Author's Note: Hello, hello, my readers, and welcome back to another chapter of Raise Me Up! We are back with CHAPTER 28! And this one is a chapter that takes place over a couple of months as it shows Peter returning to school and going into October. I can't wait for you guys to read this one because it's got some fluff and hurt/comfort…and…a little sick!Peter! I hope you all enjoy…BUT before we get to that…REVIEW REPLIES!

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Chapter 28

The last few weeks of August flew by, and September officially began, which of course meant that Peter was just two days away from starting school. However, it also meant that it had been almost a week or two since they saw Clint Barton and Scott Lang, and Tony and Rhodey had yet to hear from them. However, Peter and Tony weren't thinking about that now as they drove to Midtown that morning. Pepper had to work, but she gave Tony everything Morita would need to sign or read. She trusted her fiancé to handle the meeting while she stayed to get work done, and it wasn't anything too complicated. He and Peter were simply going to speak to his principal about Peter's current living situation.

"You don't think Morita will give us a hard time, do you?" Peter asked as they drove into Queens.

"Nah," Tony said shaking his head as he kept his eyes on the road, "Pepper already gave him the heads up, so he knows what's going on. If anything, it's just so you can avoid doing this in front of your classmates."

"Aw, you love me," Peter said with a sarcastic grin.

Tony rolled his eyes as he reached over and ruffled Peter's hair. "Of course, we do, you knucklehead," he said.

Peter laughed as he lightly swatted Tony's hand away.


It wasn't long before Tony finally pulled up in front of Midtown High and parked his car directly in front of the school. As soon as he parked the car, both he and Peter looked at each other and nodded before getting out. They then walked side by side up the path and stairs to get into the school. Peter couldn't help but look around the campus. It was very rare that he would come to school over the summer before it officially started, and he couldn't help but notice how quiet it was without the crowds of students and the teachers that occupied the campus grounds. It was strange to see.

"I can't get over how quiet it is," Peter said aloud as Tony signed them in at the front security desk.

His guardian chuckled. "A huge difference, huh?" he asked completely ignoring the stunned security guard staring at him.

"Yeah," Peter said not bothering to acknowledge the stunned security guard as they walked past him. "Come on, Morita's office is this way."

With that said, Tony and Peter walked past the front desk and down the hallway toward Jim Morita's office. Tony hadn't had the chance to personally meet Morita face to face. He had only known of him from what Peter and May had told him, and he remembered when he and Peter took the pictures to show proof of his internship back in November…before their relationship became what it was now. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it was only almost a year ago. He had been to the school itself for Peter's award ceremony in school of course, but he and Peter left after the ceremony. There was no time for him to meet Morita then, especially when it was just a few days after May died and before the hearing.

"Oh, hey, Tony, look!" Peter said happily jolting Tony out of his thoughts. "I never showed you!"

Tony followed Peter's direction only to see…a picture of him and Peter with his certificate for the Stark Internship…hanging on the wall. Under the frame was a small plaque that read…

Peter Parker and his mentor, Tony Stark…

The billionaire couldn't help but smile as he wrapped his arm around his kid. "Well, how about that…" he said.

"I should've showed you when we were here on the last day of school," Peter said after a moment, "but…you know…"

Tony couldn't help but chuckle yet again and shake his head. "Don't worry about it. You had a lot going on. I'm not going to get mad at you for not mentioning a picture of us right away. Although, I still say he could've gone with the sillier ones."

Peter chuckled and shook his head. "Unfortunately, Tony, I had no say in the matter."

The billionaire and his kid laughed as they resumed walking down toward Morita's office. When they got there, they saw that the door was open, so Peter knocked alerting Morita's secretary, who was sitting at her desk.

"Hi there, Peter," she said with a smile looking up from her computer, "how are you, dear?"

"I'm good," Peter said with a smile, "thank you, Mrs. Johnson. You of course know Tony. Tony, this is Mr. Morita's secretary, Mrs. Johnson."

Tony smiled as they shook hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he said.

"You as well, Mr. Stark," she said. "You're here for your 10AM meeting, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct," Tony replied.

"Great," she said, "let me get Mr. Morita. You two can have a seat."

"Thank you," Tony and Peter said in unison before they took their seats across from Mrs. Johnson's desk.

The two superheroes watched as Mrs. Johnson got up from her chair and walked over to the door behind her desk knocking and then opening it. After a few seconds, she closed the door and looked back at Tony and Peter. "He'll be right out, Mr. Stark," she said.

Tony nodded with a smile before he looked at Peter with a slightly wider smile patting him on the shoulder.

It wasn't too long after that when Mr. Morita finally opened his door and walked out smiling once he saw Tony and Peter sitting there waiting for him. "Peter, so good to see you around this campus," he said. "Getting an early start to the school year?"

"I guess you could say that, sir," Peter replied with a playful smirk as he and Tony stood up to greet his principal. He couldn't help but mentally note how much easier it was to talk to Mr. Morita when he wasn't trouble for ditching school and a field trip. He shook hands with Mr. Morita before he remembered that Tony was still standing next to him. "And of course, you know Tony Stark," Peter finally said after a moment. "Tony, this is Mr. Morita."

"A pleasure to meet you in person, Mr. Stark," Mr. Morita said as they shook hands.

"Tony, and likewise, Mr. Morita," Tony replied with a smile.

Morita smiled even wider and nodded. "Let's step into my office," he said. "We can get down to business."

Tony and Peter nodded and followed Mr. Morita into his office, where he closed the door behind them.

"Now, Ms. Potts spoke to me before the press conference," Mr. Morita said as he sat down at his desk while Tony and Peter sat down across from him. "She said you wished to discuss Peter's current living situation."

"Yes, given the press conference and how the media and pretty much everyone knows that Peter is in my custody now, Pepper and I wanted a chance to make necessary changes for contact information and any necessary precautions to take with the paparazzi should they decide to get a little brave and try to sneak pictures of Peter."

"Of course, absolutely, and let me say that," he turned to Peter, "I'm very sorry about your aunt, Peter."

Peter gave a small nod. "Thank you, sir," he said.

"Before we get down to the nitty gritty," Mr. Morita said turning back to Tony, "I do want to let you know now that if Peter needs someone to talk to, we have the finest school counselors here at Midtown. I have already informed them what happened, and they are willing to talk to Peter if he wishes, so, Peter, if you need to, you just email one of them. They'll be happy to meet with you."

The teen nodded with a small smile. He had already spoken to Dr. Stevens for a while when Ben died, and it helped getting through the grief. He eventually stopped when he decided to take on Spider-Man more frequently, but it was nice to know that help was there if he needed it. "Thank you, sir," he said with a smile. "I've been doing okay. I mean, Tony and Pepper have been great with me, but I'll reach out to Dr. Stevens if I need anything."

"Good," Mr. Morita said with a smile of how own. "Now, with that out of the way, let's get down to business, shall we?"


The rest of the meeting with Mr. Morita went off without a hitch. They were able to update Peter's information without any trouble. Peter found it hard to watch Mr. Morita delete May from his emergency contacts and change his address, but he knew it needed to be done. With a gentle touch from Tony on his arm, Peter took a deep breath and powered through it. He smiled when Mr. Morita then changed his address to the Tower's address and added in Pepper as a back-up emergency contact in case Tony was unavailable. Once the meeting was done, Peter and Tony said their goodbyes and thanked Mr. Morita for his help before leaving.

"See you in two days, Peter," Mr. Morita said as they walked out. "I hope you're ready for junior year."

"Absolutely, sir," Peter said with a smile, "I'm always ready."

The principal and Tony both chuckled as he and Peter left the office.

"Well, what did I tell you?" Tony asked as they walked out of the building. "Quick and painless. Just make sure to fill out the form in school just to save face."

"Oh yeah, for sure," Peter said nodding. "Thanks for doing all this."

"Of course," Tony replied with a smile as he wrapped an arm around Peter, "anything to make my kid's life easier."

Peter's smile widened as he moved closer to Tony's side wrapping an arm around him in return. "You don't think anyone would treat me differently, do you?" he asked as they got in the car. "You know, now that people know I'm living with you?"

"How would they treat you differently?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow as they buckled their seat belts.

Peter shrugged. "Well, you know, ask me for favors, want to hang out all of a sudden when they didn't even bother with me to begin with, treat me like a celebrity…try to get an internship with you…" he said.

"Ah," Tony said nodding. "First of all, bud, if anyone tries that, they are shallow and don't deserve to be your friends. You stick with the friends, who like you for you. Second, based on my first point, it…is a possibility that people could treat you differently because of me. There were times when I was your age, and my classmates pretended to be my friends because they wanted a one-way ticket to meet my dad."

"Seriously?" Peter asked with widened eyes.

Tony nodded. "Oh yeah," he replied, "except for Rhodey of course."

Peter smiled. "Of course," he said. "How did you deal with it?"

"Well, at first, I didn't," Tony replied. "I thought they were trying to be my friends, but when I didn't get someone what they wanted…they left me flat. I won't go into details, but eventually, I realized that Rhodey was my true friend and actually cared about me. So, I just ignored everyone else…all that noise…and stuck close to Rhodey."

"So, if anyone tries anything," Peter began, "I should just stick with Ned, MJ, and my friends on the Decathlon team."

"Exactly," Tony said. "Stick with the ones, who treat you the same…no matter who you're living with."

The teen smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Tony," he said.

"You're welcome, kiddo," Tony said with a smile of his own.

Before either of them could say anything else, Tony's cell phone rang, and they could see that it was Rhodey calling from the caller ID. They both froze as they realized what the Colonel could possibly be calling about, and Tony wasted no time in answering.

"Hey, platypus," he said answering the phone while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Hey, Tones," Rhodey's voice said over the speaker.

Peter couldn't help but note how he didn't sound nervous or panicked. He sounded elated, so…could that possibly mean that he was calling with good news?

"I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time," Rhodey said after a moment.

"No, not at all," Tony replied trying to keep his own voice steady. "Peter and I are driving home from meeting with his principal about what's going on with his living situation. What's up?"

"Well, I got some good news for you two," Rhodey replied causing Tony and Peter to look at each other. "Both Barton and Lange called me, and…they agreed to sign the new Accords."

Peter widened his eyes and sat up straighter in his seat not believing what he just heard.

"Are you serious?" Tony asked with shock in his voice.

"Very serious," Rhodey replied. "So long as we make sure the new Accords go through and are fair, they will be there for the press conference and will sign them."

"That…that's fantastic, Rhodes," Tony said with a smile on his face. "Now, we just need to talk to T'Challa."

"I'm going to reach out to him as soon as I get off the phone with you," Rhodey replied. "I just wanted to make sure you heard about Barton and Lange. I think this is going to work out. Maybe we'll get the band back together."

"One step at a time, honey bear," Tony said with a smile. "Let's focus on T'Challa, Legolas, and Lange. Then we can focus on the Rogues."

"Fair enough," Rhodey replied. "I'll keep you posted on what he says. You go enjoy the day with Peter."

Peter and Tony then smiled at each other. "Don't have to tell me twice," Tony said turning back to the phone.

"Talk to you later, man," Rhodey said.

"Bye, Rhodes," Tony said before hanging up.

"Sounds like we're moving in the right direction," Peter said after a moment.

"Yeah, I think we are, Pete. I think we are."


Two days passed, and finally, the day that Peter and every other kid dreaded—the first day of school arrived bringing another summer vacation to an end. Peter felt a whirlwind of emotions in the hours leading up to the first day of school. May's death was just a couple months ago…just days before the last school year was about to end, and now, he was about to start his junior year of high school without her. He would wake up in the tower just as he had been and not see her in the kitchen. She would not be there to see him off or wish him luck, and that made his heart break. He was grateful to still have some normalcy with Midtown. Not that he wasn't enjoying his new life with Tony and Pepper, but Midtown was the one thing that wasn't going to change now that he was living with Tony. Tony and Pepper had told the social worker that taking him out of Midtown would've been too much, which he agreed with. It would've turned his life upside down. He couldn't stand the idea of leaving Ned and MJ along with the rest of the Academic Decathlon team.

However, that still left a melancholy feeling in his heart as he showered and got dressed early that morning. Once he was ready, he grabbed his backpack and took a deep breath before opening his door and heading into the kitchen.

When he walked into the kitchen, he found Tony and Pepper at the counter...each of them with a cup of coffee in their hands. Tony was the first one who saw him and smiled.

"Hey, there's our high school junior," he said as Pepper turned to him and smiled as well. "How about a hearty breakfast for the first day?"

Peter smiled as he joined them at the counter. There was still melancholy in his heart that May wasn't there to see him off, but Tony and Pepper always were there to make him feel a little better. "Yeah, Tony," he said, "that would be great."


After breakfast, Peter said goodbye to Pepper before she went down to her office and before he and Tony headed down to meet up with Happy, so that he could drive them to Midtown. While Peter tried to tell Tony that he didn't need to come along, Tony refused to hear it and insisted that he didn't mind and wanted to come along, which made Peter happy for the company. Neither of the three men said much as they drove from Manhattan to Queens aside from a question here and there or a comment about the traffic.

"You think you'll have a lot of homework tonight?" Tony asked Peter as they sat together in the backseat.

"Nah, it should be light," Peter said smiling at Tony. "It's the first day of school, so some teachers don't like to give homework."

Tony nodded with a small smile. "You okay?" he finally asked after a moment of silence.

"Uhh…I think so," Peter replied. "I mean, I'm glad to be going back…you know, having some sort of normalcy despite everything that happened, but…it's weird, you know? It's…sad that…I'm starting junior year…without her. I…I wish she was here with us, you know?"

Tony wasted no time in wrapping an arm around Peter. "I know, buddy," he said giving him a kiss on the top of his head. "I wish she was here, too, but it's like I told you, she is. She is here. She's with you, kid, no matter what…even if it may not seem like it. All you got to do is listen and watch."

Peter smiled sadly as he looked up at his guardian. "It's not the same," he said.

"Believe me, kid," Tony said, "you're preaching to the freaking choir, but no matter what, she would never leave you. Just like my mom would never leave me."

"Thanks, Tony," Peter finally said after a moment.

"Hey, what are guardians for?" Tony said.

Not long after that, Happy drove them up to Midtown, and they could see the kids greeting and hugging each other happy to see each other after summer vacation.

"Okay, you call me or Pep if you need anything, okay?" Tony said as Peter unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his backpack.

"I know," Peter replied. "Careful though, you're starting to sound like a mother hen."

Happy couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hey, excuse me for caring about my kid," Tony said with a smirk.

"Relax, I'm kidding," Peter said. "I remember what to do if the press shows up or if anyone says anything, and I will email the counselors if I need it."

"Okay, all I needed to hear," Tony said with a smile. "Have a good day, buddy, okay?"

Peter wasted no time in reaching over to hug Tony. "Thanks, Tony," he said.

"I love you, kid," Tony said hugging Peter in return.

"I love you, too," Peter said before pulling away. "See you guys later."

"See you later, bud," Tony said watching Peter get out of the car. "We'll pick you up later."

"See you later, Peter," Happy said from the front seat.

"Bye, Happy," Peter said before closing the car door.

Tony couldn't help but watch as Peter walked up to the building disappearing amongst the crowd of other students.

"You know, you really are a mother hen," Happy said after a moment.

"Shut up, Happy," Tony said as he sat back in his seat. "Don't forget I'm marrying the woman who could fire you."

"What?" Happy asked incredulously. "I'm just saying it's a good look on you."

Tony couldn't help but smile wider. "It feels good, you know?" he finally said. "It feels good."


Peter walked amongst his fellow students scanning them for his best friends. He noticed a few students staring at him…clearly remembering that Peter Parker was now living with Iron Man, but he paid no attention to them remembering what Tony told him…to stick with Ned and MJ. So that was what he did. He kept walking toward until…

"Peter!"

He looked, and sure enough, he found MJ and Ned standing at the doors waiting for him. He ran over to them and wasted no time in hugging them one at a time, and of course, he and Ned performed their handshake.

"Ready for junior year to start?" Ned asked excitedly with a huge smile.

"You bet," Peter said with a smile. "Hey, we should see what classes we have together. Did they—"

"Hey, Penis!" a very familiar voice shouted from behind him.

Peter turned around only to see that…it was Flash Thompson, and he was walking over to them, which made Peter close his eyes in mild annoyance. It was only the first day of school, and Flash was already coming to bother him. He exhaled and looked at Flash as he walked over.

"What do you want, Flash?" Peter, Ned, and MJ asked in unison.

Flash couldn't help but be taken aback by all three of them asking him that at the same time. "Jeez, relax," he said holding his hands up, "I just want to talk to Pen-Peter alone for a minute."

"What?" Peter asked furrowing his eyebrows together in confusion.

"What are you, deaf?" Flash retorted. "I said I wanted to talk to you alone for a minute…without Leeds and Watson."

Peter couldn't help but continue to stare at Flash in confusion for a minute trying to figure out what he could possibly want to talk about. He never hated Flash. Other than the one time he pushed Flash…he always just ignored any comments he made, but never once did Flash ever ask to talk to him alone. He couldn't help but feel curious, so he took a deep breath and looked at Ned and MJ. "You guys should go on ahead," he said. "I'll catch up with you."

"You sure?" MJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, it could be a trick," Ned added.

Peter couldn't help but roll his eyes and chuckle. "I don't think it's anything bad," he said, "but if it gets bad, I'll tell you, okay?"

MJ and Ned looked at each other and then back at Peter nodding clearly deciding to take his word for it.

"Okay, we'll see you inside, dude," Ned said.

"Yeah, but…Flash," MJ said to the other teenager behind Peter, "just remember I'm captain of the Academic Decathlon. I can boot you off the team if I want."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Flash said crossing his arms.

Peter couldn't help but chuckle lightly and shake his head as he watched Ned and MJ go inside leaving him alone with Flash. He sighed realizing that he still had to talk to Flash, so he decided to hear him out. "Alright, man, what's going on?" he asked. "If you're going to make fun of me or something, just—"

"Will you just…shut up and let me talk?"

Peter stopped and nodded waiting for his rival to say whatever it was that he needed to say bracing himself.

"I just…I wanted to say that…I'm sorry," Flash finally said after a moment.

The teenaged vigilante furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion and suspicion. "Okay…" he began, "sorry…for what?"

"About your aunt," Flash replied. "I-I'm sorry about your aunt being—you know—gone."

Peter wasn't expecting this at all. He knew people knew about May's death from the obituary Tony and Pepper put together and from the press conference, but he was not expecting Flash Thompson of all people to be one of the first after Ned and MJ to express his condolences. He didn't when Ben died.

"We didn't have the chance to go to the wake," he continued despite Peter not answering him, "and we don't see each other over the summer. So…I just wanted to make sure you knew that I was sorry, I guess."

"I—" Peter began blinking and shaking his head in shock. He couldn't find it in himself to feel suspicions of Flash's intentions. He seemed genuine. "T-Thank you, Flash. That…That means a lot, really. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Flash replied nodding, "and I'm glad Tony Stark is looking out for you. That…That's big of him."

Peter couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "So, I guess that's enough proof that the Stark Internship was real," he finally said with a smirk.

Flash rolled his eyes and scoffed shaking his head. "Yeah, okay, whatever, Parker," he said, "but don't think this means I'm not going to stop ragging on you in AcaDec. I'm still going to whoop your butt."

Peter chuckled and shook his head. "Good, I wouldn't expect anything less," he said.

"Good," Flash said nodding. Then he held out his hand out. "Glad we're in agreement, Parker."

Peter took his hand and shook it. "See you around," he said.

"See ya," Flash said before walking in right past Ned and MJ as they waited for Peter. He didn't even bother to say anything to them.

However, once they saw Peter walk in, they immediately walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" Ned immediately asked him.

"What did he say?" MJ asked.

Peter smiled. "He basically said that he was sorry about May," he said. "That's all."


Junior year at Midtown kicked off without a hitch for Peter for the next week or so. There were times it still felt odd not having May around, but he managed to let out his grief for his beloved aunt whenever and however he could. He didn't want to seek out the school counselor just yet. He only wanted to see how things went before rushing into it. Plus, he had Tony, Pepper, Ned, and MJ. He didn't feel the need for it when he had his guardians and best friends. His teachers also expressed their condolences and let him know that he was more than welcomed to go to them if needed, which he also appreciated. Not only that, but Academic Decathlon was back, and while it felt weird without Liz, he was more than excited to have MJ as the new Captain. Now, it really felt like there was some normalcy amongst the new normal in living with Tony and Pepper, and while he still missed May, Ben, and his parents, he loved his new family.

Now that Peter was back in school, his and Tony's lab days could continue to be almost every day—except for the days Peter would have Academic Decathlon practice, and both of them were more than overjoyed to have that luxury.

In fact, that was what they were doing when Peter came home from school that day, and Tony had something to tell Peter.

"So, I just got off the phone with some people," Tony said as they moved to their workstation.

"Who?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow as they took out their notes for the nanotech project, that they had been working on.

"Rhodey…and the King of Wakanda…" Tony said with a smile.

Peter widened his eyes and smiled. "You mean…?" he asked trailing off.

Tony nodded. "He's willing to talk about the new Accords" he said, "and you, Rhodey, and I are going to Wakanda…on October 13."

"I get to go with you?!" Peter asked excitedly.

"Hell yeah you do!" Tony replied. "You're a part of this, kid, no matter what."

Peter smiled. "Thank you, Tony," he said before pulling his guardian into a hug.

"You're welcome, kid," Tony said returning the gesture.


"Are you kidding me?" Tony asked pacing back and forth in Pepper's office. "Bangkok?"

"It'll just be for a few days," Pepper said holding up her hand to calm her fiancé down. "They need us to take care of a few things they want to go over at the office there."

"Yeah, but…" Tony sighed, "I-I don't know, Pep. Can we really just leave Peter?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Tony, come on," she said, "May went on conferences, and he stayed here for a few days without any issue. He's a teenager. He can handle it."

"Yeah, I know," Tony said, "but…that…that was when she was alive. She just died…four months ago. Isn't it a little soon?"

Pepper softened realizing what Tony was saying, and she thought of that too when the trip came up. She sighed. "I get that you don't want to leave him," she said as she stood up from her desk and walked over to him. "I don't either, but our lives can't stop no matter how much we want them to. It's like those books said. Teenagers need normalcy. He's back at school now, and now he'll get used to us going on trips from time to time just like May did."

Tony sighed knowing full well that Pepper was in fact right. They loved Peter, and Peter loved them. However, their lives couldn't stop. They hadn't stopped when May died, and they couldn't now. The three of them were together all summer, and that was great. However, they couldn't be together all the time…not when Peter was in school, and Pepper and Tony were working. Like Pepper said and like the books said, teens needed normalcy and routines. They couldn't be attached at the hip 24/7. That was impossible. They were all adjusting to the new normal that came after May's death, and the best way to do that was to get Peter used to the fact that they would need to go on trips from time to time like May did with her conferences. It wouldn't be healthy for either of them to put a halt on that progress. He could only sigh. "Yeah, as always," Tony said, "you're right, Ms. Potts. We could tell him tonight at dinner after he's back from Academic Decathlon."

"Sounds like a plan," Pepper said before kissing him. "He took it well with you being his new guardian and the whole thing about the press conference. He'll be okay with this."

Tony nodded realizing that Pepper once again had a point. Peter was very mature for a kid his age even in the darkest of times. He could surely handle his guardians going on a trip. "Just so long as we're back before Thanksgiving. If we could make it back for his Academic Decathlon competition, that would be even better."

"What?" Pepper asked with a smirk. "Do you think I'm a cold-hearted monster? Of course, we'll be back for that. I'm not missing the competition or Thanksgiving with our kid."

Tony couldn't help but smile. His fiancée truly was amazing. He was the luckiest man in the world.


Later that night at dinner, Tony, Pepper, and Peter sat down to eat dinner, and, Tony was a little nervous about how Peter was going to react. This was the same kid, who was very mature when he was told who his new guardian was and when they talked about doing the press conference. Surely this would go well, too.

"So, listen, kiddo," Tony finally said after they finally finished eating, "there's something Pep and I wanted to talk to you about."

Peter looked at Tony with widened eyes and then at Pepper. "O-Okay," he said, "did…did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, sweetheart," Pepper quickly said, "it's just…something Tony and I have coming up." She looked at Tony and silently urged him to continue.

"Umm…yeah, so…Pep and I…" Tony began, "Pep and I…have to go on a business trip in November…before Thanksgiving."

"O-Oh…really?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Tony replied nodding, "we'll be going to Bangkok to go over some things at the office there."

"Obviously, I can't come," Peter stated.

"Unfortunately, with school and how busy Tony and I will be," Pepper began, "it would be better if you stayed home."

Peter made a face. "Dang it," he said earning chuckles from Pepper and Tony. "So…if I'm not going, then…am I staying here…or…"

"We talked to Rhodey," Tony said quickly, "and he's going to come over and stay with you. Happy is also going to drive you to and from school. You won't be alone, and we'll go over lab and Spider-Man protocols when it gets closer, okay?"

"Okay, yeah," Peter said nodding.

Now, Tony was starting to get nervous. Peter wasn't saying anything else in response to this news. He scanned Peter looking for any signs of a panic attack or an angry outburst, but there was nothing. He looked at Pepper, who looked back at him and nodded. "You…you okay, Peter?" he asked after a moment.

Peter wasn't totally sure on how to answer that. He wasn't angry. How could he possibly be mad at Tony and Pepper for going on a business trip? That was part of what they did for Stark Industries. Tony was even doing that during the Vulture incident. So why was this bothering him? He shouldn't be. "I-I'm sorry, I—" he took a deep breath. "It-It's not like I'm mad or anything. It's just…" he took another deep breath.

"It'll be our first time leaving you home…since…since May died," Tony finished placing a hand on his shoulder.

Peter looked at Tony feeling it click in his head. It would be the first time Tony and Pepper would leave him home since May died. They had been together for all four months since that night…except for Pepper and Tony taking care of things for Stark Industries or running errands…and him being at school. "Yeah, but…that…that's so stupid," he finally said. "I mean… Pep works. You work. I'm in school and go out as Spider-Man. I shouldn't be upset over this. May used to go to—"

"Peter, Peter," Pepper quickly said holding her hands up to calm him down, "it's okay. It's okay. It's normal to be uneasy about it."

"She's right," Tony said. "We knew this was probably not going to be easy. I mean, you're in school 7-8 hours a day—more if you're at Academic Decathlon for 5 days a week, and we're here doing our thing. We went to California, D.C., and Barton's house together. So, it's okay to be nervous about us going away without you for a few days."

"I guess," Peter said crossing his arms and leaning on the table.

"No 'I guess,'" Pepper said. "It's true."

Peter couldn't help but smile at Pepper. "Okay, fine," he said rolling his eyes a little.

Tony and Pepper chuckled and smiled even wider at their kid.

"Look, May's gone away to her conferences before," Peter said, "so I'll be okay when you guys go on this trip, especially with Rhodey and Happy here. Vision can come too, right?"

"Absolutely," Tony replied, "and the three of us will call every day. You know we'll have to work out the time zones, but we'll figure it out."

"Okay, and you'll be back before Thanksgiving, right? I mean, there's also the Academic Decathlon competition, but—"

"Kid, there's no question about it," Tony said with a smile. "We'll be back for the competition and Thanksgiving. We're not missing any of that for the world."

Peter smiled even wider hearing the conviction in Tony's voice, and he knew he didn't need to worry because no matter what, Tony and Pepper would be back from this trip in time for Academic Decathlon and Thanksgiving. Not only that, but it was in November, so it was a bit of a way's off.


September came and went in the blink of an eye, and October quickly came in its wake as Tony, Rhodey, and Peter counted down the days to when they would get to go to Wakanda. The plan was to pick Peter up after school and to drive to the airport to fly to Africa. Since the time zones were a factor, they agreed to sleep on the flight to avoid jetlag as much as possible, and Peter went to sleep with excitement for the weekend trip just the night before.

However, when he woke up that morning on October 13, he felt weird. His senses weren't going off, but his throat was sore. On top of that, he felt a little more tired than usual, which was even weirder. Tony and Pepper made him go to bed early because of the long night of travel ahead. He didn't think much of it though as he got out of bed to get ready for school.

"It's probably just sore," Peter said to himself. "I'll just take some meds, drink something, and then I'll be fine. I'm sure I'll be fine."

Once he was showered and dressed, he grabbed his backpack and luggage for the trip and walked into the hallway to get into the kitchen. Sure enough, Tony and Pepper were in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating breakfast. He could easily see that there was already a plate waiting for him.

"Good morning," he said as he moved to sit at the table.

"Hey, good morning, Pete," Tony said happily.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Pepper said with her own smile. "Ready for your big trip?"

"Heck yeah," Peter replied excitedly as he sat down, "I can't wait to—mm…" He stopped feeling the pain in his throat and placed a hand to soothe the pain.

Tony and Pepper quickly noticed it and became concerned as they furrowed their eyebrows together.

"You okay, honey?" Pepper asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm okay," Peter said nonchalantly. "My throat is just bothering me this morning."

Tony's eyes widened slightly. "Uh-oh," he said.

Pepper pressed a hand to Peter's head and then pressed her lips to his forehead not feeling any heat. "You don't feel warm," she said leaning back. "Are you feeling okay?"

Peter couldn't help but be reminded of how May used to do the exact same thing whenever he was sick and had a fever. "Well, other than the throat," he began, "I feel fine, yeah."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow. "You can always stay home today."

"Yeah, but if I do that," Peter began, "then I'll have to miss our trip to Wakanda. I promise, Tony, I feel fine."

"Okay," Tony replied nodding, "but if it gets worse, you go to the nurse, okay? We can always reschedule the trip, okay?"

"But—"

"If…it gets worse, okay?"

Peter sighed in defeat. "Okay," he replied, "I promise, but I bet you that I'm going to be perfectly fine. You'll be picking me at the end of the day, and we'll go with Rhodey as planned."


As the day went on, Peter slowly felt worse and worse. His throat hurt even more than it did this morning. On top of that, his forehead felt like it was on fire, and he was freezing at the same time. He tried his hardest to ignore it, but it was more and more difficult. He felt so tired and drained that he could barely keep his head up during classes that morning. Lunch finally arrived, and Peter wanted nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep, which made him feel awful because he didn't want Tony to reschedule the trip because of him. How was that fair?

His throat hurt so bad, and his forehead was so hot that he couldn't bring himself to eat his lunch when he sat down with Ned and MJ. He could only rest his head and arms on the table while his two best friends looked at him with confusion.

Peter was jolting out of his thoughts when a hand—MJ's hand rested on his forehead.

"Dude, you're burning up," MJ said as she casually brought her hand away from his forehead.

It wasn't long before Ned did the exact same thing. "Oh shit, yeah," he said bringing his hand away from Peter, "I can feel it just from sitting next to you."

"I feel like crap," Peter said tiredly not even bothering to lift his head.

"Then go to the nurse," MJ replied with a raised eyebrow. "Have Stark take you home. We can take you right now."

"No, no, I can't," Peter said rubbing his head. "T-Tony and I—we're-we're supposed to go on a trip this weekend." Even though he was sick, he was careful to not mention the fact that they were going to Wakanda to avoid anyone figuring out that he was Spider-Man or that he was helping with the Accords.

"Peter, I'm sure Mr. Stark can always reschedule it," Ned said placing a hand on his best friend's back.

"Yeah, dude, you're clearly in no shape to travel," MJ said placing a hand on Peter's feeling the heat radiating off his body. "Come on, at least for us, would you let us take you to the nurse?"

Peter looked up seeing the pleading yet caring look in her eyes, and his heart couldn't help but skip a beat. He moaned. "Okay, fine, MJ," he said, "you win."

"I always do," she said with a smirk as she stood. "Let's go, Parker."

Peter could only moan in response.


"101," the nurse said as she read the thermometer. "And you have a sore throat?"

Peter nodded. "It hurts when I swallow," he said.

"Okay," she said, "well, you clearly need to go home. I'm going to call for you, okay?"

"Thanks, Ms. Wright," he said with a small smile. "Uh…just you know, I-I don't know if Mr. Morita told you yet, but—"

Ms. Wright smiled and chuckled. "It's alright, Peter," she said. "I know, Mr. Morita told us, and I saw the press conference. I'm going to call Mr. Stark for you."

Peter couldn't help but smile relieved that the nurse was handling this without any kind of overreacting. As she dialed Tony's number, he got comfortable on the cot and closed his eyes. At that moment, he didn't care about the trip. He was relieved that he was getting the chance to go home…thanks to Ned and MJ.


Author's Note: Annnnnnnnnd that's all for now, boys and girls! Next chapter is CHAPTER 29, and we get Tony and Pepper taking care of sick!Peter! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks, guys!