"So, what did you do with your snow day?"

Peter smiled at Pepper, who was sitting at Tony's desk when he'd come in from school, and had pushed the plate of cookies to him after hugging him by way of greeting.

"We built a snow fort, and then had a snowball fight with all of the SHIELD agents and everyone else."

She looked at Tony, who was also at his desk, and the billionaire shrugged.

"They were all there, and since the snow was thigh deep, they weren't going anywhere, anytime, soon. It was good."

"Ned had fun?" Pepper asked.

Peter smiled.

"He did. I did, too. It was fun."

"Sounds like it."

"You were invited," Tony reminded her, making her smile.

"Maybe next time."

"What did you learn today?" Stark asked his son.

"We have that group project," Peter said. "I'm teamed up with Allison, Andrew, and Alan."

"How did you manage that?" Pepper asked, smiling.

She didn't know any of the students that went to Peter's school, and none of his classmates, but it couldn't be a coincidence that their names were all so similar.

"My teacher asked who I wanted as partners, and I just started at the top of the list alphabetically. and named the first three."

"You didn't give it much thought…"

He shrugged.

"It was after school and Tony and Ned were waiting for us to go to the compound. I didn't want to make them wait. I like the ones I picked."

No one in his class was actually mean to him. For the most part, they ignored him.

"I've heard from Peter's teacher already," Tony told her. "And sent the names to SHIELD for vetting."

"You're vetting high school students?"

"I check everyone who gets close to Peter," Tony pointed out. "Especially since these kids are going to have to have access to him to meet to discuss this project."

"What kind of project?" she asked. "Another volcano?"

Peter smiled.

"That was art class," he reminded her. "This is for science. It's going to be fun. We have to come up with a concept for a Mars rover vehicle."

"Then they have to build a miniature one," Tony added.

Peter was right, as far as Tony was concerned. It was a fun project.

"And you'll help?" Pepper guessed.

The billionaire shook his head.

"I'm not allowed to help."

Which was too bad – although completely understandable.

"Where are you meeting these students?" she asked, curiously. "You're not going to let him go to a stranger's house?"

"Nope." Tony had no intention of risking his boy with strangers. Especially when there was a perfectly good robotics floor right there at the tower. "We'll bring them here. I'll set them up in one of the robotics labs. But I'm not helping them," he added, quickly.

"Right."

Peter smiled, excited at the idea.

"It's going to be fun," he said, again.

"Sounds like it."

He looked excited, anyway.

"Eat your snack," Tony said, pushing the plate toward him. "Let's get you to daycare."

"Okay."

OOOOOOOO

The week was a good one.

Tony and Peter spent a lot of time together. They didn't do anything extraordinary; Tony wanted Peter on a schedule when they were home during the school week, and that meant trying to keep things as regulated and ordinary as possible. They had breakfast together every morning, then parted ways when Peter would be picked up for school and Tony would leave for the tower. They spoke at lunch – it was becoming a regular thing for them to do so – and then they would spend time in Tony's office when Peter returned from school.

Then Tony would walk him to daycare, return to pick him up when he was ready to go home, and the two would spend a quiet evening at home, just Tony, Peter, and JARVIS. They would eat dinner, work on Peter's homework, play games or watch a movie and then it was bedtime. Tony would read to Peter, kiss him goodnight as he tucked him into his blankets, and then close the door.

Whether Peter stayed in bed, or not, varied, of course.

OOOOO

Thursday Peter wasn't alone when he came to the tower after school. With him were three of his classmates from his last period class. The three were awed by the fact that Tony Stark was the one that greeted them in the lobby, but he was at his most charming in order to relax them as much and as quickly as possible. He walked with them to the robotics lab that had been set aside to allow them the space and resources needed to work on their project and had then laid out a few ground rules before leaving them alone to get started.

Even though it took all the self control that he could muster, since he really wanted to give them a starting point. He loved robotics, after all. He had to settle for watching – and listening – to the video feed from the room, instead.

"What are you doing?"

Tony about jumped out of his expensive clothes – and his skin – when Pepper spoke up from behind him.

"Jesus, Pep…" he complained, clutching his chest. "Knock, first, will you?"

"It's my office…" she pointed out.

"Oh. Yes. Well, mine is being swept for bugs." SHIELD would do that, occasionally, to make sure that Stark's office remained secured. The billionaire had pointed out to Fury and Rogers that he had JARVIS to watch over that kind of thing, but since it was protocol, he didn't complain too much – or too loudly. "I'm watching Peter and his classmates try to decide what they're going to build."

She looked over his shoulder at the display.

"Are they actually allowing him any input?"

"Yes."

"That's surprising, considering how much younger he is than they are."

"He's been going to school there a long time," Tony reminded her. "They know he's intelligent." He smirked. "Besides, they're all probably still a bit shell-shocked from meeting me."

"Try deodorant, next time."

He rolled his eyes, amused.

"They're debating wheels or a trac system for mobility."

"Which is better?"

"For a Mars rover?" he watched as the students on the display pulled up their own display in the workroom. A display that showed the surface of the red planet. "Depends on where they want to land, and the terrain they'll be traversing. I'm betting they go with trac, simply because that's what most rovers have had, so far."

"No air pumps on Mars," she pointed out.

"Airless tires," he reminded her. "But they can work pretty well, too."

She shook her head.

"Are they really going to use the best design for a rover?"

"Probably not," he conceded. "Unless they come up with something completely different that is mind-blowingly creative and efficient. It's just a project to get them thinking – and to teach them to work in a team dynamic. Smart kids don't always do that well."

"Did you?"

"No. I was the worst."

OOOOOOOOO

"Well? How did it go?"

Peter smiled, gathering up his backpack and making sure that he had everything.

"It was good."

"They seemed to be willing to listen to your ideas."

"Yeah. They had some good ones, too."

"So I heard."

The little boy looked pleased – and excited.

"We need to meet, again, to finalize the design we want to use."

"Tomorrow?"

"No. Monday." JARVIS had saved the information they'd accumulated while they were researching past rovers in the robotics room and each of them had that information, now. They'd decided to each come up with an idea over the weekend and then they'd meet on Monday to decide what would work best for their project. "Can we meet here, again?"

Tony smiled, too, now.

"I'd prefer it," he assured Peter. "Let them all know, tomorrow, so they can clear it with their folks, for Monday."

"Okay."

Tony reached for the boy's backpack.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Me, too. Let's go home."

As they walked to the elevator, and then buckled into the car, Peter told Tony all about the kids that he was partnered with. He didn't know that his father already knew everything that there was to know about each of them – and their parents, just in case someone's parents had hidden agendas that no one had known about. They'd all come back clean, though. Nothing had raised any red flags with Natasha or Steve. Content in the knowledge that Peter was safe with them, Tony could enjoy how happy Peter was, just then.

"Maria's not picking you up, tomorrow," Tony told Peter as they walked into the house. "It's going to be Phil."

"How come?"

Stark smiled.

"Because Maria's been called away on a secret assignment."

He smiled because Peter's eyes lit up, excitedly.

"An Avenger assignment?"

"A SHIELD one," he corrected. "I don't think the Avengers are involved. If they are then no one told me, so I'm not going to have to go."

"What's she doing?" Peter asked. "Do you know?"

"They didn't tell me." He hadn't asked, really. SHIELD wasn't his concern. He didn't tell Peter that, though. "All I know is that something is going on someplace that she knows better than anyone else, so they asked for her, specifically."

"Wow." The boy climbed onto his stool to watch as Tony washed his hands to start their dinner. "When will she get back?"

"I'm not sure, buddy. This kind of came out of the blue."

"Maybe she can tell me about it," Peter said, hopefully. "When she gets back, I mean."

"Maybe."

Probably not, though, Tony was sure.