Peter

Later, after she finished her run, Hallie watched from the sidelines for a while. Peter knew that some of what they were doing wasn't that interesting to watch, but it was important to keep skills sharp. He hoped she wasn't too bored. But, at least if she was, she could go grab a snack, or shower, or something now. He wasn't excited to spend more time apart, but he was happy about the freedom it gave Hallie to not always be tied to him.

"Hey, sweetheart," Peter said happily as she rejoined them on the floor when they'd finished. He hugged her to him and pressed a quick kiss to her hair. "How was your run?"

"Good. Not as interesting as watching you guys afterwards. I'm not sure if I'll ever get over that. It was amazing today!"

"Oh, good," he said, ducking his head almost shyly. "I was kind of afraid you'd been bored over here."

"Are you kidding? It was so awesome to watch all of you working together like that, and-"

"Hey, Hallie?" Natasha said, walking over to them.

"Hi, Ms. Romanoff, Hallie said quietly, smiling a little nervously. Peter looked on in interest to see what Nat had to say.

"Nat, please." Hallie swallowed, nodding. Even after a few weeks, it was hard getting used to how casual everyone around here was. And she was quite a bit younger than all of them. "Peter said he'd like you to do some more training to build on your martial arts experience. Would now be a good time for us to assess a little bit so I can set up a training program for you?"

"Um, I'm not sure. What do we have next,?" she asked, looking up at Peter, the surprise evident on her face.

"Dinner with the team, but probably not for over an hour. Do you want to? I'd love for you to get started ASAP. The more skills you develop, the less I'll need to worry about you, you know? Theoretically." He grimaced, having enough self-awareness to know he'd worry anyway.

"Okay, um, sure. What do you mean 'we,' though?"

"Oh, Clint and Yelena are going to help. They'll both have some good input."

"O-kay," Hallie squeaked, stepping away from Peter's side.

"Peter, do you think you can sit this one out?" Natasha asked, eyeing him levelly. "Your bond is still really new, and I'm not sure it would be good for you to watch us figure out where she's at. You know we're not going to hurt her, but it will be a little rigorous, and worrying about your reactions might keep her from focusing and performing."

Peter wrinkled his nose in annoyance at the redhead, but he knew she was right. He remembered how hard training had gotten for a while when his bond with Tony was new.

"Are you okay with that, Hallie?"

"Yeah, of course," she said, looking a little more nervous now. But Peter really did trust all of his team members, and he knew Nat was the absolute best at self-defense training, having been on the receiving end of it himself. He nodded curtly at the veteran .

Speaking of Tony, he appeared at Peter's elbow. "Hey, kid. Would now be a good time for you to get back out there, since they're kicking you out?"

"Right now?" Peter grinned, turning to his dad. "Really?" Finally getting to patrol again would definitely distract him from worrying about Hallie.

"Yep. I've got 45 minutes. Let's do it."

"Finally," Peter sighed softly, turning to follow Tony. Then he paused, and turned back to Hallie, who was watching him with an unreadable look on her face.

"Hey, c'mere," he said gently, pulling her away from the others. "Are you okay with me going out? Tony's going to be monitoring me the whole time," he said with a slight eyeroll at that necessary safety precaution.

"Yeah," she said softly, ducking her head. "I mean, I'm not, totally, but I know it's important to you, and I know it's been hard for you to not be Spiderman since you met me, so…"

"No, Hal, don't say it like that. Yes, I've missed it, but it's been totally worth it to make sure we're both okay, and to let our bond settle. It's not something that I had to take a break from because of you or our bond, but something that I chose to do because you're so much more important to me." She ducked her forehead against his shoulder.

"I trust Tony, and I know you can obviously take care of yourself. I mean, look at you," she said, stepping back to gesture to his suit. "You're a superhero," she smiled shyly. "But I'll still worry," she finished softly, stepping in closer against his chest again.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I know sweetheart, and I'm sorry. I promise to play it supremely safe when we're still at this stage."

She pulled back and looked at him suspiciously. "Are you saying later you aren't going to?"

He looked to the side and his hand came up to touch the back of his neck. "No-o, but sometimes I have to take risks to help people, and I can't promise that I won't ever do that again, Hal. But I won't right now . Promise. That's why Tony's there anyway. 98% of the time I'm not actually in danger when I'm just patrolling, but Tony's there to cover that 2%"

She didn't look happy, but she moved back in to bury her face in his neck. "Please be careful," she said quietly.

"Absolutely, dolcezza," he said fervently. "But you, too. Tell them if they're being too much for you. They can get carried away in their zeal for improvement. Believe me, I know. I can't count the buckets of ice I've gone through during all of Nat's trainings," he admitted. "They won't think less of you."

Tony had returned to his side to see what the hold-up was, and had heard the last minute of their conversation. He smiled at her comfortingly. "Hallie, I promise I'll bring him back safely to you. Less than an hour, scout's honor."

She narrowed her eyes at her father-in-law. "Why do I find it hard to believe that you were ever a boy scout?"

Peter laughed out loud. "She's got your number, Dad. Top of the list of 'things that never happened.'"

Tony grinned back, but his eyes were serious as he stared at Hallie. "I promise, for both of us." He reached over and squeezed her shoulder briefly.

"I believe you," she said, smiling bravely. Then she turned and headed over to Natasha's little group. Peter winced a little, knowing what she was probably in for. He knew it was worth it to get her started on the track to being safer, but he didn't like the idea of them tossing her around. She shrugged, trying to convince himself that she was in zero danger.

"Okay, let's do this," he said, eyes shining. It had been way too long.

Hallie

Hallie watched Peter walk out (bouncing was a more accurate description of how he moved) with Tony. She couldn't help smiling fondly as he left. She was nervous, but really excited that he finally got to go do Spiderman things again. She could tell how much he had been missing it.

"Ready?" Hallie turned around abruptly at the question. Natasha smiled. It was not a comforting smile.

After about forty minutes with Natasha, Yelena, and Clint, Hallie's legs felt a little shaky and she was having major doubts about any skills she thought she'd possessed. Which is why she was surprised when Nat smiled, really smiled, and finally pronounced her stance acceptable. Then they assessed her current skill level in a few different areas, while stopping her often to remind her of the changed stance they wanted her to keep returning to. She could tell they weren't being too hard on her, but she still failed to block quite a few hits, mostly from Yelena, while Natasha and Mr. Barton (she was working on "Nat" and 'Clint,' but it was a process - they'd been her childhood heroes, after all) took notes and talked quietly to each other, touching frequently as they worked. About halfway through, Natasha came over and stood behind her, verbally telegraphing some of Yelena's moves and offering passing suggestions after each attempt.

They were just about to start another salvo when Nat's phone buzzed and she quickly called a halt.

"But, aren't we going to finish?" Hallie blurted out.

"I think we'd better be done for today. That was Tony letting me know they're almost back."

"But surely Peter would want us to finish this part of—"

Nat held up her hand, forestalling Hallie's disagreement. "A new soul bond is a funny thing. Yes, Peter understands, mentally, that we're doing this for your own good, but emotionally it's better if he doesn't actually see any of it. The soreness and inevitable bruising will be hard enough for him. We don't need the kind of emotional backlash on our team that he'll probably feel if he tries to watch you sparring with any of us yet. In a few months it may be a different story, but for now it's better for everyone to train when he's not here. "

Just then the focus of their discussion walked in, his gaze searching eagerly for Hallie for a moment before he zeroed in on her and joined them.

They way he immediately started checking her for injuries with both his eyes and hands would have ordinarily surprised her, but it only served to illustrate Nat's point. He wrapped up his inspection, sighing unhappily at a few slight bruises which were already blooming, and finished with a quick kiss and a big hug. "You're okay, too?" she asked, making her own quick visual check.

He turned to Natasha. "What do you think?" Hallie winced, sure her report couldn't be overly favorable.

"Overall, not bad. I see what you mean about some strengths she already has." Hallie's eyes widened. Really?

"What would be best for me to work on with her during the next week or two?" Peter asked. Mr. Barton walked up next to Natasha, casually dropping an arm around her shoulders. She automatically adjusted into his hold, flashing him a smile before continuing. It had been interesting to watch their platonic bond up close this evening. If she didn't know better, she would have assumed they were a couple with all the casual touching and familiarity they had with each other. But knowing it was a bond, she could see the small differences, and she'd heard them talking animatedly about Clint's wife and family several times.

"Pretty much any different attack responses, but reminding her of stance," Natasha told them. "We worked on that a lot today, so she should have some muscle memory built already. And yes, you'll probably be sore," Natasha smiled apologetically at Hallie.

"Yeah, I remember how I felt after you corrected my stance that first week," Peter said ruefully, brushing Hallie's hair sympathetically.

"Oh, you were much worse," Natasha snorted. "You'd picked up all kinds of bad habits we had to break. Hallie's initial training is good already, she just needs finesse and lots of practice so her moves are more instinctive and come from a stronger base."

Hallie smiled shyly from Peter's side. It was heady to hear that the Black Widow thought she wasn't too bad.

"Her reactions improved quite a bit when I was calling out attacks for her, so teaching her to read her opponents and predict attacks is going to be a big focus. I don't want you teaching her, though. You still rely on your extra sense way too much, which makes you average at telegraphing without it. And that's being generous."

Peter maturely stuck his tongue out at Natasha and she grinned in response "Thanks Nat, Clint. We'd better clean up. Will we see you at dinner?"

"No problem, at all, Pete," Clint answered for both of them. "She's a quick learner," he said, smiling at Hallie. "And yeah, we'll be there," he said, glancing at Natasha in case she had a different answer. The pair strode away to talk to Yelena, who was just finishing putting away the extra mats they'd used.

Peter quickly disengaged his suit, then placed a hand at her waist as they walked out of the gym. "How are you, really, Hal?"

"I'm good. Like she said, I'll be sore. How was patrolling?" She asked, fitting her mouth around the word she's noticed he's used the most for what he did as Spiderman.

"It was fantastic. Absolutely great, even having Tony shadowing me." His eyes were shining, and the enthusiasm in his voice made her grin. "Mostly he stayed out of sight, but I could hear him there. I was able to help quite a few people, and everyone seemed happy to see me. One of those sessions that builds me up, you know? They're not always that great."

"I'm so glad you got to go out, Pete," Hallie smiled. They reached their room quickly.

"Man, I am overdue for another shower," Peter complained, tossing the towel he'd used at the gym into the laundry. "You want to go first, or should I?

Hallie swallowed and then bravely pushed her thoughts out before she could lose her nerve. "Or we could save water and go at the same time." Hallie tried to keep her tone and expression casual, but figured her rocketing heart rate and slight blush would let Peter know she was serious. And seriously nervous. Obviously trying not to show his surprise, Peter immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck, walking her backwards towards the bathroom.

"Have I ever told you how much I love it when you're environmentally conscious?"

Peter

"We wondered if you guys were going to join us," teased Clint as Peter and Hallie walked into dinner hand in hand. Everyone else had already gotten their food, and the Avengers common area was mass chaos. Almost everyone who'd been in town for the press conference was also staying through dinner, and it was nice to have a full house that night, if a little overwhelming sensory-wise. He could feel Hallie's heart rate pick up at the attention, but he caught her eye and smiled, hoping to put her more at ease.

After greeting Pepper, Tony, and Morgan, Peter and Hallie found themselves sharing a couch with May, Bryce, and Chase while they visited with Bruce and Alex next to them.

"Pete, has Pepper or legal said anything to you about retaliation against Hallie's old boss?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Not yet. At this point, the information's out there already. People will believe what they want. Though it may complicate the timing of the case we've been forming against him already, talking to past and present employees, if it looks like retaliation."

"Oh, yeah, I can see that." Bruce said.

"But," Peter said with satisfaction, "our legal team is worth what we pay them, and I already know they'll wait until the case is airtight to file, because they've promised to make it stick." Bruce lifted his drink, signaling his agreement with Peter. "The man is abusive to his employees, and completely flouting labor and soulmate laws. Like, he's not even trying. He shouldn't be in business."

At the same time, Peter was loosely tuned in to the conversation Hallie was having with Chase about a TV show they'd found that they both enjoyed. He was so glad they got along, and hoped Chase would be a friend for her when they started spending more time together.

Soon, Chase, Ty, Alex, and Casey said they needed to go. They had an all-personal-security staff meeting in a few minutes where they'd be talking schedules and strategy for the rest of the week.

"Do you need any of us in on that meeting?" Nat asked.

"No, thank you," Alex said. "We've already got the schedule you all drew up, and we'll plan around that." She nodded.

Peter was just about to ask Hallie if she wanted to continue to hang out, or if she was ready to go back to their room when a small projectile missile launched itself at him. Even though he recognized it as his (fairly) harmless little sister, he still acted instinctually to make sure no part of her impacted Hallie. An accidental elbow to the nose could cause all sorts of problems.

"Peter!"

"Hey, trouble, how are you?"

"I'm not trouble!" she said, giggling as he poked at a few of her ticklish spots. "I'm just Morgan!"

"Oh, my bad. I forgot. How are you feeling, Mo?" he asked, pulling her into his chest for a quick snuggle. "Are you all better?"

"Yep," she said, more quietly, with a little yawn. She had always liked the sensation of Peter, specifically, holding her like this. He attributed it to the many, many hours he'd spent walking or rocking her as a baby and a toddler. She would have rough nights sometimes where she just wouldn't or couldn't sleep, and he'd spelled Tony and Pepper as often as he could.

"How was school today, princess?"

"It was boring. But my friends are nice, and we played a cool game in P.E. And next week we're having a reptile show come visit us." She continued to ramble on for a few minutes about first grade politics, and he nodded and exclaimed in the appropriate places.

Peter wished school could be more challenging for his baby sister, but he was glad Tony and Pep had chosen to keep her experience as normal as possible, with kids her own age. They felt like it had been a much healthier choice that May and Ben had made for Peter vs. Tony going to college so young. So far, it was working. Morgan was getting by socially, and getting plenty of extra curricular mental stimulation.

Peter knew he had a weird relationship to Morgan: half big brother, half third parent. He wondered how it would change their relationship when and if he had kids of his own. Oh. He hadn't given that particular concept much thought in the last few weeks, but it was weirder (and conversely, much less weird) to think about it now knowing who their mother would be if he did have kids. He could definitely wait until later to have that conversation with Hallie (she was dealing with enough) but he couldn't help but be curious what her thoughts on it were. That's something most people asked before getting married, right? But soulmates are different, and it hadn't come up. And wouldn't have mattered either way to Peter. As much as he thought he would love having his own babies to rock to sleep someday, she was perfect for him with or without them.

"What are you thinking about?" Hallie asked quietly. "You're all starry-eyed."

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just dreaming a little. There hasn't been much chance for that lately." He smiled at her and quickly changed the subject.

"You all ready for tomorrow? I'm planning to mostly stay on campus, but not be in class with you, except probably Spanish. I already told Señora Alba I'd help with the activity she wanted to do tomorrow."

Before Hallie could respond, Tony walked over. "Bedtime, Maguna." She growled as only a 6-year-old girl can, and burrowed further into Peter's chest, where she had been so still he had wondered if she was starting to fall asleep. He knew she had missed him lately. He had dropped a lot of balls while needing to concentrate on his new bond with Hallie. It couldn't be helped, though. He made a quick decision. "Mind if I put her to bed tonight, Dad?"

Tony looked surprised, but quickly nodded. "No arguments here, Pete."

"Will you be okay for twenty minutes or so, Hal?" She, of course, nodded.

"Se sei molto fortunato, ragazzo*," his dad said, sotto voce. His tone indicated it would take longer than that to get Morgan to bed.

Peter stood up with his much happier little sister's legs wrapped around his waist, and Tony immediately took his spot. "I'll keep her company," he said. "I like to spend time with both my daughters." He winked at Hallie, who looked startled at his phrasing, but not unhappy. "Night, Morg. Love you, kiddo." Then to Peter, "Make sure you find Pep on your way out."

"You act like I don't know how to do this," Peter grumbled. Tony just grinned, and swatted at Peter as he walked away.

"'Night Daddy! Goodnight, Hallie!"

Peter glanced back in time to see his wife blow a kiss at the precocious 6-year-old, and it warmed his heart. As they found Pepper to say goodnight to her, he knew his dad's warning had been spot-on, and he steeled himself for a task harder than all the Spidermanning he'd done earlier: Getting the 6-year-old settled in without any major battles of will. She was something else. Considering who her family was, and the people she spent most of her time with, it would have been a surprise if she wasn't strong-willed though. They all tried hard to see it as a positive attribute, but it was a challenge to parent.

As Peter was leaving the room, his super hearing was still zeroed in on his two soulmates, so he heard Tony say, "So, Hallie, has May shown you any of Peter's baby pictures yet?" His head snapped back and met the amused gaze of his dad across the room. "Just kidding, Pete," he said at the same normal volume. "I knew you'd still be tuned in. I probably won't show her anything embarrassing. Enjoy bedtime." Peter just shook his head at his dad. "FRI, will you let me know if he does anything he shouldn't?" he asked, almost rhetorically.

"I'll consider it, Boss." Peter grinned in surprise. Well, that was actually more than he was hoping for.

*If you're very lucky, kid