Peter chewed on his thumbnail as he watched Tony, who was holding his laptop and reading the emails Ned had sent. The billionaire's expression was hard to read, just then, and Peter was nervous, worried about yet another crazy thing happening – and worrying Tony, and probably everyone else as soon as this got out.

"So tell me again what you dreamed about," Tony told him, looking over at him and setting the laptop aside.

"I dreamed about being on the roof and the last part of the battle with Thanos. The part with the light."

"The final snap?"

"Yeah."

"And you didn't mention Thanos' name to Ned when he was here – or any other time you spoke with him?"

"I don't think so." He shook his head, still chewing on the nail. "I know I didn't mention him to MJ. I wouldn't have told her anything."

"Don't look so worried," Tony told him, reaching out and ruffling his hair, trying to make the boy lose the ever-present concerned expression. "It's not a big deal."

"It isn't?"

Tony shrugged.

"We can figure that it's not a coincidence that your best friend is dreaming the same dream you had, right? A dream that just happens to have told him what happened to you. I'm sure you're not somehow projecting it, so I'm going to assume that the mind stone has something to do with it. Maybe it's decided that you're worried about who you can tell and who you can't – and it just decided to let Ned and MJ know what happened to you, rather than allowing you to be worried about it."

"Yeah…?"

"Why not? The stupid thing is always sticking its nose into your wellbeing, right?"

"Yes."

"That's probably what happened, then."

"What do we do about it?" Peter asked. "They know."

"Ned knows some of it, anyway, though," Tony reminded him. "He didn't know what caused the light, but he knew you had something to do with it – you had him go to the safehouse to watch Sirah, after all. Don't tell him anything, but when he comes out this weekend, we'll sit him down and talk to him. He can be let in on things, to a point – we already know he can keep a secret."

"What about MJ?"

"Let me think about it. And talk to mom. For now, don't tell her anything about the dream – don't confirm or deny." Tony made a face. "Which is hard for you, I know – especially since she doesn't like you keeping secrets from her. It isn't that we can't trust her – she knows you're Spiderman, after all, and hasn't told anyone. But this is a bit bigger, so we'll hold off. Her, or anyone else."

"What do I tell her?"

"You're grounded from your phone," he was reminded. "You don't tell her anything. If you send her an email just keep it simple. Tell her about your hand, or the car – since she knows about them."

"Okay."

"Feel better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

Tony smiled, putting his hand on Peter's shoulder. He'd been concerned when the boy had asked Karen to relay to Friday that he was needed. He'd come running, a myriad of terrible things running through his imagination. Not surprisingly, it was an oddity (which wasn't uncommon where the Avengers or Peter were concerned) but it wasn't the calamity that he'd been worried about.

"Send your emails and I'll meet you for lunch when you're ready."

"Okay."

"Remind Ned that Pepper is picking him up from school Friday."

"I will."

Feeling a lot better and very much relieved, Peter took his laptop back and waited for Tony to leave before sending off the email to Ned. The one he sent to MJ wasn't very long, and didn't mention dreams.

OOOOOOO

"Huh. That's interesting."

Stark rolled his eyes.

"You could say that. What should we do about it?"

"What did you tell Peter?"

"Not to worry about it. Ned already knew about the light – and he knew about the wreck."

"How?"

Stephen knew about Peter brining Ned to watch over Sirah, so Tony knew he was asking about the wreck of the Pontiac.

"Friday told me that he hacked Dr. Thompson's personal files and read about the additional damages to the hand and how they were obtained."

"And you're okay with that?"

Tony shrugged.

"The kid's a genius. Short of telling him to stop – which he probably wouldn't do – there isn't much I can do about it, really. Other than keep track of what he's doing."

"Well, I suggest you follow your own advice and not worry too much about it, just now. Ned's a solid enough fellow – he's loyal to Peter and can keep the secrets needed."

"And MJ?"

Strange shrugged.

"No clue. If it were me, I'd keep her in the dark. Not because she's a teenaged girl, but because she's stressing Peter – and will continue to do so, either way. If she knows what's going on she'll be worried about him, or complaining about him doing dangerous things. If she doesn't know, then she'll be complaining about not knowing. Either way, she can cause him mental anguish that I'd prefer he not deal with. Might as well keep a lid on the facts and keep her away from him for the rest of his convalescence. That'll give you guys time to decide what she learns – if anything."

"Huh. I agree."

"Because I'm sensible."

Tony rolled his eyes, but he appreciated the advice. Which had been the whole reason for calling him.

"I'm going to meet him for lunch. Interested?"

"No. I'm working on some research with Wong. Thank you, though."

"Anything interesting?"

"It's always interesting, Tony, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. Need anything else?"

"No. Thanks. D&D this weekend, since Ned's coming out."

"Now that I am interested in. I'll be there."

The call ended and Tony headed for the lounge to meet his boy and have some lunch. Then he thought he'd see if Peter wanted to start working on tearing down the Pontiac. That would give him a feeling of accomplishment – and that was only a good thing.

OOOOOOO

Both of her guys were waiting for Pepper when she arrived at the compound. She pulled into the garage, parking next to the space where Peter's car was normally parked, and smiling to see Tony and the boy leaning against Natasha's Corvette, instead. Both were smiling, cheerfully, when she stopped the car and turned off the engine.

"Did you have a good day?" Tony asked, opening the door and taking her bag for her.

"It was productive. How about you guys?"

"We started working on the car," Peter told her, looking pleased rather than upset at the prospect.

"Oh?" Pepper looked at Tony. "How does it look?"

He smiled, putting an arm around her and handing her bag to Peter, who slung it over his shoulder.

"It's a mess," he replied. "But nothing we can't fix, right son?"

Peter nodded, falling into place onto the other side of her as they walked over to the place where the boy's car was parked, a large area around it to allow workroom. Pepper saw that the damaged front end had been completely removed, as had the fender on the driver's side, as well some of the chrome. It was all stacked in a pile on the side, against a wall.

"Right. It looks bad," he admitted, noticing that Pepper looked concerned at all the parts strewn about. "It isn't, though. We made a lot of progress – just today."

She was pleased that he didn't seem upset, and turned her attention to him, instead of his car.

"How's your hand?"

"It's good. Doesn't hurt too much, today."

"Where's the ball?"

He smiled, pulling it out of his pocket to show her, and handing it to her when she put her hand out.

"I've been reminding him to use it," Tony said. "That's our job, right now, to nag him."

Peter rolled his eyes, good-naturedly and took the ball back, handing Tony Pepper's bag.

"I'd better get going. I'll see you for dinner."

Tony nodded, and Pepper frowned.

"Where are you going?"

"To the pool."

He vanished out the far door, heading for the pool, and Pepper looked at her husband.

"You're not going to follow him?"

"Nope. He's going to meet Natasha, who will keep him company – and keep him out of trouble."

"He isn't doing too much, too soon, is he?"

"Not yet. We'll keep an eye on him and make sure, though." He slung her bag over his shoulder, now. "I do have a couple of things to tell you about, though. You're going to love it."

To judge by his tone, it wasn't urgent, but Pepper was sure that she wasn't going to love it.