"What are you wearing?"

Pepper rolled her eyes, amused at the blatant flirting.

"None of your business."

They were on a video chat, so he could see that she was dressed in a casual top, with her hair down. Since it was getting late, he assumed she was getting ready for bed, but he'd wanted to call her.

"Be that way."

He wasn't above trying to get a rise out of her. It was pretty much a habit, by then.

She raised an eyebrow, well aware of his proclivities.

"Did you need something in particular?" she asked, pointedly. "Or were you just checking to see if I made it home, safely?"

"I knew you made it home," he replied. "JARVIS told me."

"Your AI is stalking me?"

"Of course not." He shrugged. "He just knows that I'd want to get an update to make sure you're home and nothing happened that I need to know about. If you're curious, I can tell you when Rhodey made it home, when Eric and Ned arrived at their house, and when the Avengers poured themselves out of their SUVs and strolled into the compound, as well."

"I'm not sure if that's more creepy, or less," she admitted. Then she shrugged. "Where's Peter?"

"In bed."

"So early?"

"He's eight," Tony reminded her. "And he had a busy day. I want him awake, tomorrow, and he needs to get back on a schedule."

"That's true."

He smiled.

"He did argue with me, a little, though, about sending him to bed so early."

"That's a good thing?" she asked, looking confused by how cheerful he seemed to be about it.

"It definitely is," Tony assured her. "That means he's getting more comfortable, I'd think. He's a pretty serious kid, sometimes, and can get himself into a few sticky situations – literally – but I want him feeling comfortable enough to be a little rebellious. Not a lot, of course," he added. "But some."

Case in point, Peter had actually frowned when Tony had suggested that he go get ready for bed only half an hour after their late dinner.

"I don't have to go to bed, though, right?" he'd asked.

Tony had swung him up into his arms.

"You do," he replied. "I want you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for school, tomorrow."

"It's too early for bed."

"JARVIS? What's the normal bedtime for a guy Peter's age?"

"Eight o'clock."

"And the normal time they get up?"

"Six."

"See?"

"I can't sleep that long, you know that."

"I do," he agreed. "But I want you to make an honest try at it. Please?"

"Okay."

"Thank you."

"Do I have to stay in bed if I wake up?"

"No." He wasn't that bitch Miss Marples, now was he? He didn't say that aloud, of course. "If you wake up, you need to try to go back to sleep. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. Fair?"

"Yes."

Peter had gone and brushed his teeth and put on pajamas. He'd had a bath the night before, in preparation for the party, so Tony didn't think he needed another. He wasn't a smelly teenager, after all. The billionaire had walked through the house, making sure doors were locked and windows were secure – although JARVIS could have done it all within the space of a second – and then he went to check on the boy.

Peter was in bed, but he was rolled over onto his side, clearly watching the door. Bedtime was becoming a favorite to both of them. A quiet moment for them to be father and son.

"So, Peter Stark," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed and smiling at the boy. "Are you ready for school, tomorrow?"

Peter had smiled at the name, but he nodded.

"Yes."

"Homework's done?"

"Yes."

They'd done it early on, just to keep from rushing at the end.

"Know what you're wearing?"

"Yes."

"Then go to sleep and have good dreams."

"I will."

Tony leaned over and kissed his cheek, feeling Peter's hand come up to hug him.

"Good night, son."

"Good night, dad."

He'd left the room, closing the door, quietly, behind him and JARVIS turned out the lights. Tony had a cup of coffee, pulled out his tablet and did some work on the specs for the new suit, but was restless, and eventually decided to call Pepper.

"I just wanted to make sure that I thanked you for the party," he told her. "Peter had a great time."

"Just Peter?" she asked, pointedly.

"No. I did, too," he admitted. "It was the perfect mix of little kids and superheroes – and hot women."

Pepper's expression was amused for a moment.

"Speaking of hot women, did Steve tell you about your neighbor?"

"Which one?"

"The one who has the open relationship with her husband."

Stark shook his head.

"Natasha did. You don't have anything to worry about, though," Tony said, sincerely. "I don't have any intention of taking her up on the invitation. No scandals or media blitzes for you to have to deal with."

"I appreciate that," she replied. "I think their biggest concern is Peter, though."

"Yeah. I'll make sure he understands we're not going to have any issues."

"You're going to want to date, eventually," she pointed out. "Or at least have a hook up. If you do, just save it for some night when he's over at my place – or at the compound."

He was a vigorous man, after all, and it had been a while, she knew.

Tony shrugged.

"I will. Thanks. Do I need to know anything special about tomorrow?"

He was clearly ready to change the subject.

"The usual meetings on Monday."

"I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Good night."

The call ended and he stretched.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes?"

"IS Peter asleep?"

"Appears to be, yes."

"Good. Anything I need to know? No nightmares, or anything?"

"Not, yet."

Of course, it had only been a couple of hours.

"Let me know if anything happens."

"I will."

OOOOOOO

He woke with a start, but even as he sat up in his bed the dream faded.

"JARVIS?"

"I'm here, Peter. Are you alright?"

"Yes." Peter looked around, trying to decide what was wrong, but nothing was out of place in his room. "Is Tony okay?"

"He's asleep in his bed."

Peter wrapped his arms around himself, and not out of excitement for a change. He was awake, now, and didn't want to stay in bed. He didn't have to, he knew, but what he wanted to do was go sleep with Tony. He just didn't want to wake him up to do it. Peter was a little guy, but he knew that if he kept waking Tony in the middle of the night, the man that he called dad was going to lose out on sleep and eventually it'd make him tired.

The bone-weary kind of tired that comes with never sleeping through the night. From worrying, even when you did sleep, and having that worry ingrained into you so deeply that you couldn't turn it off.

Peter knew, because he was tired, like that.

He didn't want Tony to be, too.

"You should try to go back to sleep a while longer," JARVIS told the little boy. "Tomorrow will be a busy day for you."

"I'm not sleepy." It was automatic, and not entirely true.

He was.

"Go sleep with Tony."

"I don't want to wake him up."

"He won't mind."

Peter hesitated, tempted, but his love for Tony was enough to make him shake his head. "He's asleep. I'm not going to wake him."

There was a slight pause.

"Perhaps a substitute, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your backpack is on your desk. Go open it."

Curious, the boy did as he was told, scrambling off the bed and walking over to his desk with bare feet not making any noise as he did. He unzipped his backpack.

"Now what?"

"The bear."

There was only one bear in the bag. Peter pulled out the stuffed bear that Tony had won for him on their first real excursion out, together. It was brown and tan, with black eyes and a cheerful smile.

"What about it?" he asked, brushing it against his cheek.

"Take it back to bed with you. It'll give you someone to cuddle with, and you won't have to wake up Tony."

"I'm too old to sleep with a stuffed animal," Peter objected. "That's for babies."

"Of course it isn't," JARVIS told him. "Any psychologist will confirm that it is healthy to use any corporeal aid to assist in relaxing enough to allow deep sleep. Stuffed animals, security blankets and even living pets are all common sleep aids."

"Really?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

Of course he did. JARVIS had done so much for him. The little boy only hesitated another moment before he carried the bear back to his bed. He settled under his covers, and pulled the bear close against his chest, certain that JARVIS had to be wrong. Before he could even come up with the arguments against the whole idea, he felt a wave of calm go through him and closed his eyes.

"Relaxing, isn't it?" came JARVIS' voice, soft and soothing.

"Yeah." He didn't even lift his head or open his eyes. "It's okay."

Not as good as Tony, but better than being alone.

The AI didn't bother with any I told you so. The lights in the room were all once more down low and very gentle music – the same kind meant to soothe shoppers and people in elevators – was being played. Not enough to keep the boy awake, but loud enough to suppress those weird noises that the house around them made as it settled.

Peter fell asleep, again, with the bear tucked under his chin.