A/N: The next couple of chapter will skip around a bit as I start wrapping up all of the loose ends for all of the characters I brought into this storyline, so bear with me on that!

OOOOOOO

Peter was asleep when Natasha and Clint walked into the room. Steve and Carol were sitting in the chairs that Natasha had last seen Pepper and Tony in. Their heads were together and Carol was making awwwwing noises over something that they were looking at near Steve's lap, which made Clint smirk.

"If you have to get that close, it's probably not worth looking at…"

Both captains looked over, and Steve rolled his eyes, even while Carol smirked. Rogers held up his phone, and maybe they saw just the faintest pink of a blush in his cheeks.

"For your information, I was showing her pictures from when Peter was a toddler," he told them both.

"Riiight." Natasha winked at Carol, amused, and moved up to the bed, taking the cluttered right side so she could get a look at the bandages on Peter's arm and hand, and a better view of his face. "How is he doing?"

"He's been asleep since we took over," Steve said.

"Has Stephen been by to look at him?"

"Not yet," Steve replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up, soon. He'll probably just say that Peter needs to sleep, though. That seems to be his recipe for healing every time something happens to one of us and he finds out about it."

"Lazy bum's been asleep for a couple of days, now," Clint replied, also moving closer to the bed to get a look at the boy. "If he keeps it up, we're going to have to wash the jet ourselves, next time."

Natasha wasn't the only one to smile at that, and she reached out and rested her hand against Peter's forehead, brushing his bangs back and checking for a fever. He didn't seem to be too warm, which made her wonder why the cloak wasn't in the bed with him, cuddling. At the touch, Peter opened his eyes, owlishly, and smiled when he realized who was with him. The smile grew when he noticed that she wasn't alone.

He lifted the bandaged hand, wincing slightly, and Romanoff shook her head, smiling softly down at him.

"I'm not touching that hand, right now, baby," she said, leaning over and brushing a kiss against his forehead. "And don't say anything; Tony said you aren't supposed to try to speak, yet."

He nodded, and reached for her with his good hand, which made her take it, but Peter looked at the others, and Clint smiled, too, reaching over to brush his hand against the boy's hair.

"Hey, Peter Pony," the archer said, softly. "It's good to see you awake."

Peter's smile was tired, but his eyes told them that he was happy to see them all. He looked around, let go of Natasha's hand and made a motion with his own, pretending to be writing in the air. Natasha and Clint looked confused, but Steve nodded and held up the tablet Tony had given him up in front of the boy, making sure it was on.

"Don't speak," he reminded him, unnecessarily.

Peter ran his hand along the table, and it was Steve who read the question.

You guys are okay?

"We're fine," Natasha assured him. "Are you in pain?"

Peter shook his head, writing, again.

Tony and Pepper?

"Went to get something to eat," Steve told him. "They'll be back in a while, but we wanted to spend time with you, too, so we shooed them away."

Peter smiled at that, but he looked so tired that Natasha leaned over him, again, and kissed him once more before pressing her cheek against his.

"Go to sleep, baby," she whispered. "We'll make sure someone is always with you when you wake up."

He nodded, but reached for the tablet, again.

Ned okay?

Steve frowned.

"Ned? Yeah, Peter, he's good. Everyone is good. Go to sleep."

The boy did as he was told and closed his eyes, but he didn't let go of Natasha's hand, and she didn't let go of his until his grip went limp in her own. Only then did she release him, and pulled the blankets up over him, warmly.

"You guys are going to stay with him?"

Carol nodded.

"Yes."

"Let me know when you're ready for a break, and I'll come sit with him for a while before Tony and Pepper start hogging him to themselves, again."

Which made Steve smile and nod.

"I'll call you in a few hours. You went to get Bruce?"

"Yeah," Clint grinned. "He's going to stop in and check on Peter when he gets unpacked. Ask him what's new and see what he says."

Steve raised an eyebrow, looking at Natasha, who shook her head – also looking amused.

"I'm not going to spoil his surprise by telling you."

"Huh. I'll make sure to ask. You guys get some rest. I expect we'll start debriefing the next day or so."

There were going to be a lot of them. Especially since they all knew Steve was going to want to get everyone's side of the events; from Gradymatson all the way down to the civilians who happened to have been caught in the battle when they'd been caught off guard by Thanos' sudden appearance and the fact that it had happened in the middle of the night. In many such situations, they'd have some – maybe many – that they wouldn't be able to talk to until wounds healed.

That wasn't an issue, this time.

"Don't forget to call me."

"I won't."

OOOOOOO

Tony had rejoined Pepper and Wanda in the lounge, rather than wait to meet her in their quarters. He smiled when he sat at the table, silently telling Pepper nothing was wrong, and ordered some breakfast, easily conversing with the two women, who already had their own meals and were eating. About the same time that Tony's food arrived, T'Challa and Shuri both made an appearance at the entrance to the lounge and walked over to the table, looking refreshed and regal.

Which made sense, Tony supposed.

"Good morning," T'Challa said as Tony stood at their arrival, smiling a greeting to Shuri, who blushed, lightly, at having Ironman perform even such a simple courtesy.

"Good morning."

"May we join you?"

"Of course." He gestured them into chairs and waved for a server from the bar to bring them tea before looking at Shuri. "Did you check on Peter?"

"Not physically," she told him. She held up her wrist, where she had a watch-like device. She pressed a control on it and there was a 3-D display with a scrolling list of numbers and stats on it. "It's my tech that is monitoring him, so I can keep track of his progress while not there. He is supposed to be resting, and I am not a restful visitor – and he is not to be speaking, at the moment, and we all know how much I love to talk," she added. "I will wait."

Besides, it would give the avengers time to spend with him, first. She could wait since she had her information that could verify he was doing well.

"He slept through the night," Pepper told her, smiling and unable to hide her relief.

"That is good."

T'Challa had already asked his sister for a report on Peter's progress, so he didn't need to add to the conversation, deciding instead what he wanted for breakfast when the server came to ask.

"Have you slept?" Shuri asked, solicitously.

"A little – off and on."

"Our next stop is bed," Tony assured her. "For a while, anyway."

"You need to take care of yourselves," she told them, sounding so much like Stephen that Tony couldn't help but smile at that.

As if thinking of him had summoned him, the doctor chose that moment to walk into the room, dressed immaculately in one of his perfectly tailored suits and looking as if he had been awake for hours. He walked over and joined them with a smile of his own.

"I just came from checking on your son," he told Pepper and Tony, greeting the others at the table, as well. "He was asleep, but Steve tells me that he woke long enough to hold a very brief (and non-verbal) conversation with him and the others when they checked in on him."

"How long until we know his lungs are alright?" Pepper asked.

"A couple of days. He looks good, guys. When I left, he was resting easily, and his breathing is right on track for him."

And he was being cuddled by the Cloak of Levitation, which had startled Carol, who was still not used to the protective piece of drapery that had zoomed into the room without a sound and immediately taken charge of Peter, draping itself over the boy and caressing his ear, lightly, with a corner of fabric while the two watching Peter had looked on.

"Thank you," Tony said, sincerely. "Both of you."

"You're welcome." Stephen gave them both a look. "We're going to want to bring in a specialist for his hand, once we get the flesh healed more. I want it taken care of properly." His expression was a little bitter, then, as he added. "I know a couple of good ones I'd recommend."

Tony didn't need him to expound on that, and he glanced at the surgeon's hands, which were perfectly healed, now, and hadn't been a week ago.

"Whoever you think will work best with him – and us. We don't want to share Peter's condition with the media, obviously."

"Or how he was injured," Pepper added.

"That won't be a problem." He thanked the server who knew him well enough by then to bring him a cup of coffee without asking. "Doctor Thompson suggested coating the bandages that we have on the hand with liquid from the immersion tank to allow the nanite tech a chance to continue healing, even though he's out of the chamber. It's a good idea, really – although we'll want to allow some air to the area, eventually."

"He's still in on Peter's care?" Pepper asked, somewhat surprised. "I thought he was a heart surgeon?"

"His specialty is the heart," strange agreed. "But I was talking to him the other day and found out that he's also one of the foremost experts in the country on traumatic burns. Apparently, that's what he does in the National Guard when he's working with them."

"Not a lot of need for heart surgeons in the field?" T'Challa asked, also aware of who the man was, since Shuri had been in contact with him, as well, and T'Challa wasn't about to let anyone near his sister without a full vetting process on them – whether they knew it, or not.

"Correct." Strange shrugged. "I'm inclined to use his expertise where we can."

Tony nodded, but before he could say anything, his watch alerted him to a call. He rolled his eyes, looking at the others.

"Ned's calling. Again."

Shuri smiled.

"He called me a few hours ago," she told him. "I am afraid I did not do a very good job of reassuring him and may have let on that Peter was injured. Ned thought that perhaps you and Pepper evacuated him to Wakanda."

"I'd better call him," Tony said, even though the incoming call had already gone to voicemail.

Pepper smirked.

"Before he tries to hack Friday?"

That made Tony smile.

"He's smart, but he isn't that good."

"He doesn't come to visit Peter, yet," Stephen ordered. "There isn't enough Prozac on the planet to make him restful enough to allow him near the place."

Which elicited a smile from Pepper, who happened to agree. She turned to Tony.

"Tell him that we'll have him out as soon as we can and let him know the rest of us are fine, so he doesn't worry."

"Yes, dear."