Peter's eyes were closed when Pepper and Tony walked up to the bed that they'd put him in, but he must have heard them coming – or felt them – because he opened his eyes just as they stopped beside the bed. His expression was worried, as it so often was, and Tony sat on the edge of the bed, while Pepper leaned over the boy and kissed his cheek, lovingly, before pressing her cheek against him and holding in place for a long moment. The cloak of levitation, which had been cuddling him, moved to avoid being caught between them.

"Hi, sweetheart."

He brought his left hand up to her cheek to hold her in place, and they both heard him sob.

"I'm sorry…"

It was muffled by his contact with Pepper, but it sounded broken and so sad. She made a soft noise and hugged him, carefully, while Tony rested his hand on Peter's leg, squeezing it, lightly, to give him contact that he needed so badly.

"It's alright."

"I hit a deer."

"He's fine. It didn't even hurt him."

"I wrecked the car…"

"I know, sweetheart," Pepper crooned, still holding him. She could feel him trembling. "It's alright. We'll fix it."

"I'm so stupid… I do everything wrong."

"You're fine, Peter Parker," Pepper told him, firmly. "You're not stupid. You just have had a rough time, lately, and it's catching up to you. You're sore, and you hurt, and the world seems to be coming down hard on you, but we're here. Understand? We'll always be here, with you."

Another sob.

"I'm sorry I worried you."

Again. But it went unsaid.

"You didn't." Pepper kissed him, again, and pulled back, so she could smile down at him. "Do I look worried?"

Peter's eyes were watery, and the stitches were swollen and red. He looked up at her, though, and had to shake his head. She looked like she loved him.

"No."

"Because I'm not. We're fine, and you're fine. Got it?"

He nodded.

"Yes."

"How does your head feel?"

"Sore."

"And your hand?" Tony asked.

"It's sore, too," Peter admitted.

Stark waited for Pepper to move back, just a little, allowing him a better look at his son's head. The stitches looked painful, but he was careful to keep his worry to himself.

"Doctor Thompson is coming to take a look at it and make sure you didn't hurt it, further. Stephen said the x-rays are coming back looking good, so it doesn't seem like you did more than hit it. Painful, but not debilitating."

"Oh. That's good."

It felt like it was going to fall off – even with the pills that they'd given him.

"It is." Tony reached out and carefully brushed Peter's hair back from his forehead. "It could have been a lot worse."

"The deer really lived?" Peter asked. "You're not just saying that?"

"What does Alec say?"

There was a slight pause.

"That it hit the car and bounced off and must have lived because you didn't find him when you looked."

"Correct." Tony glanced at Pepper, and then back at Peter. "By the way; you're grounded."

He looked surprised – almost shocked – for just a moment, and then resigned.

"For destroying the Pontiac? I deserve it."

"Taking the car out when you were so upset wasn't the best idea," Tony told him. "But that isn't why you're grounded. That was an emotional thing, and we get it. We do. If I had a dollar for every time I reacted before thinking things through, I'd be twice as wealthy as I am, right now, and momma could retire."

"Then why are you grounding me?" Peter asked, so confused that he had forgotten how upset he was – and how much he hurt.

"Because you drove without your seatbelt on," Pepper replied. "That isn't alright, Peter Parker. Ever. If you'd been buckled in, you wouldn't have hit your head. Or your hand."

"And you could have been seriously hurt," Tony added.

"Oh."

"No driving – any car – for a month."

"Okay."

It could have backfired, Tony knew. Punishing him – on top of all the self-loathing and uncertainty he was already experiencing could have just dug him into a deeper funk. Instead, it seemed to be doing the trick. He wasn't going to enjoy the punishment, but it was what he felt he deserved, they assumed.

Besides, it was what he deserved.

"We're not finished," Pepper told him. "When the bandages come off, you'll present yourself to Deena – or whatever bartender is working the lounge. Two hours a day you will be the kitchen helper."

"For how long?"

"Until we say otherwise."

He scowled at that one. That was fine with them, though, because it was supposed to be a punishment. Something for him to think about the next time he was allowed behind the wheel of a car.

"Fine."

A few dishes weren't going to kill him, he supposed.

"And no phone for two weeks," Tony added.

"What?"

The billionaire smiled at the way his voice went up a couple of octaves at that restriction.

"Two weeks, son. I want to make sure you really suffer."

What he really wanted was a chance for Peter to heal – mentally and physically – before he had any more phone calls that might set him off. And this was an ideal way to accomplish that without letting him realize what they intended.

"That's forever…"

"It'll probably seem like it," Tony agreed.

"But…" he looked at Pepper, who smiled, almost apologetically, but well aware that she and Tony were going to have to present a united front. She wished she had a video camera, though. The first time they grounded him was momentous, after all. He was a teenager. He was supposed to do things to get in trouble, and while she didn't like anything to do with this present situation, it was still a milestone for them. "How will I talk to Ned?"

"If you're feeling better, we'll still have him out this weekend," Pepper said. "For a day. We don't want you isolated from your friends any more than necessary, right now."

"Especially since Shuri has to head home in the next day or two," Tony told him. "Not for too long," he added. "But T'Challa is going to think that we're planning on keeping her if we don't send her back to check in every now and then."

That made Peter smile, despite the shock of being grounded. It'd been a long time since he'd done anything foolish – or rebellious – enough to get into real trouble, and the last person who had grounded him had been May. When he was fourteen, or something. He knew that as a princess, Shuri had a lot of responsibilities and duties – and none of them included keeping Peter Parker company. Although he appreciated that company, just then.

"Yeah." He leaned back against the pillows, feeling a little less anxious than he had. Still sore, of course, and always worried, it seemed. But not so anxious. "She isn't going home today, though?"

"No," Tony assured him. "Not until we know how your hand is – and give her a chance to spend some time with you to make sure you didn't hurt yourself."

"I was pretty dumb…" he said. Again. This time more ruefully. "I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't."

"You were just reacting." Tony nodded. "It's alright. Really. As long as we don't have a setback with your hand, the worst that will come out of this is that you have a scar on your forehead – and Deena gets a kitchen helper for a while."

Peter reached for Pepper's hand, almost shyly, and she cuddled up against him, knowing him well enough to know that he wanted to be held. And definitely willing to do that service.

"You're here for the rest of the day, Stephen tells us," she said, her arm going behind him so she could put it around him and bring his cheek to her shoulder. "Then you can be back in your own bed."

"How bad is the car?" he asked, hesitantly.

Afraid of the answer.

"It's not pretty," Tony admitted. "But we'll look it over and see what we need to do to restore it. Don't worry about the car, Peter. Or the deer. Worry about helping me figure out what we're going to do for mom for her birthday – we're officially three days out and counting."

Pepper smiled, pressing a kiss against the side of Peter's head.

Worry about reining him in, so he doesn't decide on something too crazy, sweetheart. Please?"

"Crazy?" Tony gave her an innocent look that neither of them were fooled by. "It's not crazy to want to spoil the love of your life. Is it, Peter?"

Feeling so much better, and eased by their own reaction to his stupidity, Peter was able to smile.

"No."

"Spoil me here at home, though," she told them both – seriously. "I mean it."

"Yes, dear."