Chapter 5

A few days passed and Peter had done really good. He was still having nightmares, but they weren't as bad. He would usually wake up and fall right back asleep. The next morning when Peter joined Tony for breakfast, Tony noticed the kid seemed more rested.

"Have any nightmares?"

Peter looked up from his plate, "They weren't too terrible. I fell back asleep."

"Pete, maybe you should talk to someone about these nightmares. You can't keep the nightmares bottled up, it will just fester and make you miserable."

"I- I just don't want to talk about them."

Tony stared at him, trying to figure out if he should press the issue or let it go for now. He decided to push a little further.

"You know there are so many people who are here for you and are ready to talk whenever you want, Peter. Just consider talking to someone."

"You don't talk to anyone about yours. You lock yourself up in the lab for hours on end." Peter stated, wishing he hadn't said that last part. Too late now.

A flash of anger left Tony as quickly as it came. "How about this? If I go talk to someone, you do too. We can get through our issues together."

Peter bit his lip and thought for a moment. "You would go talk to a counselor just to help me?"

Tony nodded in agreement, care and concern obvious in his eyes.

"O-okay, Mr. Stark. I guess so." Peter replied a little hesitantly.

"Good. Now, how about spending some time down in the lab?" Tony asked, hoping Peter would join them.

"Always!" Peter exclaimed, grabbing a couple of sodas from the fridge. When he was walking past Tony, he grabbed the soda's out of his hand.

"Na -ah. No drinks down in the lab, not after what happened last time you brought a drink down there."

"Mr. Stark, that was six months ago." Peter whined.

"Yes, I know. But if you recall, I said no more drinks." Tony said nonchalantly but serious at the same time.

Peter huffed and put the drinks back in the fridge. "Fine, but if I die of thirst, it's your fault."

Tony laughed, "Ha ha. Very funny. Let's go, drama queen."

With that, they headed down to the lab and spent the rest of the day there. At about 8 pm, Tony noticed Peter had fallen asleep while tinkering with a project. He carefully picked the kid up and took the kid to his room.

"Gees, kid, you're heavier than you look." Tony whispered.

Thankfully, the kid was a heavy sleeper. He never woke up once that night for the first time.

The days had passed slowly, and Peter had mostly a good demeanor . Tony had made him promise to tell him if he began feeling angry or emotional. Peter decided to try living normally again, so he managed to get the courage to ask Tony if he could start his internship up again. He also asked if he could make a trip to the school and get started on the missed work that was piling up. Tony was quite surprised at the request, but he finally agreed. When they made their way to the school, he firmly told Peter to not stress himself out. He told him to do what he could, but rest was the most important thing, now that Peter wasn't as emotional.

Peter knocked on Tony's open office door one day. He was delivering some paperwork from one of the departments that he needed to sign.

As Tony was signing, Peter asked, "Mr. Stark, would it be- I mean."

Tony looked up at him, smiling at him, "Pete, I won't bite. Ask away."

Peter let out a deep breath. "Could Ned come over? I haven't seen him since the funeral. I have only managed to start texting him just a few days ago."

Tony smiled, "Yes of course, Peter. Just let me know what day, so that way Happy and Pepper know you won't be here to make paper runs."

Peter smiled, "Yes sir. Thank you, Mr. Stark!" He began heading out of the office, grabbing his phone out of his pocket.

"Peter?"

Peter a little startled turned to face Mr. Stark. "Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"First, you know you can call me Tony, unless we are around other workers. Second of all, you might need these papers."

Peter smiled, running back to grab the stack of papers. "Oh right, sorry, Mr.S- I mean- Tony."

"Good boy." Tony smiled.

That evening, Peter sat at the island in the kitchen, working furiously at some of the math homework the teachers had emailed him. Tony had told him that he could use his laptop and work on assignments during his internship, as long as he was not needed.

Pepper noticed Peter working away at his math when she went into the kitchen to get something. "Pete, you have been working on that for a while. Come watch the movie with us."

Peter obeyed, shoving his papers and books into his backpack. Awhile later, Morgan and Peter had both fallen asleep before the movie ended. Tony scooped Morgan up and carried her to her bed. He came back downstairs to find Peter still sound asleep. He really didn't want to have to wake him up, but he didn't think he could carry Peter upstairs. He decided to let Peter sleep awhile longer, while he and Pepper discussed some business matters. Finally, at 11 p.m., Tony gently woke Peter up and sent him to bed.

It was now Saturday, Morgan had Peter come play with her outside. He hadn't really been up to being a "big brother" since he came to live with them. But now, he decided he would gladly take on that role. He pushed Morgan on the swings and taught her how to jump rope. After lunch, Peter asked if he could take Morgan to see a movie with Ned. Tony seemed to always have Pete's wallet contain $20 bills. He had been putting one of them every day, since Peter had started his internship up again. So, an hour later, the three kids went to see a movie. By the time, Happy had pulled up to the driveway at 4 p.m., Morgan had fallen asleep in her car seat. Peter carried her in and laid her on the couch. Peter was happy that this felt normal. Of course, he still had rough days.

Monday was that rough day. Peter woke up feeling miserable and depressed. He didn't want to get out of bed at all, but his stomach was growling. So, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hey, Pete. How does a couple of hamburgers for lunch sound to you?" asked Tony.

Peter was hungry, realizing it was already almost noon. "Sounds good, Mr. Stark."

When the food had been delivered, Tony and Peter watched TV.

"What's on your mind, Pete?"

Peter gulped. He was really sad today. "Nothing. I am fine."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Pete, I know you kid. What is making that brain of yours work so hard?" After a moment, Peter answered. "I am just sad. I miss May." His voice cracked at her name.

"I am sorry, kid. I know you do." Tony pulled Peter closer to him.

A few moments later, Tony noticed Peter's shoulders shuddering. Tony kissed his forehead and said, "It is going to be okay, Pete."

Peter sobbed for a little while but not as much with Tony there, comforting him. When he stopped crying, he rubbed his eyes and scrubbed the tear tracks on his face with his hands. Tony got up from the couch and brought Pete a soda and another burger. Peter inhaled his food.

"I-I think I am ready to talk to a counselor or someone, now." Peter suddenly brought up.

Tony was surprised at the sudden statement. "Good. I will make an appointment and let's see how it goes. Sound good?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Stark." Peter said.

"You don't have to call me sir or Mr. Stark, Pete. You can call me Tony or anything else."

Peter smiled, "Even drama queen?"

"If I ever hear you call me drama queen, I am going to wake you up everyday at 5 am by the fire sprinklers."

Peter narrowed his eyes, "You wouldn't."

Tony glared right back. "Watch me. FRI, be a dear, and…"

Peter held his hands out in defense and quickly said, "No, no. I was only kidding! Please, Mr. Stark- Tony."

Tony smiled and ruffled the kid's hair. "I am watching you."

Peter stuck his tongue out playfully.

"Pick a movie, kid." Tony said as Peter snuggled closer to him.

After the movie was over, it was only 1 pm. Tony decided they needed to be more productive. "Pete, would you like to come to the SI office with me. You don't have to make runs unless you want to. You can just hang out, work on some homework." Peter nodded, figuring the distraction would be good. With that, they made their way downstairs where the lobby was filled with people.

Phones ringing constantly. Tony had to make a stop by Security. He had a little something for Peter. He told Peter to wait outside the office door.

"Ms. Cartwright." Tony said.

"Oh, Mr. Stark, I didn't expect you."

"Do you have time to make Peter a security access card?"

"Yes of course, Mr. Stark. I have to say he has done very well with helping everyone out around here."

"Thank you. Let me have him come in, so we can get his card."

Ms. Cartwright typed on her keyboard for a moment, while Tony brought Peter in.

"Hi. Ms. Cartwright." Peter said shyly.

"Hi. Peter."

Tony pointed to a chair; Peter was wondering what they were doing.

"Peter, Ms. Cartwright is going to give a new security access card. You have a temporary one that most interns get, or new hires receive."

Peter smiled at the idea of getting a new card.

"Mr. Stark, I assume you want Peter to have the next level up." Mrs. Cartwright said.

Tony shook his head, "No, Ms. Cartwright. He needs the ALPHA level security card."

"ALPHA, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked. While he was an "intern", he wasn't familiar with the levels.

"Yes, Pete. To put it simply, ALPHA gets you into all floors, doors, and labs." Peter's jaw dropped.

Ms. Cartwright handed Peter an I-Pad with some forms to fill out. After 10 minutes, Peter had his new access card. He couldn't stop saying thank you to Tony the rest of the day.

On their way to the office, they were interrupted several times by different employees, giving Peter hugs. All the employees really like Peter and made comments to Pepper all the time about the new intern. The employees were not aware that Peter was living with them. When they reached the office, Pete sat down at the conference table and began working away on homework. He really hated Physics and usually needed help. While he was really smart and loved science, Physics was not his thing. Before May died, Pete would come to the tower and have Tony help him and explain a concept to him. Tony recognized the groans coming from Peter about an hour later.

He got up from his chair and came over to Peter, "You need any help, kiddo?"

"Uh, I almost have this figured out, but I know I am missing something." Peter said as he pointed to a complex physics problem.

Tony looked at the problem. He pointed to a couple of things and explained to Peter what he needed to do. Two minutes later, Peter had it finished.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Sure thing. Now, if you want to take a quick break, you can run these files down for me to HR."

"Yes sir." Peter said, glad to have a break.

Tony became a little worried when Peter hadn't made his way back yet. It couldn't possibly take 15 minutes for Peter to make that run. As he was getting ready to ask FRIDAY to locate Peter, he heard the door open.

It was Peter with Morgan. "She wanted to see you. She was in the lobby." Peter explained.

"Morgan, does Mommy know you are here?"

"Uh-huh." Morgan said. She pulled out the different things she had done in school. Tony normally would have sent her upstairs to their floor, but he figured Morgan needed the extra attention from him.

Now that Morgan was in school, Pepper put Morgan in different activities to keep her busy. She was in piano lessons, tennis, and she would start swimming the following summer. Peter volunteered to take her to everything, but Tony wanted Peter to rest and relax. He knew Peter would need to start school again. In reality, it had only been about a few weeks since everything happened. Peter was doing great and he was happy to take on "big brother" duties. At least for now, everything seemed to be going better.

Authors Note: Thank you to a reviewer who mentioned that Peter should be put in counseling. I decided to use the idea and incorporate it into the story. Hope you enjoyed this story!