"Hey, Peter…"
The soft voice woke him from gentle dreams that were almost certainly a product of the mind stone. Planets floating in space, people (and weird looking creatures of all kinds) seeing a brilliant light rushing toward them; bracing for the worst that could happen and rejoicing instead when the light enveloped their world and then moved on, leaving a population of healed and soothed souls in its wake.
He mumbled a denial; it was a good dream and he didn't want to wake from it, but the voice spoke, again, and he sleepily realized that it was Bruce.
"Hey, Peter… wake up a minute."
He turned his head from Natasha's collarbone and opened his eyes. And only the fact that he was pinned snugly against her and one of the arms of the chair kept him from tumbling off the lounge chair in surprise. A jolt of fear went through him, replaced immediately by the knowledge that he was safe – despite the huge green face that was blocking the warm afternoon sun and staring down at him. He heard Natasha chuckle beside him, and he sat up a little, ignoring the stabbing pain from his hand at the motion.
The Hulk was crouched down beside the lounge chair he was sharing with Natasha, but the expression on the ugly face was calm and amused. He'd never seen the Hulk in person, before, but he'd seen enough videos and still images to know that the expression was completely out of place. As was the gleam of good humor in the green-tinged eyes that were waiting for his acknowledgement.
"Bruce?"
"Yeah, Peter." The voice was almost Bruce's but a mixture of something else, too. As if Bruce's voice was deepened and then tossed into a huge echo chamber to allow it to be somewhat amplified. "It's me."
"Oh, my…" Alec said, softly in the boy's head. "That's amazing."
Whether he meant the transformation in the first place, or the fact that the Hulk wasn't ripping the building next to them into pieces, Peter didn't know. He didn't reply, though. Instead, he sat up a little more, realizing that Natasha was, too.
"How did you do that?" the boy asked, noticing that Tony and Pepper were standing nearby with Stephen but that none of them looked concerned to see the green monster loose. Tony wasn't even wearing a partial version of his suit like Peter knew that he would if he was concerned. "You're Hulked out."
The grin alone would have been enough to frighten a casual observer, and Bruce couldn't help himself; he wrapped those giant arms around Peter and hugged him – including by default Natasha and the cloak, which grumbled irritably in Peter's mind, but didn't zap the monster that was carefully holding the boy in a hug that lasted several long moments before he pulled away, looking pleased.
"I know, right? It was that light. It did something to me – and to the other guy. He's still a part of me, but we're in sync, now, instead of at odds. I can be him anytime I want."
"You don't need to get angry?" Stephen asked, as the cloak flittered from Peter's shoulders to find the sorcerer's collar, instead.
He was obviously witnessing the transformation for the first time, as well – and was just as fascinated.
"Nope." The was a brief pause, and then the giant frame morphed back into Bruce. It was horrifying to watch, but only lasted a moment, and then Bruce Banner was standing in front of them, pale skin on his chest and belly mute testament to the complete change – and the fact that he definitely needed to figure out a better wardrobe. "I'm cured. Or fixed. Or whatever you want to call it."
"Wow…"
"Pretty cool, huh?"
"It's awesome."
"I owe it all to you," Bruce told him – refraining from hugging hi, again, although it looked like he really wanted to. "Thank you."
Peter blushed, but the adults were all pleased to see the cheer in his brown eyes at the happiness in his friend.
"I didn't really do anything," the boy told him. "I mean, I didn't try to make the light. It just happened."
"Steve and I want to talk to you about what actually did happen," Tony said, speaking up for the first time. "Not right now, but when you're feeling better. We want to get your side of the story – since it's probably the most interesting."
"Oh. Yeah. Sure."
"Let's go get some lunch," Pepper suggested.
She didn't ask if he was hungry to give him a chance to say no – or a chance to retreat right away back into his bedroom. Stephen had told her and Tony about the call from MJ – as well as he understood what had happened, anyway – and had suggested that they keep their son as active as his health would allow. To keep him from having a chance to think too much.
Tony had just the response, apparently, and even Strange had to admit that seeing the Incredible Hulk in the flesh had probably been plenty of distraction. Now to keep the momentum rolling and keep him engaged with the others – rather than under the blankets. Of course, there was going to be a completely new distraction in a half hour, or so, Stephen knew – since he was going to bring her to the compound, himself.
Shuri would probably be disappointed to miss Bruce's demonstration, but there was such a thing as too much stimulation – especially when Peter was still hurting as badly as he had to be. Better to have them come in stages, and allow him to get over one before the next showed up on their doorstep, proverbially.
Besides, he was fairly certain that Doctor Banner was going to be willing to change, again, for them to see. And because he'd want to rest his control more than the few times that he already had.
Peter nodded, and Tony stepped forward to pull his son to his feet, carefully. Peter looked down at Natasha, who was stretching, lazily, but hadn't gotten up, yet.
"Coming?"
"Nope. I'm going to go take care of a few things, first, now that I've had such a good nap. I'll catch up with you guys, later."
A shirt and a pair of pants suddenly appeared in Strange's hands and he handed them over to Banner, who smiled, appreciatively as he took them.
"Thanks."
"We'll be in the lounge," Tony told the others.
He didn't need to thank any of them; they already knew that he appreciated all that they'd done for Peter. They'd have some kind of group wide event to celebrate – maybe a huge barbeque with the Wakandans, Asgard and some (but not all) of the military folks who had helped out. It would be a good way to celebrate the fact that they'd won and watching Stephen bitch and moan about eating outside would be yet another enjoyable distraction for Peter.
And for him, of course.
"How does the hand feel?" Tony asked, allowing Pepper to walk on Peter's left, so she could put her arm around the boy.
He didn't mind just being close.
"It's not bad," Peter assured him. "It hurt when I woke up, earlier, but Stephen gave me a shot."
"Yeah?" Tony knew that; he'd been given a full report from the surgeon before they'd gone outside to wake him. "Make sure you tell someone when it starts to wear off."
"I will."
They walked in comfortable silence and reached the lounge only a few minutes later. Peter smiled when he saw Groot sitting at a table with Rocket, but none of the other guardians were present. Rather than go to the usual corner table, Tony led his little family over to join them.
"Hey," Rocket greeted them, looking at all of them, but his eyes stopping at Peter. "I heard you were out of the fish tank. How do you feel?"
Peter wasn't offended, or annoyed. How does one get made at a talking raccoon? It was still novel enough that he really only wanted to pet him – although he knew Rocket wouldn't approve, even without a heads up from Alec.
"I'm alright. You guys?"
"I am groot."
"I'm fine, too." The racoon had a drink in front of him, and the remains of their lunch was on the table. "It was touch and go for a while, there."
"Yes." Pepper seated herself next to Rocket, and Tony and Peter took the other empty chairs. "Where are the others?"
"Quill is off talking to some of the military guys. Drax is helping with repairs; they needed someone bulkier than me, and Gamora and Mantis are on the ship trying to calm Sirah down."
"What's wrong with Sirah?" Tony asked before Pepper could.
Peter didn't know who they were talking about until Alec – and the mind stone – both gave him a mental nudge and an image of the alien girl from the small spaceship that he'd taken to the safehouse with him and had handed over to Ned for safe keeping.
"She's afraid," Rocket said. "Quill mentioned taking her back to her master and she freaked out, because she's pretty sure he's going to punish her for losing the reality stone. Or maybe kill her, outright for allowing Peter, here, to have it at all."
Peter frowned.
"He can't do that."
"I am groot."
Rocket didn't bother to translate what Groot said. He shrugged.
"The dude's ancient. He does what he wants. Especially when it comes to his own world. He's pretty much the boss."
Now it was Tony's turn to frown, because he hadn't missed the way Peter had reacted.
"We're not going to worry about that, right now," he said, firmly. "But she's not going to be punished – or killed for helping Peter. If this person wants to discuss retribution, we'll sit him down and talk to him."
They had plenty of experience with matters of honor and retribution, now didn't they?
"That's what Gamora told her," Rocket agreed. "And then she pointed out that if the Collector gives Sirah a hard time, we just need to point Peter, here, at him and remind him who killed Thanos and his army – and what a mess the power stone might make of his collection."
Tony glanced at Peter, hoping the phrasing wasn't going to upset the boy, but Peter shook his head, not seeming to be distressed at the reminder of what happened.
"I'm not going to let him hurt her," he said, resolutely. "But I don't need the power stone to prove that point to him." He'd never unleash that kind of power, again, if he had a choice. "I have some friends with some pretty specialized abilities."
And he knew all their spells, if he needed to use them.
"Let's eat," Pepper said. "We'll worry about this Collector guy when the time comes."
She wasn't worried about him, either, though, and it showed.