Peter never means to eavesdrop, but sometimes he can't help it.
He'd been out in the driveway saying goodbye to Happy after their family dinner. The Starks had stayed inside to let them shed their tears in private. It would take a while for Peter to get used to the way Happy hugged him like an attacking bear. But as he watches his new uncle's car head back toward the city he feels soothed, not mauled. Who knew Happy was a teddy instead of a grizzly?
As Peter steps back in the cabin he hears Tony and Pepper doing dishes in the kitchen. Their voices are quieter than the clanking cutlery, but he can still make out every word.
"I just wish there was a way I could remember too," Pepper says. "I don't want it to be awkward between us because I'm still under the spell."
"I gotcha," Tony says. "But I'm not sure there's a moment with the right soul-crushing gravitas that will jog your memory. You and Pete never spent much time together. That was my fault. I was hiding him away, embarrassed by all the emotional vulnerability I felt every time he flashed those bambi eyes at me."
Peter contemplates standing in the hallway until they change the subject. It's been such a good day. The best he can remember in a long time.
But that feels dishonest. He owes both the Starks so much. Pepper has allowed a strange teenager to party-crash her perfect family without a single complaint. And he knows how much she hates unsolved mysteries. She'll worry about everything she's missing until she remembers, and she doesn't deserve that.
And Peter doesn't want to create any imbalance between Tony and his wife.
Peter's less of a problem if everyone knows him.
So he slides into the kitchen, trying not to look guilty about the eavesdropping. "Actually, there is one memory that should work."
Peter rubs at the back of his neck as both the Starks jump and stare.
"Why wouldn't I remember that?" Tony asks once he collects himself. "Were you two having traumatic experiences without me?"
Peter swallows back the bile creeping up his throat. Tony's joking, but nothing about this is funny. He already regrets not waiting in the hall, but he has to do this.
"Uh. You were there, but you were pretty out of it." He looks at Pepper, because he can't face looking at Tony when he goes on. "You and I, we were both there together when Tony…" Peter means to say it, or demonstrate, but he can't manage either and just trails off.
"Oh." Mrs. Stark is too smart for her own good, because she understands immediately. All the blood drains from her face.
"Nope," Tony says. "No way. I'm not making either of you relive that."
"I can handle it," Mrs. Stark says without hesitation. She's so strong there's no way Peter can admit that he's not sure he can.
"Pep, hun." Tony links their hands together, and then glances up at Peter, whose face is probably betraying him. "This isn't a good idea. It isn't necessary."
"It is to me." Pepper's voice is like iron. Peter's heard Tony joke that Pepper is the only person he's afraid of. He can understand how she'd make board rooms quail. "I want to remember Peter. He deserves that."
Peter doesn't, not really. He'd forego Pepper's memories if it saved them all pain. He doesn't want to remember the day Tony almost died. The day he thought Tony had died. But if this really means so much to Mrs. Stark, then he can relive it. For her.
So Peter shrugs. "It's okay."
"Are you sure?" Tony asks, scrutinizing them both in turn. "Are you both sure?"
"Yeah," Peter lies.
"Christ," Tony swears. "Ok. Final battle. The snap heard round the world, take three. There's gotta be some suit footage, right? FRIDAY—"
"No!" Peter interrupts, desperate. He knows what happened, but he can't see it again. It had been hard enough to live through once. When he'd been more in love with the idea of Tony than the reality. It had been endlessly cool that Tony Stark had taken him under his wing, building him a suit and sharing his lab and offering begrudging advice every time Peter ended up in the MedBay. Occasionally Peter had imagined more. Casual superhero team ups. Mister Stark unexpectedly showing up to career day and bragging about his favorite intern. A hug that wasn't just him being needy and Mister Stark being awkward.
But all that closeness had been largely in his head. Until he'd died and resurrected and found Mister Stark on that battlefield, and it had been Tony who was needy. Tony who was staring at him with raw emotion and clinging on to him with strange, desperate affection. There had been way too much going on for Peter to understand what had changed, but he'd been excited to save the world so that he could find out.
But then Tony had died (or so Peter had thought). Saving the world but sacrificing himself. And the only way to make sense of Mister Stark's erratic behavior was to listen to Pepper and Happy's melancholic musings about how much Tony had cared about Peter. But there was something still missing from their stories. It was like watching a youtube video through a phone screen cracked in three places. All the good parts were obscured. So Mister Stark had cared, and Peter didn't find out until he was dead? Peter hated himself for being selfish, but that sucked so much more than if he hadn't cared at all.
But now Tony is back, and his crazy, irrational love is the only thing holding Peter together. He doesn't understand it, but it's undeniable. And he can't deny that he loves Tony right back. It's not quite how he imagined—there's far more trauma and far less fun—but the thought of even contemplating a world without Tony in it sears right through him like a bullet.
But he has to do this. For Mrs. Stark.
He can do this.
But he can't see Tony's burned and broken body. Watch his reactor flicker and die as the light fades from his eyes. Listen to his heart stutter and slow and stop. His memories are bad enough, but they've begun to blur with time and repeated proof of Tony's survival. He can't watch the suit footage, raw and real.
"None of us want to see that," Peter says, trying and failing to keep his voice steady. He hopes he doesn't sound as miserable as he feels. "But I remember. I can narrate. That should be enough, right?"
Tony's squinting like he's trying to peer into Peter's brain. "I dunno. But we can try it."
"Are you really okay with this, Peter?" Pepper asks. She reaches out and lays a soft hand on his forearm. It's such a May gesture that he's struck by a wave of sadness that he really doesn't need right now.
"I can do it." He stares off into the middle distance, trying not to remember the ash in the air. The way that the aliens had stank when they died. All the ozone and blood and the way his head had been ringing from the toughest fight of his life. All his sense had been going haywire, everything too much.
He takes a deep breath. Holds on to it for a few moments. Lets go.
"So, uh. Colonel Rhodes was the first one to find Tony – after. They had a little moment and then I got there and. I was in my Iron Spider suit, so you probably remember Spider-Man was there, but I took my mask off. I told Tony that I was there. That we had won. That I was sorry." He's sorry now. So, so, sorry and he's not even sure why. "Then Pepper, you. You came up behind me and squeezed my shoulder. And just like, held me for a second, cause I was kind of losing it. Then you talked to Tony and you told him he could rest. Then his arc reactor went out and his heart stopped." Peter sniffs once, trying to clear his throat. Then he barges on. "Then Strange came and made a portal, and Colonel Rhodes carried Tony through. And you turned and just sort of fell into me. And it seemed like maybe we were trying to hold each other together. And you told me that he was so glad that he got to see me again."
Then Tony is gripping his shoulder, hard. Peter can feel the metal of his fingers through his t-shirt, and it's grounding. "Christ." It's a relief just to hear his voice. Because as he was dying Tony hadn't been able to say anything. Peter wasn't even positive Tony had known Peter was there. There had been a terrible vacantness in his eyes that had hinted at what was to come. He'd been conscious but not exactly present, lost in a haze of pain. Peter hadn't been able to bear seeing Tony suffer like that. He understood why Pepper told him he could rest and let go, even though that wasn't what any of them wanted. "Enough of that. Jesus. Come here, both of you. I'm all right now. Let's remember that." Tony pulls Peter into his right side and Pepper into his left, alternatingly dropping kisses to their foreheads.
"Peter." There is such emotion in Pepper's voice that Peter knows she remembers him. He looks up at her sharply, glad that all this emotional upheaval wasn't in vain. He expects to find fondness in her gaze, perhaps the same strange look that said, "we're in this together," that she'd fixed him with for the first time on that awful battlefield. He'd found it utterly perplexing at the time, but he understands better now. But when their eyes meet she looks away, and it feels like his lung has been punctured.
What had he done wrong that she had remembered?
"Did it work?" Tony asks. "Please tell me it worked because none of us should have to live through that again."
"It worked," Pepper said solemnly. There is something about her tone that sets off Peter's tingle. He feels sick to his stomach, and regrets his third helping of tiramisu immensely.
"Thank God."
"Peter, could I speak to you for a minute on the porch?" Pepper asks.
Tony's hand on Peter's side noticeably tightens. "What for?"
"It's all right," Pepper says. Her tone implies otherwise. "There's just something I'd like to discuss in private. Maybe you could go check on Morgan."
Some look passes between them. After a few tense moments Tony gives Peter a final squeeze, kisses his forehead one last time, and then lets him go.
As Peter follows Pepper to the porch, he suddenly understands the phrase being led to the gallows.
He doesn't know what he's done, but clearly it's bad. He perches at the edge of the porch swing. It takes everything inside him to resist pulling his knees up to his chin and curling into a ball.
A coyote howls in the distance. Peter flinches. His tingle barely intensifies, but it's already blaring. Maybe it doesn't know how to properly judge the danger of the Starks' middle of nowhere problems.
"Should we be out there? That sounds close," Peter stammers, partially because he's legitimately concerned and partially to fill the silence.
Pepper settles on the other end of the swing, leaving plenty of space between them. "Didn't Tony tell you about the fence?"
"What fence?" Peter's never noticed a fence.
"Tony installed an underground ultrasonic fence around the entire property to keep out coyotes and other predators. You can't hear it, right? A really high, constant buzzing? He was supposed to ask you about that."
"I don't hear any buzzing."
"That's good."
Pepper doesn't look at him as she says it, and Peter thinks he's gotten the hint. The truth hits hard like a train, and he knows how long that agony will linger. Pain radiates when he tries to take a breath.
Pepper doesn't want him here.
Peter can't cause trouble for the Starks.
He's going to have to go.
"I can pack my stuff tonight and leave in the morning." Peter can barely force the words through his throat. He can call an Uber, but then what? For a moment he thinks of Happy, nearly christened as his uncle. Just a few hours ago he'd told Peter he could stay. Sure it would remind him of the time he spent at Happy's place with May, but otherwise it wouldn't be so bad. They knew each other's habits.
But Tony would be jealous, and Peter can't do that to him. To Happy. To either of them. Because he's going to have to leave without explaining why, so that Tony doesn't blame Pepper. He can say that he misses having his own space. That the city needs Spider-man. That he's feeling smothered. Overwhelmed. But he can't say that he'd rather spend time with Happy, cause it would drive Tony crazy. Peter doesn't think he can lie that convincingly anyway. All the other excuses will be enough of a stretch.
Peter will have to go it alone. He's done it before. He should be able to manage. But the thought of returning to that awful little apartment makes him want to close his eyes and not wake up. He hopes that Tony might get him a nicer place, and then hates himself for being willing to take his money when he's about to break the man's heart. But Tony has a wife and a real kid to worry about, and Peter hadn't been part of the deal when Pepper married him. It was no wonder she didn't want some weird second kid glomming onto her family like a parasite. Though Peter doesn't know what changed when Pepper remembered. She'd honestly seemed okay with his presence when he was a stranger. They'd barely known each other before he was dusted. Had Tony told her something when he was gone that made her turn him away?
Maybe she remembered how Peter killed everyone he loved.
"Peter." Suddenly Pepper is grasping his arm. She'd slid toward him on the swing, and he hadn't even noticed. Her eyes are wide with alarm.
Great. Now he's scaring her. He can't even remove himself from her life properly.
"Sorry! Sorry. I, uh, kinda spaced there. I'm not sure what you said."
"I said that if I was the reason you left, that would probably be the end of my marriage."
He feels so sick that it's only his need to explain that keeps him from retching. Words burst forth before his dinner can. "No! Oh no! No no no. That's not what I intended at all! I don't want to cause any trouble between you and Mister Stark. That's the opposite of what I want. I won't say anything about this. I promise."
Pepper's got hold of both his arms now. She looks properly concerned, like Peter had expected her to after the memory. It's kind of her to pretend to want him now, but he knows the truth.
"Peter, sweetheart. I need you to breathe for me, honey."
"I am breathing," he sputters. But his chest is getting tighter and tighter, so maybe he's not.
"Deep breathes. In and out. Let's count them, all right? Tony and I are going to be fine, because neither of us want you to go anywhere."
He snaps his head up to look at her and forgets about breathing. "You don't?"
Pepper is all steady, girl-boss eyes. "Absolutely not."
"Oh." Relief washes him away. He follows Pepper until he can breathe again on his own. Finally he sinks back against the swing, exhausted, letting his eyes fall closed.
Pepper's fingers trail gently up and down his arm. "I'm so sorry I made you think you weren't wanted, Peter. That wasn't my intention."
"What did I do wrong?" he whispers, keeping his eyes closed. He wants to know, but he doesn't want to see her disappointment all over again.
"What do you mean?"
Peter looks at her with an aggrieved sigh. "After you remembered. Something changed. You didn't look at me the same. You didn't seem to want to look at me at all."
She's looking at him now, although something in her expression crumbles. "Something did change. But I wasn't disappointed with you. I was disappointed with myself. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay."
She arches one perfectly sculptured brow. "Do you even know what I'm apologizing for?"
"No, but-"
"Don't you think you should let me explain before you hand out forgiveness?"
"I guess, but it's not like I'm going to stay mad at you."
"You're allowed to, you know. It's not wrong to be angry or hurt at the way someone treats you."
It had hurt when Pepper hadn't looked him in the eye. But that was just a misunderstanding, apparently. He wasn't mad about it. "Why are you sorry?"
"Because we weren't there when you needed us, and that was my fault."
"I don't know what you're talking about." From the moment Karen had called Tony about the tourniquet he'd been there for Peter. Pepper was always by his side, welcoming and understanding.
"Last summer, after Mysterio told the world you were Spider-man, Tony wanted you and May to stay here until everything calmed down. I convinced him it would bring too much media attention. That the vultures might discover he was alive, or fixate on Morgan. He didn't like it, but he listened to me."
For a second Peter considers how his life would have been different if he'd spent that summer with the Starks. There was no way this over expressive, wildly jealous version of Tony would have ever let him ask another hero for help. If Peter had never gone to Strange, there would have been no spell, and May—
Peter shuts down that line of thought quick, sensing the danger like a mugger coming at him with a knife. "That wasn't your problem. Of course you wanted to look out for your family. I was the one who got Stark Industries in trouble because I gave Beck EDITH. You hired me a really good lawyer."
"You're part of my family, Peter. But I let my fear get in the way of that. You deserved better."
Peter looks down and picks at his fingernails. "I'm not really part of your family, though."
"That's not true. If not for you I might not have a family at all."
Peter looks up shyly. "What do you mean?"
"When Tony and I first got together, he made it very clear that he didn't want kids. I was so focused on my career that I agreed. Keeping Tony in line sometimes felt like caring for a child anyway. But for years I had nightmares that I got pregnant and had to make an impossible choice—Tony or the baby."
"But Tony's great with Morgan!" Peter doesn't mean to interrupt, but this needs to be said. He's been watching those two closely ever since he got to the cabin. Tony is a perfect dad.
Pepper softens when she smiles. "He is. You see, the only person who's ever been able to convince Tony what he can or can't do is himself. He was so sure he'd be a bad father—"
"Because of Howard." Peter can't bring himself to call that man Tony's father.
Pepper pauses, maybe at Peter's dark tone or the fact he knows where to attribute Tony's demons. "Yes. Because of Howard. There was no arguing with Tony. We never talked about kids again. And then a few weeks before Thanos showed up Tony tells me he dreamed that we had a kid. He wasn't angry or freaked out – he was excited. He kept bringing it up. Said we'd name the kid after my crazy uncle. I thought maybe our chance had passed, but he was so enthusiastic I stopped taking my birth control pills. I found out I was pregnant when he was lost in space."
Peter wraps his arms around himself, thinking about how scared Mrs. Stark must have been, alone in all that chaos with a baby on the way. "Oh. That timing wasn't great."
But Pepper smiles again. It's a smile the media never gets to see. "Actually it was. Tony came back, devastated that he'd lost you. Devastated that they'd lost. And I worried that no matter how much he'd wanted it when things were good, finding out he was going to be a father would push him over the edge. But finding out about Morgan pulled him back together. Gave him something good to focus on."
Peter was so glad. Because as much as he'd always admired Tony Stark, it was pretty obvious from his erratic public persona that his mental health wasn't the best. And Tony had done all he could about Thanos, but feeling like you failed half the universe was a pretty valid reason to feel depressed.
Peter wondered sometimes, after he came back, how he would have fared if he'd been one of the half left behind. If May, Ned, and MJ were all gone, but he was still there, would he have been able to get up every morning, knowing he'd had a grip on the gauntlet and been unable to get it off?
Maybe if Tony had taken him in.
He shakes away that train of thought. Another useless what if. "What does this have to do with me?" he asks.
Pepper laughs, kind and airy, though Peter can't fathom why. "Because you're what convinced him that he could be a better father than Howard. Mentoring you. Caring for you. He told me so many stories about your time together. It was so clear how much he loved you. Not just to me. He could finally see it himself. That confidence made him a wonderful father to Morgan. Without her—maybe he would have come up with a solution, but probably he would have just worked himself to death. I certainly don't think we would have gotten married. It was hard after the Blip, in so many ways. But this family was a bright spot in a dark world, and I owe that to you."
Maybe that was true. It had to be. Tony had said something similar. But Mister Stark was the one who'd done all the work. He'd always been capable of being a good father. "I didn't do anything. He's the one who recruited me."
"You put up with him, even when he was being an ass. You forgave him when he made mistakes, and you kept showing up."
"How could I not? Tony Stark was helping me be a superhero and letting me work in his private lab! He thought I was useful, and that was so cool. But I didn't know he cared about me."
"He regretted that so much. He didn't even know how much he cared until you were gone. But once he figured it out—That's what makes what I did so unforgivable. He waited so long to get you back—invented time travel to do it—and then I kept you guys apart because I was scared."
Pepper looks so forlorn. Peter hates it. He wants to absolve her. But there's a tiny part of him still stuck on the what if as she presses forward.
"I used to be able to handle his heroics. It was hard, and we broke up a few times over it. But we were in a good place when Thanos came. Probably because Tony was in a better place when you were around. And then, after the Blip, Tony retired. It was just the three of us in our cabin. I got used to not having to share him with the world. When he left to bring everyone back—I had a bad feeling. I knew I could lose him. And then I almost did. All those months, not sure if he'd ever come out of the coma. When he did, I didn't want to let him out of my sight. I liked that the world didn't know he was alive. When I saw that report about Spider-Man's identity, all I could think about was those helicopters following you to the cabin. But that was selfish, and it wasn't fair. Tony was absolutely livid that his enemy had gone after you, and he just wanted to jump in and fix things. But I played the Morgan card, and the grieving almost-widow card, until he backed down. But if I had let you and May stay with us, who knows what would have been different."
"You're right. No one knows what would have been different. But thinking like that doesn't change anything. Least that's what Sam says." Peter feels better as soon as he says it. Maybe there's another timeline where that happened, a Peter 1.5 who never broke in the same ways. But that isn't his reality, and it never will be.
Pepper takes a deep breath, seeming to feel better too. "Using what you learned in therapy against me, hmmm? That's a Tony move, you know."
Peter smiles at her. "I appreciate the apology. But I'm still not mad. I'm just glad you're not making me leave."
"I don't think Tony would let you go, no matter what you or I wanted."
Peter scratches at the back of his neck. "Sam says we're almost codependent."
"Sounds about right. But of all the things Tony's been dependent on through the years, you're by far the healthiest."
Peter has a crazy flashback to health class a few years ago, when Mrs. Stevens had lectured them for a whole week about not doing drugs. Now what's he addicted to? The fatherly attention of a recluse superhero billionaire.
As Ned would say, what is his life?
"This is your home now. I'll never stand in the way of that again. And if I ever say or do anything that makes you feel unwelcome, I want you to tell me. I want to be better for you. I'm going to be better."
This is not at all what Peter was expecting when he followed Pepper outside. It's so much more that he deserves that all he can manage is a stuttered, "Thanks."
"Tony and I have been talking about what comes next. We're just nailing down the timeline of when to announce his return to the living and when to file the adoption. It would be easier if not for the media, but there's going to be a circus. We want to shield you from that as much as we can."
Something flutters in his chest at that word, yet he still finds himself protesting. "You don't have to adopt me. That would make things easier, right? I'm going to be eighteen in a couple months. It's not like CPS knows to track me down."
"But you'll need family for the rest of your life. This isn't about custody. That part's a technicality. We're doing this so there's not a doubt where you belong."
He closes his eyes and lets himself savor those words.
He feels Pepper lean into him, just slightly. He leans back with just a little more force. Then she slips an arm around his shoulder.
"I really look forward to getting to know you better, Peter. I'd never try to replace May. But if you ever need a woman's advice—or rational advice for an adult that isn't Tony—I'm here."
"Thanks." The silence that stretches between them isn't uncomfortable anymore. The pressure in his chest is gone. He can breathe again. It's quiet out here in a way the city never is. He can see why Tony likes it.
The silence is broken when Morgan bursts through the door so hard it slams against the side of the house. "Does anyone need rescuing?" she asks, one hand planted on her hip, the other outstretched like it's covered in a gauntlet.
"Rescuing?" Peter asks.
"Daddy said I might have to come rescue someone. Which of you is it?"
"Inside joke," Pepper explains after he raises his eyebrows. "Your brother and I are fine, Morgan. No rescues necessary."
Morgan tilts her head. "But Petey looks sad."
Does he? He isn't, really. But maybe that's his face's default setting now. "I'm not sad, Mo."
"I can go get my Spidey to cheer you up."
"That's okay. You know what would make me feel even better?"
"Kisses!" Morgan darts toward him, crawls up in his lap, and covers his face in wet, sloppy kisses before Peter fully tracks what's happening. The last one lands on the tip of his nose before Morgan throws herself into the crook of his arm and grins up at him.
Peter laughs, pressing a kiss of his own to the top of her wild hair. "I was gonna say hugs." He clasps her to him to demonstrate, tickling her side until she's giggling in his arms. Once they finally calm down he glances over at Pepper to make sure she's not jealous that he's the focus of Morgan's attention. But she's watching them with a soft, serene expression.
"Everything okay out here?" Tony asks from the doorway.
Peter's not used to him looking so tentative. There's a dish towel slung across his metal shoulder, the same red and blue that don't match the kitchen at all but still seem to be everywhere in this house.
"Everything is fine," Pepper assures.
But Tony's eyes dart between each member of his family, as if he's trying to find something wrong. "Pete?"
Peter tries for the most genuine smile he can manage. "It's all good."
"You sure?"
"I promise."
"I kissed it all better," Morgan says, demonstrating with another peck to his forehead.
"So basically you're all just having a party without me."
Even with his super senses Peter's not sure how it happens. One moment Tony's lingering at the doorway. Then the chaos starts. By the time it's over Pepper is somehow in Tony's lap, Morgan is shrieking with laughter, and the swing is swaying with an ominous, jerky motion.
"Oof," Tony says, before Pepper sweetly elbows him in the ribs.
"I don't think this swing was meant for four people," Peter says, contemplating whether he should drop his legs and try to stabilize it.
"Nonsense," Tony counters. "I designed this swing. I built this swing. Of course we all fit. These chains are made of vibranium."
"That seems like a gross misuse of valuable resources."
"Fine, Debbie Downer," Tony huffs. "They're just stainless steel. But they're definitely strong enough to hold us. Little Miss weighs next to nothing and you've got hollow spider bones."
"Spiders don't have bones!" Morgan shrieks. Something warms in Peter's chest because she knows this. "Wait. Do you not have bones?"
Peter ignores Pepper's snort. "I do have bones."
Morgan pokes his shoulder. "Are you sure? You should check. Maybe you can fall out trees and not break anything. That would be so cool!"
"Pretty sure. Sorry, Mo."
"And I'm definitely sure," Tony says. "You brother's had enough x-rays to convince me that his skeletal system is completely human."
"I thought you just said my bones were hollow."
"Alright, Sasquatch. Point is I built this swing hoping to hold all my family in my arms, and here we are." All the teasing has left Tony's tone by the end of his little speech. Peter isn't the only one to notice. Pepper links one of her hands with Tony's flesh one, raising it to brush a kiss across his knuckles. Morgan leans over to kiss him on the cheek. And Peter lets himself sag so his head rests on Tony's shoulder.
"Now I just need to build another one right over there for Rhodey and Happy. I'll be sure to make that one smaller so Rhodey has to sit on Happy's lap."
Peter laughs at the face Happy would make at that job requirement.
A coyote howls. Peter flinches before he remembers what Pepper told him. It still sounds too close for comfort.
"You didn't tell him about the fence," Pepper scolds.
Tony pales. "Oh shit. You can't hear it, can you? I'll dig it all up tonight."
"Or just turn it off," Pepper suggests.
"Or that."
"I can't hear it," Peter says. "It's fine."
"He's been worried about coyotes getting too close to the house."
"Oh geez. Did you really think I'd save the world but let my kids be scavenged by wild animals?"
"No, but…" It sounds so stupid when Tony says it. Peter knows he's not in any danger in Tony Stark's home. But everything here is so different from the city. He doesn't know how to judge what's a threat. His Spidey sense is just as confused as the rest of him.
"Never ever ever." Tony extricates one of his arms from Pepper and snakes it around Peter's shoulder, pulling him even closer. "This is a danger free zone, city slicker."
"I don't know what that means."
Tony laughs so hard the swing starts shaking again. Peter doesn't know why, but he doesn't care. His joy is infectious. He's never seen Tony quite like this. Carefree. Relaxed. Happy. It's a good look. He seems younger than Peter ever knew him, despite the grey hair.
"Can we have a picnic tomorrow?" Morgan asks. "The coyotes are not invited."
Tony leans over and presses a kiss to the top of her hair. Peter thinks for a second Tony is going to kiss him too, but he just flashes him a warm smile. "I don't see why not."
"Down by the lake?"
The smile dies. "Actually, Morguna, why don't we do it somewhere else?"
"The lake is fine," Peter insists. There's nothing enticing about the waters tonight. There won't be tomorrow, either. Even if the dark thoughts return, if he wakes up in their grip, we won't let them take over. He'll never forget Tony's tearful admission. If you took your own life, I would never recover. He cannot do that to Tony. Not to the man who means everything to him. Who was just grinning at him a few moments ago, so damn happy to be surrounded by his family at last.
Not to the little girl in his lap either, or the powerhouse of a woman beside him, who feels guilt for things he could never blame him for. They're his family too. Not just Tony's. Because he's part of it now. An honorary Stark, and one day maybe a legal one. It's crazy. But his life's been crazy ever since that field trip to Oscorp. Crazy can be good or bad, or somewhere in better.
But this? For someone who knew nothing but loneliness for six months, this is absolutely miraculous.
"Can we invite Happy?" he asks, not wanting his uncle to be left out. "I'll text him."
Tony's smile is anything but jealous. "Course we can." He drops his gaze to Morgan. "And what shall we eat at this picnic, poppet?"
"Juice pops!"
Peter closes his eyes as he listens to the Starks banter back and forth, sinking deeper into Tony's hold, content in the knowledge that he's finally found his way home.
I can't express how much the support to this fic means to me! I've thought it was finished 3 or 4 times already, but you all keep dragging me back into the fandom with your enthusiasm and your great ideas. I do apologize that we've lost all sense of continuity. For anyone interested in reading chapters chronically, the proper order would be Chapter 1-4, 8, 5, the first scene of 6, 10-13, the rest of 6, 7 and then 9.
Because I just can't let this go, there will be a Coda coming. Someone requested Peter seriously calling Tony Dad, and I'm such a sucker for those scenes I may as well write one. But my hands are a bit tied since I'm just meandering around the timeline. Since he hasn't done that yet when he goes to see Ned and MJ, I have to add a chapter after their reunion to make that happen. Somehow I don't think anyone will mind.
