Welcome to Story IV. I know it's a little confusing with the prequels out there now, but this is the fourth full length story, so I'm sticking with calling it Story IV. Thank you all for coming yet another step on the path of this series with me. I appreciate you all more than I can say.

I am more nervous that usual about this story as I didn't have the easiest time writing it. You will all be the judges of whether or not that shows in the finished product.

Thank you so much Rjcarreno77 for pre-reading. You're a star xxx

Chapter One

Wakefulness came slowly to Tony, with light streaming through the cracks around the drapes. He was warm and content, with Pepper's face pillowed on his chest and her breaths trickling his skin.

He pressed a kiss to her hair, and she grumbled sleepily. "Morning already?"

"Afraid so," Tony said. "Friday, what's the time."

"It's eight o'clock, Boss."

Pepper raised her face from Tony's chest and said, "Eight?"

"Yes, Mrs. Stark."

"Damn," Pepper sighed. "We slept late."

"It was a late night," Tony pointed out.

They'd spent the early evening in the main common room with the others, playing games and chatting. Morgan had gone to bed without a fuss after Peter had read her a bedtime story, and when Peter went to his own room not long after, Pepper and Tony had come to their separate apartment and shared a bottle of wine and a movie. They'd stayed up past midnight, but they both still usually rose earlier than that, even after a late night. Still, it was Sunday, so they were both taking a day off work and had no need to be awake early.

"Weird that Morgan didn't wake us up yet," Tony said.

"Hmm…" Pepper said. "Yeah, weird. You know what that means?"

Tony chuckled. "Friday, is Maguna tucked up in bed, fast asleep, or has she pulled another prison break?"

"She's with Peter, Boss," Friday reported. "She overrode my programming to let her out at five-thirty this morning."

Tony quirked an eyebrow. "My five-year-old overrode your programming?"

"She was very persuasive," Friday said, the AI voice sounding uncharacteristically defensive.

Tony laughed. "Remind me to look at your coding, Fri."

Pepper sighed. "It's not funny, Tony. We have rules, and Morgan knows them. I'm not trying to keep her away from her brother, but he needs his own space and privacy, too. She's supposed to stay here during the night and ask us before leaving during the day. That way we can know she's not bothering him."

"She never could," Tony said. "Pete adores her."

"Which is why it would be so easy for her to get away with it," Pepper pointed out.

When they'd moved here from their own place by the lake, they'd sat Morgan down and explained how things were going to work. They had their own rooms that were apart from the others, their own kitchen and living room. Tony and Pepper had a bedroom beside Morgan's, and there was another that Tony had wanted—and expected—Peter to use. He'd chosen to live in the main accommodation area with everyone else, though.

Tony was a little disappointed, but he accepted that it made sense. He'd been spoiled having so much time with him at The Tool Shed, and he'd looked forward to having that again after his long absence. But Peter's schedule wasn't usually family-friendly—with early mornings out running with Steve and Bucky, late nights with everyone else. Tony also suspected he probably didn't want to intrude on his and Pepper's time together, even though Tony would never mind if he did.

Peter was different now that he was back with them. The things he'd done while he was away, exploring with the Stones, had changed him in the best possible way, though it was sometimes difficult for Tony to see. There were good things, great things—he was happy almost all the time, a smile in place and his voice cheerful and eager with whatever he was doing. He was more confident, too, which Tony supposed made sense with the fact he had now actually raised the dead and traveled in space and time.

It was more the relationships that were a struggle for Tony. The time Peter spent with each of them at the worst moments of their lives had forged a bond between them all. Before that, he'd been close to Tony and Rhodey, growing closer with Steve. Then there had been the aftermath of his time on The Raft and his bond with Bucky. Now he was back, he was close to them all, and it was returned, thanks, in part, to what he had done for them all in their pasts and how it changed their futures.

It wasn't unusual to see him settled with Wanda and Vision, talking about the planets he'd seen on his travels. He would sit with Bruce and gush over Bruce's research and how he'd studied it at school, eager to hear the data firsthand. Sam had joined Bucky's mission to teach Peter to cook, and hours were spent in the vast kitchen together. And Natasha, who Tony never imagined connecting with Peter, was often found sitting at the counter while Peter, Bucky, and Sam cooked when she was at the compound between times with Clint and his family at the farm.

It wasn't that Peter didn't have time for Tony, but it was less now than it had been before. Still, as Tony reminded himself, he had Pepper and Morgan there now and needed to make time for all of them. It was just an adjustment to see Peter independent of him sometimes, even though Peter always made time for them to spend together in the lab, and he'd helped Tony set Friday up. Peter wasn't as experienced at coding as other things, but he'd been eager to learn from Tony, which had been a good experience for them both.

"You should go get her," Pepper said. "She needs to get cleaned up and eat breakfast."

"She might already be eating breakfast," Tony pointed out. "You know Pete won't be able to resist if she wants to eat with him and the others."

"Well, if she's not, invite Peter here for breakfast. I'll make waffles."

With a sigh and kiss to Pepper's cheek, Tony swung his legs around and got out of bed. He stuffed his feet into sneakers since he was going to be walking across the compound and let himself out of their apartment and through the halls to the main area of the living quarters.

Though he expected Peter to be up and about by now, Morgan with him, he passed the bedrooms first, so he decided to check there before checking the common rooms.

He bumped into Rhodey coming out of his room and greeted him.

"What are you doing here?" Rhodey asked.

Tony clapped a hand to his chest and feigned affront. "Wow, way to make me feel welcome."

Rhodey nudged his shoulder with a fist. "You know what I mean. It looks like you fell out of bed a minute ago."

"Technically, I did. I'm looking for Morgan. Friday says she's with Pete."

Rhodey chuckled. "Well, I've not seen him around yet, so I'm guessing she's bunking with him again."

"Probably." Tony couldn't help the fond smile that curled his lips. "I better find out."

He walked to Peter's door, Rhodey at his elbow with a wide smile on his face, and knocked then eased it open. Morgan was indeed bunking with Peter. She was curled under the blankets with him, the hood of her unicorn patterned pajamas up and over her head, which was tucked under Peter's chin. Peter was curled around her, his arms held defensively over her, even in his sleep, and a small smile was curling his sleeping lips.

"Damn," Rhodey whispered. "That's pretty adorable." He took his phone from his pocket and snapped a photograph of them. "I'll send you a copy. It's a keeper."

Tony thanked him and then crossed Peter's room and approached the bed. He could tell Morgan wasn't sleeping deeply as her brow scrunched when he tugged down her hood and stroked her hair, but Peter was completely out, which was unusual with his enhanced senses.

"Maguna," he whispered. "Time to rise and shine. Momma wants you back to get cleaned up for breakfast."

"Don't wanna," Morgan grumbled. "I'm playing with Petey."

Tony laughed. "Technically, you're snuggling with Petey, and you're not supposed to. You know the rules. Peter needs his own space. You can't just creep into his room when he's sleeping. Nighttime is Peter's private time."

She cracked open one eye and scowled at him. "Peter doesn't mind."

Tony rolled his eyes. If Peter did mind, they'd never know because he spoiled Morgan more than anyone else. He wasn't a complainer anyway, not to any of them, and when it came to Morgan, he was helpless. She could saddle him like a pony and insist he carried her around for a week on his back, and he'd do it, probably even insisting that his saddle was Spider-Man themed.

"Me and Momma mind," Tony said, making his voice firm. "Come on, up you get."

He pulled back the blankets and encouraged her to get out of bed. The problem was Peter. Even deeply asleep, he was holding her tight, and when Tony tried to lift his arm, Peter's hand stuck to the back of her pajamas.

Rhodey, watching from the door, began to laugh at Tony's predicament, and Morgan looked especially smug that her brother was as invested in keeping her there as she was in staying.

Tony sighed, knowing he had no choice but to wake Peter to get his daughter back. He shook Peter's shoulder and said, "Pete, wake up, kid. I need my daughter back before my wife comes looking."

Peter's eyes cracked open, and he blinked drowsily at Tony, then his eyes drifted to Morgan, who was beaming at him.

A grin quirked his lips. "I know I was alone when I went to sleep," he said.

"Yeah, Maguna staged a prison break at dawn and snuck in here," Tony explained.

Morgan giggled. "I wanted to play, but Peter was sleeping too hard."

Peter lifted his hand, freeing Morgan, and rubbed his eyes. "It's late?"

"It's just after eight," Tony said. "Pepper's invited you to have waffles with us. Shall I tell her you're coming?"

"Yeah. That'd be great."

"No," Morgan whined. "I want to eat in the big room with everyone else."

"Not today," Tony said, knowing Pepper was invested in keeping Morgan's routine as close to what it was at home as she could.

Morgan grumbled, and Peter tickled her underarm, which cut off her complaints and replaced them with giggles. "You know your momma makes the best waffles anyway, Mo," he said. "Go get cleaned up so I can, too, and then I'll come find you."

"Okay," Morgan said, mood returned to brightness. "Then we can play?"

"Then we can play," Peter agreed.

Tony heaved Morgan to her feet and led her out of Peter's room by the hand, passing Rhodey at the door who was watching the scene with amusement.

"The struggles of fatherhood, am I right?" he asked.

"You have no idea," Tony said. "You want waffles, too?"

"Thanks, but I've already eaten. I was coming to get my phone and to see what was keeping Peter in bed so late." He looked back at Peter and said, "Any reason you were sleeping so hard, Pete? You went to bed early."

Peter averted his eyes, "I was just tired. Late night."

Rhodey raised an eyebrow, and Tony shrugged. He was sure there was more of a story there than Peter was sharing, but he figured it would come out in time without him pushing for more.

Tony towed Morgan back to their apartment and led her into her bedroom. "Pick an outfit. I'll fill the bathtub," he said, nudging her towards the closet.

"Okay," Morgan said brightly, her disappointment at being pulled away from Peter gone now that she had a promise of more time with him later.

Tony loved being a father, he had from day one, but there was a new, different kind of happiness now that he had both his children under the same roof. He knew it wouldn't last forever, Pepper was already struggling with Morgan flouting the rules for her own ends, but he was going to enjoy it while he could. When it was over, when their time here was at an end, he didn't know what was going to happen. Somehow, he couldn't imagine Peter settling with them at the lake house for good.

That was a thought that he was going to stow away until it had to be faced, though.

He went into the bathroom, turned on the taps, tested the temperature, and then stopped and turned when Pepper called his name from the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing her furrowed brow.

She held up her phone, and Tony moved closer to see the image she was displaying. It was the top half of a news article from the trash newsgroup, The Daily Bugle.

He read the headline and gave a short laugh. "Huh. Well, now I know why he was so tired."

The headline screamed the news like a warning, but Tony had positive feelings about it.

Peter had gone out as Spider-Man again.

Spider-Man Returns! The Menace Is Back!

Peter sat up and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. He had text alerts from Ned, which must have come in while he was sleeping. He unlocked the phone and read them, a laugh startling out of him as he wrote his replies.

Ned: Dude!

Ned: What did you do?

Ned: Why didn't you come see me if you were in Queens?

Peter: Sorry man. It was last minute and I thought you'd be asleep.

Peter: How did you know anyway?

Ned: Dude! you're a trending topic on Twitter!

Ned: #SpiderManIsBack

Peter pulled up Twitter and saw the trending list, with Spider-Man at the very top. He tapped the link and saw streams of thousands of tweets using the hashtag, some of them from people he knew but mostly strangers.

Sparkle_Spirit: Spider-Man just saved me from a mugger. Single most amazing moment of my life. He's so cool and kind. He walked me home after. Couldn't get a selfie for proof but it REALLY happened. #SpiderManIsBack

MrFlashThompson: I saw it with my own eyes! Spider-Man swung right past my window! Pretty sure he was chasing an armed robber or serial killer or alien or something. So cool. #SpiderManIsBack

MJ_JusticeWarrior: Sure, Spider-Man is back, that's great, but he's only one of The Returned that needs your attention. People need jobs, homes, and financial support. #DemandJusticeForTheReturned #AmericaDoBetter #ICallOnPresidentEllisForChange #SpiderManIsBack

The_Daily_Bugle: The Menace Returns! Spider-Man spotted in city after months' absence. Daily Bugle advises community to prepare for rise in vigilante's crimes. #SpiderManIsBack

He snorted as he saw the Daily Bugle's tweet—he wouldn't have expected support from Jameson—and Flash was funny with his total obliviousness. He thought Katie's tweet was sweet, too, as she'd been just as excited when it came to being rescued. MJ was the best, though, as it was perfectly in character for her to use the hashtag's audience to call for change.

He was going to have to do something about seeing her. He wondered if contact lenses would work to hide his rainbow eyes; she couldn't see them the way they were now. He'd talk to Tony about it.

"Oh," he whispered, realization dawning. "Tony."

When he'd gone on patrol the night before, he'd not really thought about telling anyone first, used to doing his own thing when traveling. Later, when the thought had occurred to him, he'd not called back as he didn't want anyone tagging along. Patrolling as Spider-Man with Iron Man or War Machine flying around after him would have put a crimp in his plans.

He liked being Spider-Man, helping people, and it had felt important to get back out there to do it. He was both Spider-Man and the Stones now. He needed to balance the two lives.

Tony might be mad that he'd snuck out to do it, though, and if Spider-Man was trending on Twitter, he was going to find out.

It hadn't been a problem for Peter to get to Queens. He was there in a blink, patrolling a moment later. It had been a good time, but he probably should have told someone what he was going to do.

He set down his phone and climbed out of bed, going into his bathroom to clean up in the shower. The fear he felt under the flowing water was weaker that before now. He'd faced the programming and beat it, but he sometimes felt the after-effects of that trauma left behind. Still, it got easier every time, and one day it would be gone.

When he was clean, he dried off, then went back into the bedroom to get dressed. He stopped before dropping the towel and said, "Hey, Friday, can you make sure I don't get any visitors while I'm getting dress. You know Mo doesn't really get the whole closed-door policy, and I don't want her coming in on me naked."

"I have locked the door, Peter," she reported. "Morgan is currently occupied with Mrs. Stark, though. She is having her hair braided."

"Cool," Peter said.

He rifled through his drawers for clean clothes, choosing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that Tony had bought for him, which were more his style that the clothes Steve had bought him.

Dressed, he toweled his hair dry and smoothed it with gel, and then pulled on sneakers. He had Friday unlock the door, then left the room to head to Tony's section of the compound. He passed Bucky on the way, and he got an amused smile when he greeted him, but Bucky moved on before he could ask what was going on.

When he reached Tony's door, he knocked and entered, getting only a few steps inside before Morgan barreled into his legs. Remembering what Friday had said about her hair, he made a point of tugging the end of her left braid and saying, "Wow, look at your hair."

She grinned at him. "Momma did it. I've got pigtails."

"They look great," Peter said. "Do you think your momma can braid mine, too?"

She appraised him and then said, "No. It's not long enough to braid, but I can put it in elastics so it's all bunchy."

"Huh, maybe later," Peter said, already preparing himself for a hairdressing ordeal at his sister's hands and knowing it was his own fault for inviting the suggestion.

Morgan grabbed his hand, and Peter allowed himself to be dragged into the kitchen where Pepper was pouring batter into the waffle iron and Tony was sitting at the table with a Stark Pad in his hands.

They both looked around, and Pepper greeted him with a soft smile as Tony frowned slightly.

"Morning," Peter said cheerfully.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Busy night, Spider-Man?"

"Oh." Peter's smile faltered. "You heard then."

Tony smirked. "Friday tracks keywords in social media and news articles. You made the Daily Bugle start shouting and got a segment on CNN to go with your Twitter trend."

Peter's mouth dropped open. "I was on CNN!"

"It was a puff piece," Pepper said, her tone reassuring. "They were just talking about your return and showed a few YouTube videos of your antics in the past. There was nothing from last night, though, apart from a few blurry pictures of you swinging around."

Peter breathed a sigh of relief. As cool as it was that Spider-Man was getting recognition, being seen for the good he was trying to do, it was a bit of a shock to see it happen nationally. He'd always been on the periphery of the superhero world—Titan and the Battle of Earth being the exceptions.

"People are curious, though," Tony said. "They'll be asking who the man behind the mask is."

Peter shrugged. "They can ask, but it's not like they're going to find out. They can't track me down to my apartment the way you did since I don't live there anymore. In fact, they can't find me at all with the fact I used the Stones to get in and out."

"About that," Pepper said. "Do you think that was a good idea, Peter? If you'd been seen with the full rainbow contrail you leave behind you, people would have questions."

"They would if they saw it," Peter said. "But they won't if I don't let them."

"You can control it?" Tony asked.

Peter grinned. "Yeah, sure. It's kinda easy. I can basically teleport, too. That's what I mostly did in space since people would have questions out there if they saw me. I only do the light show when I'm proving a point or—"

"Or showing off and trying to turn your old man's hair even more grey?" Tony suggested.

Peter grinned. "Maybe…"

Pepper laughed, leaning against the side of the counter. When Tony turned incredulous eyes on her, she placed a hand on her chest and said, "How's life on the flip side, honey? Now you know how I felt all those years you were running around as Iron Man and leaving me behind to worry about you."

Tony grumbled about it being different, but the laugh lines around his eyes were pronounced.

"What's telepork?" Morgan asked.

"Teleport," Peter corrected. "It means I can use my magic to go from one place to another without people seeing me move."

She clapped her hands. "Show me! Show me!"

Peter chanced a glance at Pepper, who nodded, then he winked at his sister and moved from her side to the corner of the room, hanging from the ceiling. Morgan jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly, and then she squealed as Peter moved back in the blink of an eye to stand behind her. He put his hands over her eyes and said, "Guess who."

"Petey!"

"Yep." He turned his eyes back on Tony. "No one saw me coming or going, and no one can see who I am in the mask. There's like zero risk of me being outed. It's even safer now than it was before I had the Stones."

Tony nodded. "Okay, I see your point. I wish you'd have told me you were going, though. Why didn't you?"

Before Peter could answer, Pepper placed her hands on Tony's shoulders and said, "Well, honey, I'm guessing it's something to do with the fact that Spider-Man patrolling with Iron Man flying after him would have drawn more attention than Spider-Man alone."

Tony scoffed. "I think a worldwide trending topic and a piece on CNN is too much attention already." He fixed his eyes on Peter. "Is that it? You didn't want me coming along?"

Peter rubbed the side of his nose. "Honestly, that was a part of it, but I also didn't really think to tell anyone until I was already there. I guess I got used to doing things on my own when I was traveling. I'm sorry. I'll tell you next time."

Tony opened his mouth to answer, eyes narrowed, and Pepper spoke up again. "That makes sense, Peter. You spent all that time alone, doing your own thing without anyone else to think about, so it's natural that you'd be used to doing it now." She squeezed Tony's shoulder a little tighter than was necessary. "Right, honey?"

"Right," Tony said with forced cheer. "If you want to tell us you're heading out next time, that'd be great, but you don't have to."

"I'll tell you," Peter promised, feeling there was more involved here than he was aware of.

Perhaps Tony was struggling still with the fact Peter had gone from scared of his own power and dealing with immortality to kidnapped then catatonic followed by months away while he traveled in space, time, and on other planes.

Pepper opened the waffle iron and used a fork to lift the browned treats onto a plate then said, "Okay, breakfast is ready. Everyone sit down."

Morgan directed Peter into the chair beside him, sitting close enough that their elbows were brushing, and Tony took the platter and dished up the breakfast.

Peter cut off a piece of waffle, topped it with a blueberry, and dipped it in strawberry syrup, amused when Morgan perfectly imitated him.

He'd never had a sibling before, though he'd wanted one, a big family, and now he had it. In Morgan, he had a little sister he adored and wanted to protect at all costs. In Rhodey, he had an uncle that he knew he could go to with any problem; in Bucky and Steve, he had brothers that he knew would fight to protect him the way he would them; and in Tony, he had a father again.

The next time he went to see May and Ben, he was going to tell them all about the new people he loved. He thought they would be happy to know that he wasn't alone.

So… We have a little lighter stuff to begin, and then we'll jump into the action. We've got lots of family time to look forward to and an underlying plot I'm excited about.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx