They were sitting down to breakfast when Peter's watch chimed, softly, at him and startled him so badly that he dropped his pop tart. He looked at Pepper, guiltily, for making the mess and picked it up, but was excited, too, now, when he realized what was happening.

"That's Tony!"

"Where?"

"Calling on his watch."

"Can he do that?" she asked, impressed by the tech but not surprised, really.

"JARVIS can," the boy replied, tapping the top of the watch as he'd been instructed by the AI during the impromptu learning course that he'd been given. "If Tony is in his suit, he can interface with anything that JARVIS can."

"That's right, I can," came Stark's voice, amused. There wasn't any visual, but they could both hear him, just fine. "Everyone's awake?"

"It's nine o'clock," Pepper pointed out, assuming – correctly – that he'd hear her just fine. "Of course, we are."

She'd been woken at three am when Peter and his stuffed bear had joined her in her bed, needing reassurance after some kind of weird dream. Bemused at having the younger Stark wheedle his way into her bed before the elder could, she'd sleepily pulled the blankets back and had cuddled with him until he'd fallen asleep. Then, rather than put him back into the guest bed, she'd simply gone back to sleep, as well.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked, excited.

"Secret avenger stuff," Tony replied, evasively. "But I thought I'd call and check in with my favorite people while I had a chance – and check to see if you'd figured out how my watch works."

"It's awesome."

"Right?" Tony sounded amused. "That's what I keep telling people, but no one gets it. What are you doing, today?"

"Pepper's going to take me to the park – if Happy says it's okay."

"Sounds like fun. Stick close to her, right? Keep an eye on her for me?"

"I will."

"You guys good?" he asked, and now she understood that the question was for both of them.

"We're great," Peter answered.

"He's right," she agreed. "Peter's being an angel."

The was an amused snort.

"You can tie him up and stick him against the closet wall like one of those tap lights if he gets out of line."

She smirked at the boy, who grinned, clearly not concerned at the threat.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Love you, Peter. Have fun, today."

"Love you, too." The call ended, and Peter looked down at the watch. "That's pretty cool…" he murmured. "I wonder if I could make one."

"He'd probably help you, you know?" she pointed out. "If you asked."

"Yeah."

OOOOOOOO

They did go to the park.

Happy drove them, of course, after Pepper and Peter cleaned what little mess that they'd made getting breakfast. The plan was to spend the morning in the park walking around and maybe playing on some of the playground equipment. Then have lunch, warming up somewhere before heading back to Pepper's place. As Happy parked the car and then walked with them onto the closest walking path, a snow-covered sidewalk that meandered through the trees and had an occasional park bench to stop and rest at, Pepper wondered how many SHIELD agents were watching them, just then.

She didn't ask, since she didn't want to worry Peter, who was having a good time running around the two adults, picking up snow in his mittened hands and making snowballs, which he'd throw at tree trunks. He had pretty good aim, she decided, and smiled when Happy casually scooped snow from a branch they walked by, made a snowball of his own and tossed it at Peter's head.

The boy ducked, giggling, but didn't engage in a snowball fight as Pepper had almost expected. Instead, he looked around them, slowing, and then moved to walk closer to Pepper, suddenly seeming a bit subdued.

"Did he hit you?" she asked, curiously, even though she knew the snowball had missed.

"No."

"What's wrong, Peter?" Happy asked, also catching his sudden change in mood.

"I don't feel good."

"Sick?" Pepper pulled her hand out of her coat pocket and brushed her fingers against his forehead. Her hand was chilled, though, as was Peter's skin. "You don't feel warm…"

Of course, she didn't know how warm he needed to feel to be sick. She'd seen him sick, before, but he'd been halfway through his cold by the time she'd gone out to check on him.

"I'm not sick," he said, looking up, uneasily.

"What then?"

"My stomach feels funny. It hurts…"

Happy frowned.

"We can go back and-"

There was a sudden crack above them, a noise so loud it actually sounded like a gunshot. The driver's hand went inside his coat, while the other reached for Peter, but the boy had stopped, and his hand had grabbed the hem of Pepper's coat, stopping her in mid-stride.

An instant later a huge branch came crashing down onto the trail where they'd have been walking.

"What the hell?"

"Get down!"

Happy shoved both of them to the side of the path, pulling a gun and looking around as he covered them, protectively. He didn't see any immediate threat. No one in the trees above them with weapons, no one running up from any direction, perhaps intending to make a grab at one of them in the confusion.

Nothing.

Three SHIELD agents materialized seemingly from nowhere, also brandishing weapons and looking around. One pulled Pepper to her feet, and the woman helped Peter to his.

"Are you alright?" Pepper asked Peter, dismayed to see that his eyes were bright with tears and frightened.

"I hurt my hand…" he said, hoarsely, holding up his right hand.

Sure enough, the mitten had torn when he'd brought his hand down to catch himself when Happy had pushed them to the ground, and it had just happened to be in the one area of the path that didn't have snow protecting it. The little palm was scraped and bleeding from the contact with the cement.

"Poor baby," she said, kneeling down, ignoring the chaos around them as the SHIELD agents and Happy all converged to form a protective phalanx, checking the area, carefully.

She pulled him into her embrace, deciding that the tears weren't from the scrape on his hand, but from the fright that he'd just taken. Peter clung to her, and she could feel him trembling through his heavy coat.

"Looks like it was just a snow-heavy branch coming down," a man in a dark suit reported to Happy a moment later. "The area's clear."

The driver nodded, putting his gun away and looking at Pepper and Peter.

"Are you two okay?" he asked.

Pepper smiled up at him, and turned her head to brush a kiss against Peter's cold cheek.

"Just a little scared," she assured him.

"Sorry about that…" Happy knelt down beside Pepper and her trembling companion. "Hey, Pete… are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

The boy turned his head, looking at the driver, brown eyes still frightened and moist.

"I hurt my hand," he said, holding it up, although the other arm was still firmly in place around Pepper.

"Aww…" Happy took the hand in his own much larger ones to check it. "I'm sorry, pal. I acted automatically."

"Sounded like a gunshot," one of the SHIELD personnel said. They'd put away their sidearms, too. "Lucky thing you guys weren't moving. That thing could have done some damage, landing on your heads, or something."

"Peter stopped me," Pepper said, smiling at the little boy. "He's my good luck charm."

The boy sniffed, but managed a shaky smile in reply.

"Let me look at that hand," said one of the SHIELD agents, also kneeling down next to Peter. This one pulled a small first aid kit from one of his voluminous pockets and carefully pulled the mitten off to get a better look. "Saved the damsel in distress," he said, smiling to distract Peter while he cleaned the scraped area. "Does that make this your first superhero injury?"

Peter's smile was a little more cheerful, then, as he responded to the tone as well as the words.

"Yeah."

"Very cool."