Peter's hair was still wet when he arrived in the lounge a little over an hour later.

"Where's Natasha?" Tony asked when he sat down, looking tired – as usual – but fairly cheerful. "I thought she and Stephen were going to eat with us."

"She and Stephen are going out to dinner," Peter told him, shrugging. "He met us in the pool and she mentioned that she was hungry for Chinese food – and he suggested eating in the city."

"She abandoned you?" Pepper asked, amused.

"Yup." He obviously wasn't too concerned. "Not until I was done swimming, though."

"How's the hand?"

"A little sore. Not too bad."

"Don't work it too hard to start, okay?" Tony chided. "We want to make it better, not stress it. Yeah?"

"Yeah. I know. It's good."

He held up the braced hand as if to prove it, but neither of them looked that concerned. They were just being cautious, he knew. Not surprisingly.

"Did you get your emails written?" Pepper asked, proving to him that Tony had told her what was going on.

He nodded, still noticing that she wasn't looking worried about that, either. Maybe Tony had been right and it wasn't that serious. Not if they both agreed.

"Yes."

"Without sounding too nosy," Tony said, gesturing to the servers that they were ready to eat. "What did you tell them?"

"I told Ned that I'm fine. Said the dream sounded like a weird one. I told him about D&D and reminded him that mom's picking him up on Friday. And I told him about starting to fix the car."

"What did you tell MJ?" Pepper asked.

"I said I was fine."

"That's it?" Tony asked.

"Well… I asked her how she was doing, told her I was grounded from my phone so I couldn't call her and then asked how she was and what she was up to."

"That's a little better," she approved. She was interrupted when their dinner arrived; chicken, potatoes and corn. Easy enough for Peter to eat with one hand still somewhat unusable, but healthier than burgers. "I spoke with Doctor Bird, this afternoon. Don't forget he's coming out Friday morning."

"House call," Tony said, smiling, as he reached for a bread roll. "Peter must be a big shot."

The boy smiled, too, and shook his head.

"He's probably just interested in coming to the compound. I know he's not a crazy fan, but his son is, and he'll be able to tell him that he came here. He told me that a house call someday would almost certainly impress his son. He was joking, at the time, but it probably is true."

"We'll make sure you show him around a little, then – and maybe get a few pictures with some of the others."

"Not you?"

"No. We'll save those pictures for someday when his son and I happen to be in the same room."

"He'd love that, I bet."

"I imagine." Besides, Tony owed the guy for being so good with Peter. He'd do a photo op with the guy's kid, sometime. "We have one more thing to discuss with you before we can get down to an evening of doing nothing."

"Oh?"

Pepper nodded, taking the lead, now.

"I spoke with the administrators at your school, today."

"Oh."

This couldn't be good, Peter decided, even though her expression wasn't concerned. No conversation that began with those words could be good. He wondered if they were giving up on him ever being to school, again. Or if they didn't want him back, because he hadn't even started the school year with the rest of his class. What if they held him back? What if he had to wait an extra year to graduate, now? Ned would be a senior, and him and MJ would get their diplomas and he'd be stuck watching from the audience as-

"Hey…"

Tony's softly spoken word brought him out of his reverie. Now they did both look worried.

"Yeah?"

"It's not bad news, sweetheart," Pepper told him, her expression understanding, and her smile reassuring and soft. "I was just worried about you missing so much school, and how to get you back on track without burying you under a pile of missing assignments and labs. So, I called them a few days ago, and they got back to me today about it with their suggestion."

"Oh. What did they say?"

"They think – and we agree – that we should keep you home for the rest of this trimester, use Friday and Karen to homeschool you so you're caught up, and then send you back to join the rest of your class when the next trimester starts. What do you think?"

"They'll let me come back?"

"Of course."

"You haven't missed that much, and you're smart enough – and disciplined enough – to catch up," Tony added. "They're keeping you listed as a registered student of the school, which means you're still part of the academic decathlon team, and you can still do school events as they come along."

"Oh."

"You just won't be in classes until next trimester, is all," Pepper said. "We can set up the homeschooling to start next week, and work it around your physical therapy and anything else that is going on."

"You'll still have several hours a day of school," Tony pointed out, shrugging, "But you'll be caught up in no time – and you'll be on track with the others."

"That sounds like a good solution," Peter told them, feeling relieved. "We could start it sooner…"

"No. Next week is soon enough. Mom still has to get the curriculum supplies – books, lab items worksheets and whatever else is needed."

"Oh. Yeah. Okay. Thank you," he added, looking at Pepper, mostly. "I mean, for calling them. I was wondering what was going to happen."

She smiled.

"One less thing to worry about, then, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll find out what we need and we'll go over it on Monday, once we get Friday to upload everything – and she can pass it on to Karen. We'll have a set scheduled time put aside for schoolwork to make sure you stay on pace."

"Okay."

"Feel better?" Tony asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Eat your dinner."

Peter rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Everything wasn't perfect, yet, of course, but getting the school thing figured out was a huge step in the right direction. He wondered if they knew how much of a weight that seemed to lift off him, and when he looked at Pepper, who was focusing on doctoring the baked potato on her plate, but was smiling, he decided that she did.

OOOOOO

"Did you talk to Peter?"

"He's grounded from his phone, MJ. I haven't talked to him in days."

"I thought they might make an exception for you."

"Nope. I got an email, though."

"Yeah, so did I."

"You did? What did he say?"

"Nothing about the dream. Just asked how I was and what I've been doing – and told me that he was grounded from his phone."

"Do you know why?"

"For wrecking his car, I imagine."

"No. He told me that Tony and Pepper aren't angry about the car – Tony's helping him fix it, even. He's grounded because he didn't put his seatbelt on."

"Oh."

"Did you tell him about the dream?"

"No. You did, though, right?"

"I told him I had a dream, yes – and that you mentioned having a similar one."

"Exactly the same isn't similar."

"We don't know that they were exact."

"What did he say about it?" she asked, curiously, ignoring his disclaimer.

"Said that it sounded weird."

"That might mean something."

Ned shrugged.

"You know who probably knows? Shuri. Why don't you call her and see what she knows?"

"Why me?"

"Because you're a girl, too. She'd probably tell you – and then you can tell me."

"That's the most sexist – and dumbest – thing I've ever heard you say."

"I've said dumber," he disagreed.

"Maybe." She looked at her clock. "I'm not going to call her, though." It was pretty late. "Maybe I'll send her an email – just to see how she's doing."

"Tell her I said hi."

"Are you still going to the compound this weekend?"

"Yeah. Friday after school."

"Let me know what you learn."

"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night."