Hello all! It's that day again, I'm back with another chapter. I enjoyed writing this one as it's light and has some fun stuff. It's a nice break from what I've been writing lately. Story V is coming along well still, but it really is going to be a monster. I think it stands about 40k now, and I'm still very much in the beginning stages. I love the plot, though, and I think you're really going to enjoy it when we get there.

Thank you Rjcarreno77 for the fab pre-read.

Chapter Six

"More mead!" Thor roared, tossing his plastic cup over his shoulder and throwing up his arms.

Steve had been the one to insist on them using plastic cups for drinks as he'd had more than his fair share of experience of Thor drinking and throwing away his glasses when he'd finished them.

Scott said the experience of doing tequila shots out of a Solo Cup wasn't the same as a proper shot glass. Still, he wasn't the one that would be left sweeping up the shards of glass, or—as had happened to Steve once—pulling the glass out of his foot as it had gone unnoticed the morning after and impaled itself in his heel.

"We told you, Thor, we don't have mead," Bruce said fondly. "We've got four beer kegs, multiple bottles of liquor, including tequila, so help yourself."

"I've got it," Peter said, getting to his feet, retrieving a fresh cup for Thor, filling it at the keg, then fixing himself a cup of the heavily spiked punch Hope had made that he'd said he preferred to beer—which Thor had been bewildered by.

Steve scrutinized him and was pleased to see Peter was still steady on his feet after matching Thor and Rocket drink-for-drink. He supposed Peter's metabolism wiped out alcohol the same way it did for him. That was a good thing. None of them really wanted a drunk sixteen-year-old passing out, and Tony would be furious if he returned to his son puking.

Luckily for Peter, Tony was still putting Morgan to bed after dragging her away from the earlier and more sedate stages of the celebrations before the effects of alcohol on them all made themselves known. Perhaps out of respect for the child, the tequila hadn't come out until she was gone.

Rocket, who had said beer was for Terran softies, was drinking straight from the tequila bottle, one from the case Tony had given him.

Peter handed Thor his beer, raised his cup in a toast, and then began to drink.

"Shots!" Sam called, carrying over a tray of tequila to them. Peter took a cup, knocked back the drink, grimaced, and then returned to his punch. Thor took his own, downed it, and then smacked his lips with relish.

Steve had not joined the drinking contest, instead choosing to stick to beer and rotate around the room to talk to everyone. Drax, who was an early casualty of the contest, was snoring on the couch with his chin on his chest. Given his size, Steve had expected him to better handle his liquor, but he was very wrong.

Mantis, who wasn't drinking, was sitting beside Peter, her eyes on him and a contented look on her face. Steve had spotted Peter comforting her during the tougher parts of the press' questioning, and he thought that had forged a particular fondness from the alien to Peter. It was the same fondness that had apparently formed from Peter to Thor when Thor opened himself to attacks from the press. Peter had gone to his defense, which was a perfectly characteristic thing for him to do, and since then, Peter was happy to be around Thor.

Bucky came to Steve's side, sipping his own beer, and said, "You know, this is my first Avengers party, and it's not what I expected."

Steve gave him a quizzical look. "What did you expect?"

"Well, I figured we'd be drinking out of real glasses for a start, and I didn't expect the wasted Asgardian god and the sober super-powered sixteen-year-old."

"It's good he's sober," Steve said. "I think Tony would lose his mind if we let him get drunk."

"Yep," Bucky said smugly. "He wasn't overjoyed when we gave Peter his first beer."

"We'll blame Thor if he comes back and blows his top. He was the one that dragged him into the game. Besides, Queens wouldn't have joined in if he didn't want to. And I think he's enjoying getting to know Thor—at least as much as possible to know someone when they're raging drunk and singing Asgardian love songs."

"Yeah, I didn't think he'd want to," Bucky said. "He didn't look happy when Thor was talking to him before."

Steve shrugged. "Queens isn't the type to hold a grudge for long, and Thor proved himself when he admitted what had happened with Thanos. I think the only one Peter's ever been able to keep a grudge going with is Ross, and he more than deserved it. Besides, Thor is pulling out all the stops to make it up to him."

As they watched, Thor threw away another cup, got to his feet, swaying slightly, and said, "A test!"

Peter stared at him, bewildered, and then his mouth dropped open as Thor leaned over the back of the couch and picked up Mjølnir. He set it at Peter's feet, hiccupped, and said, "Lift it, Peter Parker."

"Uh… I really don't think…" Peter started.

Thor grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet with enough force that Steve thought it would have dislocated the shoulder of someone that wasn't enhanced.

"You are worthy, they say!" Thor shouted. "Let us see!"

Steve moved closer, wanting to see. He had no doubt Peter would be able to lift Mjølnir, though Peter's face showed how much he doubted it. Still, with Thor's loud encouragement, Peter set down his cup of punch, squared his stance, and gripped the handle.

The room became quiet as all eyes fell on Peter, and his cheeks flushed. He looked up at Steve, who gave him a small nod. He knew that if he could lift it, Peter definitely could.

Peter gave his head a brisk shake, adjusted his feet, and then hefted Mjølnir up over his head with an expression of shock that was almost comical.

"Worthy!" Thor roared. "I knew it!

Peter lowered Mjølnir, examined it, and then set it down again. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "Oh. That's cool."

"Cool!" Thor said enthusiastically. "As my father said—Only one may lift it. Only one is worthy. Who wields this hammer commands the lightning and the storm."

"More like only three," Bucky said with a laugh. "How does it feel to not be the only special one anymore, Steve? I know how pleased you were when you could lift it."

Steve snorted. "You really surprised? If Peter's worthy of bearing the Infinity Stones, I think he's more than worthy of Mjølnir."

"True," Bucky said. "He's special."

Steve nodded his agreement. Peter had proven that many times over. The most recent example was when he'd stepped up in front of some of the most powerful people in the world and the American press and gave them hell for not appreciating what they had risked and done for them. He'd seen Peter's discomfort on the stage before that, and he had been amazed and proud when Peter stepped up, though not surprised that it was in response to Thor opening himself to attack and accusation.

"He's doing good now, too," Bucky said, his pensive eyes on Peter.

Steve frowned. "Yeah. He's been doing good for a while, though, Buck. Hasn't he?"

Bucky nodded quickly, then stopped, gave his head a brisk shake, and said, "I'm not going to lie to you because that's not what we do, but I can't tell you what happened. It's just good that Peter's happy right now; that's all you need to know."

Steve was glad Bucky wasn't lying to him. That would have been worrying since, like he said, it wasn't what they did and never had been. He understood Bucky keeping secrets for Peter, too, as they had a strong bond that Bucky would defend to the end. It made him a little uneasy that there was something they weren't sharing, though.

"Is it something we should be worried about?" he asked.

"No. I've got my eye on it," Bucky said. "It's fine."

Before Steve could say anything, Natasha appeared beside them, a cup in her hand. "What are you two old men gossiping about?" she asked.

"Just talking," Steve said easily.

Natasha followed their gaze to Peter, who was now talking enthusiastically to Clint, Thor, and Sam. Steve couldn't make out what he was saying over the clamor of the room, but he quickly worked it out when Peter set down his drink then crawled up the wall to hang upside down on the ceiling.

Bucky and Steve laughed, and Natasha stared at him with a quirked brow. "You know, most of the time, he just seems like a normal kid—rainbow eyes excepted. Then he'll do something crazy like climb on the ceiling or create birds and butterflies for Morgan, and it hits you exactly what he is."

A small line appeared between Bucky's eyes. "And what is he?"

Natasha held up a hand. "Easy there, Mr. Overprotective. I mean, he's incredible. I wasn't even here for the bad stuff, but Sam told me about it. Months ago, he was catatonic, and now he's this crazy happy kid with immense power that can raise the dead."

"He is," Steve agreed. "The difference is huge. Believe me, none of us saw this coming in the beginning. Even before Ross got his hands on him, Queens wasn't like this."

"Peter Parker!"

The angry voice came from across the room, and Steve looked to see Tony coming into the room and fixing his eyes on Peter, who was now sitting between Thor and Rocket, slamming back a shot with gleaming eyes.

Peter's face fell. "Oh… hey, Tony."

Tony strode towards them, plucked the cup out of Peter's hand, sniffed it, and turned his blazing eyes on Thor. "Tequila! You got my kid drunk, Asgard!"

"No," Thor said, shaking his head slightly unsteadily and hiccupping. "I tried, but Peter is incapable of being drunk." He looked disappointed. "He is missing out on a wonderful experience."

Tony eyed Peter, who was sporting his most innocent and wide-eyed expression. "I'm fine, Tony. Totally sober."

Tony nodded stiffly. "Good. Being drunk is not the wonderful experience that idiot thinks when you move into the puking part of the party."

"It's the price you must pay," Sam slurred, and Peter laughed, clutching his stomach as he rocked back and forth.

Tony rolled his eyes, tousled Peter's hair, and moved away to Doctor Strange, who was talking to Wong by the window, his eyes occasionally drifting to Peter and then snapping away again as if seeing something upsetting.

Steve wandered over in time to hear Tony say, "So, Strange, is there a reason you're staring at my kid?"

Bucky, close on Steve's heels, crossed his arms over his chest.

"I wasn't staring," Steve said. "He's just drawing attention."

"So this isn't still about how you're freaking over what he can do with the Stones?" Tony asked.

Strange looked faintly amused. "No. I can say with total honesty that I am no longer in any way worried about what Peter will do with his power. I was given a chance to see what he can do with it when he took me to return the Time Stone to the Ancient One. We both see only good for him."

Tony's eyebrows rose, and his mouth dropped open.

"That's a big turnaround," Bucky said. "What exactly did you see?"

Strange exchanged a glance with Wong. "Nothing of concern. He just showed me I was wrong to jump to conclusions about him. I see now that he will be guided by goodness, not corrupted by power."

"True," Bucky said. "It's just weird hearing that from you."

"Perhaps," Strange said. "As interesting as this day has been, and as much as I have enjoyed the party, I think it is time for us to leave."

Wong nodded and began to swirl his hands to create a portal. From across the room came a shout of, "It is time for magic!" and Thor bounded towards them.

Peter followed and caught his hand before Thor could touch the portal Wong had created. "Believe me, Thor, you don't want to leave the party yet," he said.

Thor squinted at the portal and then said in a slightly slurred voice, "Who would like to see me summon lightning?"

"Oh! Me!" Peter said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Thor clapped him on the back. "Yes, Peter Parker. You will see, and you will learn."

Peter nodded eagerly.

"Outside, Thor," Tony said, pointing to the door.

Thor nodded, put an arm around Peter's shoulders, and staggered away.

Strange and Wong disappeared through the portal, which shrank and disappeared, and Bucky stared at it for a moment.

"What are you thinking, Bucky?" Tony asked, examining Bucky's tight eyes.

"Peter has done more than charm Strange," Bucky said. "He knows something. I want to know what it is."

"How are you going to find out?" Tony asked, offering no argument to the fact Bucky believed Strange was hiding something, which made Steve sure that Tony, like him, believed Bucky was on to something.

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "I don't know yet, but I'm going to find out."

"We will," Tony said. "We should make a point of spending time with Strange in future. We can set up a few team dinners to invite him to. I want to get him to open up, and then we can get our answers."

"Agreed," Steve said.

Bucky nodded, and then his eyes snapped to the window where Steve could see a bolt of lightning touching down to where Thor lifted Mjølnir and Peter cheered.

Though Bucky wasn't sharing what was worrying him, Steve knew it was something he was hiding with Peter, and he now wondered if Strange knew something about it, too. If it was trouble, they needed to know.

After everything that happened with Thanos, how completely off guard they'd been caught, Steve wanted to be prepared if another fight came.

So… What do you think? We got some drunk Thor and sober Peter, and Strange is being a little suspicious. I hope you enjoyed seeing Thor again, as some of you have been asking for this since With Great Power.

I'm working on a Thanksgiving one-shot of Peter and Tony with the family at the cabin—not part of this series—and I'm running low of mishaps. If you've got any fun Thanksgiving stories to share with me, I'd love to hear them and see if I can find a place for them in the story.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx