Chapter 25

Author's Note: Be prepared for some time jumps and skips. We only have a few chapters left and I want to make sure this story gets to where I want it to. ENJOY!

The first two weeks of Peter's grounding were the worst! He had spent most of his time under the watchful eye of Tony, which was okay because Peter had been really clingy. Tony had even started nicknaming him "Koala" because of how clingy Peter was. After the two weeks were up, Tony allowed Peter to watch a movie with the family.

"Alright, koala, what do you want to watch? You've earned it since you have done really good these past couple of weeks." Tony asked as he sat down next to Peter.

Peter couldn't help but smile at getting to finally watch something.

"Star Wars?" Peter asked, looking directly into Tony's eyes.

"Put it on, kiddo."

Morgan started to whine. She hated Star Wars. "I don't want to watch Star Wars!"

Tony snapped his fingers, as he looked over at her. "Cut it out, Mo. Pete can choose tonight."

(a month later)

Finally! Peter's month of being grounded was up. He had done really well except for two notable occasions when he tried to get Tony to let him go to Ned's birthday party. Peter wouldn't take no for an answer, which just ended up with him in the corner of his dad's office as a result and writing lines. The other time was just all out rebellion, when Peter convinced FRIDAY to let him go down to one of the science labs on a different floor. Peter was supposed to be on the personal floor, doing work. When Tony found out, he was furious! He gave Peter a very stern and very long lecture about what he had done wrong. When Peter refused to answer any of Tony's questions, Tony ended up taking Peter's phone and sent Peter to his room. Peter was then confined to his room and only his room for three days.

At least, Peter was free to some extent and was allowed to go see Ned for a day, after promising Tony that he would be home by 6. Peter dutifully obeyed. Spending a day with Ned was exactly what Peter needed. The next morning, Tony was surprised when Peter asked him if he could visit the cemetery.

"Of course, Pete."

Peter bit on his lip and looked like he wanted to ask something more. Tony went over and sat down next to him. He nudged Peter's knee with his, when he saw how sad Peter seemed.
"Hey, what's going on in that head of yours, koala?" Tony asked quietly

"I'm fine." Peter mumbled.

"No, you're not. What's wrong?"

"I j-just miss May." Peter said as his voice broke.

"Come here, kiddo." Tony said as he pulled Peter forward into a hug. A few moments later, Peter pulled away and wiped at his eyes quickly.
"Can we go now?"

"Yeah, course we can." Tony said as he gave a quick small smile.

The visit to the cemetery was good and it gave Peter some more closure. The day had gone really well, in fact, Peter seemed almost back to himself. Of course, not everything can stay happy and calm. It had been a really long time since Peter had a nightmare. But that night, Tony was awoken by a blood curdling scream. He quickly got up as FRIDAY had alerted to him that Peter was in intense distress. When Tony got to Peter, he attempted to wake the kid up.
"Peter, wake up. You are okay, buddy. I am going to help you." Tony said as he gently started to try to pick the kid up.

When he did, Peter started screaming and fighting to get out Tony's grip. It was like his first night at the tower after May had died.

"Pete, wake up. I am not here to hurt you. I am here to help you. Let me, buddy." Tony said calmly.

Tony managed to sit Peter up and hold him tight. After a few moments, Peter seemed to wake up and cried.

"I t-thought I w-was g-get- getting better." Peter said.

"You are, Peter."

"When will I be normal? I want to live my life normal again."

"I know you do. I know."

The next day, Peter was overly clingy to Tony. He didn't want to leave his side. Tony allowed him to come into his office, so Peter could try to do some work. When Peter's mind couldn't focus anymore, Tony called him over.

"Need a break?"

Peter nodded.

"Come on over here." Tony said as pointed to the chair, next to him. They spent the next couple of hours talking about different things. Tony was surprised when Peter wanted to talk about when he first started living with Tony and how far they had come. It was good for Peter to talk about these things. Tony's main goal in having Peter come over and just talk was that he was hoping Peter would take a nap. He needed one after the rough night. Of course, much to Tony's amusement, Peter started yawning and of course instantly denied that he wasn't sleepy. A few moment's later, Tony was carrying a sleeping teenager over to the couch.

When Peter woke up, he saw that Tony was sitting on the other end of the couch with his feet in Tony's lap. Tony hadn't noticed that Peter had woken up. Tony was quietly surprised and amused when he heard, " I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat?"

"Pizza, fried chicken, and umm… Dr. Pepper."

Tony chuckled, "You can have everything but the caffeine. FRIDAY, you heard the kid. You know, in order to eat, you have to get up."

"Na-ah. I am too comfortable."

Tony started tickling the bottom of Peter's feet mercilessly.

"Ah, stop!" Peter said in the midst of laughing. He fell unceremoniously and overdramatically to the floor.

"At least your up, spider." Tony said.

Peter stuck his tongue out playfully and retorted, "Only 'cause you tickled me and made me fall."

After Peter had eaten all the food, Tony had ordered. Peter sat with Morgan and read her a book. It had been awhile since Peter had spent time with her. After reading the same book about eight times, Morgan wanted him to push her on the swings at the park that was a couple of miles from the tower. Tony let them go. The fun ended when Morgan scraped her knee up pretty good. She was still in tears when they got to the tower. Tony set her up on the kitchen counter.

"Call, Bruce, daddy! It hurts!"

"It's not that bad, baby."

Morgan continued to cry.

"Mo, if we call Bruce, he'll just give you stitches."

"What are stitches?"

"Needles and thread." Tony said. He knew Morgan would never go for needles.

Morgan quit crying at that idea. "No, I am fine, Daddy."

"That's what I thought, stinker."

Morgan jumped down after her scrape was bandaged and insisted that Peter give her a piggy back ride. Tony was amazed that Peter never complained about being jumped on or being led around by Morgan. Morgan could be bossy. She was definitely more of a tomboy than girly. She had her "diva" and "drama queen" moments, like all four almost five year old girls.

Later that evening, Tony watched as Morgan was playing rough with Peter. She was literally using him for a trampoline.

"Mo, take it easy." Tony said.

"He's tough. He's Spider-man!"

"I know, but he is still a teenage boy."

Morgan didn't answer as she jumped and landed on top of Peter's stomach. He groaned but tried to laugh over his groan. Peter started tickling Morgan's sides, which made her roll off of him and onto the ground. When he stopped tickling her, she got back up and jumped onto his back, when Peter sat up for a moment. Peter never realized how strong she was. If it hadn't been for his spider strength, she would have knocked him over.

Pepper walked in at that moment, "Morgan, stop playing so rough."

Morgan nodded her head and stopped only for a few moments. When her mother left the room, she ran to the other end of the room and yelled out, "Watch out, Petey!" Peter only had a moment to brace himself, as she ran as hard as she could and literally knocked Peter over, as she jumped on top of him.

Okay, that hurt. Tony had gotten enough and made Morgan stop and sit on the couch.

"Give Peter a break, Mo." Morgan sat on the couch, mad.

Tony noticed that Peter hadn't gotten up yet, "Peter, you okay?"

Peter groaned. His whole right side where he had landed hurt. Tony made his way over to where Peter was curled up.

"Can you get up, Peter?"

When Peter tried, he just fell on his back. He was pretty sure he had bruised himself.

"It- it just really hurts." Peter said.

"Are your senses out of kilter?"

"I guess so. She just surprised me, is all."

Tony nodded. He grimaced when Peter made to sit up.

"I think we should have Bruce check you out."

Peter agreed almost instantly. "I am just going to lay here if that's okay with you."

Tony was not all that happy with Morgan for being so rough, after she had been told to stop twice.

Thirty minutes later, Bruce came into the living space and saw Peter laying on the floor. Morgan was in tears and Tony seemed really stressed. Bruce came over to Tony first.
"Rough evening?"

Tony nodded and mumbled, "You have no idea."

"Which kid do you want me to look at first?"

"Peter. Morgan is not hurt."

"Are you sure?" Bruce asked, looking over in Morgan's direction.

"I am positive. She's just being overdramatic." Tony rolled his eyes.

Bruce went over to Peter who was laying on the floor.

"What's going on Peter?" Bruce asked gently, seeing that the kid was in pain.

"My whole right side hurts really bad. Morgan surprised me and tackled me."

Bruce lifted Peter's shirt up and saw that Peter's whole right side was bruising.

"I am surprised you're not screaming in pain. Your whole right side is bruised."

Tony couldn't help but feel bad for Peter, when Bruce barely touched his side. Peter was sure his whole side was on fire, when Bruce touched it.

"I think it would be good if you could take an ice bath, Peter. It might help and I will give you some pain medications."

"I d-don't want to move." Peter said.

Tony and Bruce helped Peter up. It was not fun! It turned out that the ice bath helped a lot with the pain.

"Feel good?" Tony asked, as he kept an eye on Peter.

"Yeah. Is Mo still in time out?"

"Pepper's keeping an eye on her." Tony said, as he touched the water, checking the temperature.

"She shouldn't be in time out."

"She shouldn't have jumped on you after we had already told her not to." Tony retorted.

"Well, all the same, I would probably have done the same thing if I had an older brother with super strength."

Tony chuckled. Bruce decided it would be best to change the water to warm. After a few minutes of being in warm water, Peter was getting sleepy.

"Pete, you can't go to sleep yet." Tony said as he gently tapped the kid's shoulder that wasn't bruised.

"I am so comfortable."

"I know, buddy, but you can't go to sleep in water."

Finally, Peter was taken out of the bath and put into some dry clothes. Tony helped him to the couch and gave Peter the remote. Awhile later, Morgan came over to Peter. Her eyes were red rimmed from all the crying she had been doing.

" I'm sorry, Peter. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Peter smiled at her. He did his best to give her some room on the couch. "Come here."

Morgan climbed next to him. He gave her a kiss on the head and just watched tv for a few minutes with her. When Pepper came to send Morgan off to bed, she noticed that both Peter and Morgan had fallen asleep. Tony picked Morgan up gently and carried her to bed. When he came back for Peter, he wasn't sure if he should move him. He woke Peter up only to ask him if he wanted to stay on the couch or go to his bed. When Peter just groaned in response, Tony chuckled and let him sleep on the couch. Tony decided to sleep on the other couch, in case Peter needed him.

The next day, Peter spent most of his time on the couch, watching movies. It was really nice because Tony was waiting on him hand and foot.

"You need anything else right now, Pete?" Tony asked as he sat down on the other end of the couch, with Peter's feet in his lap.

"No, I am fine."

"Take a nap, kid. Those pain meds will kick in and make you sleepy."

"I know." Peter said, as he watched the movie that was on.

Later that afternoon, Peter was woken up from his nap.

"Pete, wake up. Someone's here to see you." Tony said quietly.

Peter was surprised to see Ned standing there. Peter wanted to jump up but couldn't because of his side. Tony helped Peter to his room, so that the boys could hang out. Ned was told to make sure that Peter didn't over do it. The boys spent the rest of the day working on LEGO's and watching YouTube videos. It had been a good day. Tony was a little concerned that Peter may have overdone it. Peter was in quite a bit of pain and couldn't seem to find a way to get comfortable in his bed. One wrong move and his whole side would be on fire.

"Pete, what can I do to help you?"

"I don't know. It just really hurts." Peter moaned.

"Your fast healing should kick in hopefully by tomorrow."

Tony laid next to Peter, so Peter could rest his head on Tony's chest. The kid moved only a little and just started to cry. How could one movement hurt so bad?

"Pete, what happened?"

"It h-hurts!" Peter cried.

Bruce came to check on Peter. Tony had called him after Peter wouldn't stop crying and writing in pain.

"Peter." Bruce said, trying to get the kid's attention. "I know it hurts but writing around wont help."

Peter stilled, "It hurts."
Bruce lifted Peter's shirt back up and saw that the bruising had faded a little. Instead of just watching Peter be in pain, Bruce gave him a super dose of muscle relaxer.

"Pete, you may feel like jelly because this is a super dose, but I am hoping it will reduce the pain."

Peter never slept better that night. All was right with the world, thanks to the super dose of muscle relaxer.

The next day, the bruising was almost gone, and Peter was able to walk around. When Peter was watching a movie on the couch, Tony came over.

"Hey, Peter. I have an idea."

Peter was only half listening.

"It's been a long time since you have been in my lab. Want to go and do some stuff?"

Peter's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, like old times."

Peter got up, not as fast as he would have liked. He made a beeline for the lab. Oh this was going to be awesome!