Peter had a good day. He was used to having people at school looking at him oddly – he was younger than everyone there by at least seven years – and in many cases ten – so he stood out among the older kids. Not to mention the kids that he had classes in all knew that he was there because he belonged there. He was smarter than many (all?) of them. That always made him stand out from the crowd.

It was even more pronounced, now, though. Now they were looking at him because he had a new last name, and a famous new dad. A couple of them had asked him about living with Tony, too. He'd simply said it was great. Peter didn't have a lot in common with his classmates, and rarely chatted with them about anything outside of class. The result of that being that he wasn't very good at making small talk with them.

They weren't looking for small talk, though, so it didn't matter.

His first period class had been a bit of a thrill when they'd taken roll and he'd heard someone call his name for the first time. Tony and the others had called him Peter Stark, of course, but it was different when it was a teacher. It was more official, that way.

He was Peter Stark.

The high had followed him through the entire class, and then into the next.

But then he'd realized that he'd left his bear on his bed, rather than putting it in the safe with everything else, and he'd worried about it and ran all the worst case scenarios through his mind for the rest of that class. When it was over he'd had to wait until his teacher was finished talking to him about some assignments that he'd missed while he'd been gone, but then he'd spoken to Agent Hill, and had asked her to contact Tony if she had a chance. Maybe he'd be able to check in with JARVIS to make sure it was still where it was supposed to be.

When he came out of that class at change over, Agent Hill was waiting by the door. That wasn't so surprising; Peter knew she would be there. She always was close at hand. That was her job, he knew, but she was nice about being stuck hanging out with a little kid all day.

Hill smiled down at him.

"How was class?"

"I'm behind." He wasn't worried, though. The work wasn't too hard. He'd be caught up in a day or two. "Did you ask him?"

She nodded.

"He's going to have JARVIS keep track of things."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He had lunch, next, and she knew that he normally sat by himself in the lunchroom. It wasn't as lonely as it sounded, though, because he was usually engrossed in one project or another as he ate. "He asked me to tell you he loves you, too."

Peter smiled at that.

"Really?"

"I'm a hardcore SHIELD agent," she reminded him. "You don't think I'd lie to you, do you?"

"No."

"Good." She double-checked the people moving in the hall around them, automatically. "Let's get some lunch."

Sitting with him wasn't exactly required, but it never hurt to remind everyone that he was in her field of vision at every minute. It would cut down on misunderstandings, that way.

OOOOOOO

"How's school going?"

"Good. Mr. Fossey called me Peter Stark."

Tony smiled.

"Because you are Peter Stark."

"I know. But it sounded neater coming from him."

"Then I'm glad he did it. How are your classes going? Anyone messing with you?"

"I'm behind a little," Peter admitted. He didn't care, though, and he wasn't worried about it. He could catch up and Tony would almost certainly help him if he needed it. "But it's fun being back."

"Anyone messing with you?"

"No." He hesitated. "Maria told you about my bear?"

"She did," Tony confirmed – even though Peter knew it had happened. "And JARVIS is keeping track of it, but it is exactly where you left it, this morning."

"Okay."

"I have a meeting, buddy," Tony told him. "I'll see you when you guys get here."

"Yeah."

"Be good."

"I will, dad."

That made Tony smile. It was still very, very new to him, too, after all.

"Good, son," he said with true warmth. "Agent Hill? You or Phil?"

"Me."

"Thank you."

The call ended.

"What did he mean by that?" Peter asked, curiously.

"He was asking which one of us is bringing you to the tower, today."

"Oh. How come?"

"So there aren't any surprises. He doesn't like surprises."

"He doesn't like when people give him things, either," Peter mentioned as he started cleaning up his lunch items. Tony had offered to make him his lunches every morning – or have them catered to the school, if he wanted – but Peter liked cafeteria food and had declined. "Like when someone hands him a receipt, or a menu."

"Yeah? You noticed that?"

Peter nodded.

"Uh huh. Did you know?"

"I did." She'd read Stark's dossier, after all. It was required for anyone who worked with the man. To make sure they would recognize if he started acting out of character. A sign that something might be wrong. There had been a psychological evaluation there, as well. "He hands you things, though," she pointed out. "That makes you special."

He smiled, looking pleased by that, and that made Hill smile, too.

"Wow."

She didn't respond, and the bell rang a moment later, so they gathered up their things and headed for his next class.

OOOOOO

"There's my boy…"

Peter grinned when he walked into Tony's office and was greeted by the man and the words. Such a simple thing to say, but it was so profound for him. It made Pepper smile, too, of course. Both because Tony had said it, and because Peter was so happy because of it being said.

"Hi." The boy stopped long enough to put his backpack on his desk, but the plate of cookies was always waiting on Tony's desk when he was done with school. "Hi, Pepper."

"Hi, Peter. How was school?"

The two adults greeted Agent Hill, but she didn't stick around to hear Peter's answer, and the fact that she didn't do more than acknowledge the greeting was all Tony needed to know. It told him that there hadn't been anything that needed discussed about the day.

"It was fun."

"Did Ned start, there, yet?" she asked.

She'd heard all about that, of course.

"Not until next school year," Peter said. "There was a lot of people there that weren't usually." He smiled. "A lot of reporters and cameras. But they didn't talk to me."

"They aren't supposed to try to talk to you, either," Tony reminded him, pushing the plate toward him so he could grab a cookie, or two. "So if they do, you make sure you tell Agent Hill, or Coulson."

"That's what they said, too," he confirmed, shoving the entire cookie in his mouth. "They said-"

"Chew that, first," Tony interrupted. He was used to the way Peter tended to shove cookies (and bread, and crackers, and pretty much everything that he could) into his mouth like that, but Pepper had looked ready to panic. Especially when he'd started talking around the mouthful. "And don't take such big bites," he added. "You're going to choke on it, some day."

"Sorry." He did as he was told. "They said to make sure to tell them if any strangers come up to me, or try to get me to go with them."

"No vans," Tony told him. "No matter if they show you the candy, first, or not."

Peter smiled.

"You heard?"

"I did." He winked, proving to Peter that it had amused him. "Do you have homework?"

"A lot," Peter said, reaching for another cookie. "I should probably just work on it and skip daycare."

"Do you want to skip daycare?"

"No."

"Then you can work on your homework tonight, and go to daycare, today," Tony assured him. "The teachers aren't going to expect you to get it all done, this evening. Right?"

"Right."

The boy gave them a rundown of his day as he drank the glass of chocolate milk and ate most of the cookies, politely leaving exactly two for Tony and two for Pepper. When the snack was gone and Tony and Pepper had both told him about their day, as well, Stark got to his feet, smiling at Pepper.

"I'll be back in a minute," he told her. "I'm going to take Peter to daycare."

She nodded her agreement, and picked up a cookie.

"Take your time. Bye, Peter."

Peter smiled.

"Bye, Pepper."

OOOOOOO

"So, it sounds like his first official day went pretty well."

"It did," Fury agreed, looking at the others, who had gathered to get the official SHIELD report from Hill. "Let's make certain tomorrow is just as smooth."

The agent nodded, and ended her call, and Nick turned his lone eye on Romanoff.

"What did you find out about the neighbor?"

Natasha smirked. "The one who wants to do it with Tony?"

That made Steve smile, and Sam snorted, amused.

"That's the one," Fury agreed. He was amused, too, but you had to know him well to see it. "What is she after – besides Tony's… bank account?"

"She isn't after his money," Romanoff reported with a shrug. "She and her husband – they've been married for several years and there's no indication of anything amiss there – have a lot of it. Not only is he an international broker, but she comes from big money. Old, big money. They don't need it."

"International broker?" Clint echoed. "Any foreign ties we need to know about?"

She shook her head.

"We checked him out before Tony and Peter moved in – and then I dug deeper, this morning. He's on the up and up – and not completely squeaky clean, but close enough."

"If he was too clean, I'd be suspicious," Sam said, shrugging.

"So would I," Natasha agreed. "She could just be after a roll in the hay with someone famous."

"And the rest of the neighborhood?" Fury asked. "Nothing new? No new people moving in close by, now?"

"Looks clear," Romanoff said. "We're going to keep an eye on things, of course."

"Watch for any neighbors who suddenly have family over to visit long term," Nick added.

"I will."

She didn't add that she knew what to look for. She didn't need to.

"Anything else we need to know about?" he asked the others.

They all shook their heads.

"Tony is keeping Peter home over the weekend," Natasha said. "He's behind in his schoolwork because of the time off, so they're going to have an easy weekend, together."

"Just the two of them and their Euclidean geometry," Sam said, shaking his head with a wry expression. "How exciting."

"I guess they enjoy it more than rock collecting," Clint replied.

"Rock collecting is interesting," Wilson said, and they all smiled at his sudden show of being defensive. "There's a lot of history in them. And science, you nerds. How they were formed, when, and how long it took to find them…"

"How to hit someone over the head with one," Romanoff added.

Barton grinned.