won't be here."
"Actually," Tony said, glancing at Pepper and then looking to Steve. "Pep and I have talked about it. If Pete says I can, I'm going to stay here past Thanos. There's so much to do and things that happen that I want to be here for."
Steve smiled as he realized what Tony was saying. While he was sure Tony wanted to be there to have a part in healing the world from the trauma of the Snap, the main motivation had to be Morgan. Tony would have a chance to experience everything from her birth to Peter's return all over again. If that choice was Steve's, he'd do the exact same thing."
"Are you sure?" Rhodey said. "That's got to be a lot of trauma."
"There's a lot of good, too," Tony said pointedly, looking Rhodey right in the eyes.
Rhodey frowned and then caught on to what Steve had realized. He grinned and said, "Well, I'm not complaining. I don't know how it'd work if you guys went back—what difference there would be between you and the versions that got left behind—or came back to the forefront. Whatever. But yeah, we'll be happy to have you."
Tony nodded and winked.
"What do you think, Steve?" Natasha asked. "Want to extend the adventure?"
"Yes," Steve said without hesitation.
He'd not thought of it before, but he would absolutely want to stay if he could. Not only would he be able to help the people left behind better, knowing what was going to happen, but he would also have a chance to be part of Tony and Pepper's life that he'd missed last time. The Morgan he knew in 2023 was great, and he enjoyed getting to know here on their few times interacting, but if he could be a part of her life from the beginning, he could have a real bond with her.
"Nat?" Tony asked, though his voice was more cautious now.
Natasha was silent a long moment, and then she nodded and said, "Yes. Clint is going to need me."
Steve's smile faded. Clint was not with them for Christmas as Natasha had felt the time was right to tell him the fate of his family. She'd not done it sooner as she knew how it felt for Tony to know what was coming for his son, and she wanted to spare Clint long drawn-out wait and horrible expectation. She'd told him alone, and Steve didn't know exactly what had been said, but Clint was stony-faced when he told them he was leaving their search party and going home.
Steve knew how he felt at the idea of losing Bucky and Peter in five months' time, but Clint was going to lose all his family—his wife and three kids would disappear. That had to be hell. Hopefully, though, with foreknowledge and Natasha's presence, they could stop his rampage as Ronin.
"Great," Sam said. "We'll have the full foreknowledge team on board."
"Nat," Tony said quietly, "you know how it's going to end if you stay—what will happen to you. Are you sure you want to go through that again?"
A steely look came into Natasha's eyes. "Peter has gone through nearly two years since sending us back knowing it could end with his death. He's been strong throughout—not once has he made it about saving him; his priority has been saving the future from Nemesis. I am not going to duck on out what's going to happen to me when I can make it better for other people."
Steve felt a wave of admiration for his friend and for the future version of Peter. He'd not recognized it before, but he saw now she was right. Peter had never made this about him. Mind had, but never Peter.
Peter snuffled and pawed at his face, close to waking. Pepper stroked his hair, and he seemed to settle, but Pepper still looked wary.
"Steve," she said softly. "Can you carry him up to his room? I don't want to wake him, and I don't want him waking up down here?"
Steve nodded. He knew she was worried about Peter hearing any of what they were talking about because he was worried about it, too. They'd forgotten themselves having this conversation with him in the room.
He lifted Peter's feet and slid out from under him and then bent to lift him into his arms. Peter mumbled sleepily, and then rested his head on Steve's chest and seemed to fall back into a deep slumber.
Pepper went ahead and summoned the elevator, and she and Steve rode up to the penthouse, down the hall and into Peter's bedroom.
Pepper pulled back the bed covers, and Steve settled Peter in the middle of the bed. Pepper untied his sneakers and slipped them off, then bent to kiss his cheek, saying, "Sweet dreams, honey."
Peter snuffled and mumbled, "Nigh' Pep."
Pepper smiled fondly, and Steve ran his hand though Peter's hair, smiling as Peter's lips tugged up into a smile his sleep, and whispered, "Night, Queens."
Pepper pulled the bedclothes over him and then they slipped from the room. They went back downstairs to where the others were gathered and Pepper answered Tony's questioning look with a gentle, "Out for the count."
Pepper sank down onto the couch beside him, and Steve took his place again. "Any news from, Queens, Buck?" he asked.
Bucky shook his head. "He's here, I can sense him, but he's not talking."
Tony huffed a laugh. "He's probably coming up with arguments against us staying."
Bucky grinned and said, "Yeah, probably. He's—" He cut off and seemed to be listening to something. His smile grew wider. "Okay, he says, and I quote, 'You can stay if you're sure, and I totally get it, but you have to know you're on your own. The Stones are going to need me after Thanos, so I might not be able to drop you home if you change your mind about the sleepover.'"
"Sleepover, Pete?" Tony asked.
Bucky winked, and Steve could almost see Peter shining out in his best friend's eyes. "I stand by what I said," he replied, in what Steve was sure was exactly Peter's words.
"We're sure," Natasha said. "We're not going to change our minds."
Bucky nodded and said, "Merry Christmas. Now I've got to go. May's trying to bake a ham, and even in the Soul Plane she can't cook.'"
They laughed, and Tony rubbed a hand over his face, a little teary. "Thanks for that, Bucky," he said. "That was the best damn Christmas gift I could have gotten."
"Same," Steve said, and they all nodded.
Though they could not speak to the Peter of 2023 the way they wanted, they had this connection, these words, and Steve thought it was the best gift any of them could have gotten.