"Sure you're up for this? We could hold off another week, if you need us to…"

Peter shook his head, although he yawned, too.

"No. I'm good. Just a little tired."

"Dreaming about being a space pirate?" Pepper asked, smiling at him from her side of the table.

The boy smiled, too, and shook his head.

"I did dream about them, though," he said. "The guardians, I mean. And Carol. They were negotiating with a guy for the reality stone."

"They're already there?" Pepper asked, surprised. "I thought it would take longer."

"They do jumps," Tony told her, buttering his toast and gesturing for Peter to do the same to avoid letting him get distracted – although he obviously wanted to hear more. "They travel through a lot of space in one simple jump, so depending on where they're heading, sometimes they can get there within hours or days. Did they get the price they wanted?"

"They were still negotiating when I woke up," he replied, not mentioning the interest that the Collector had shown in him. No sense worrying them about something that none of them could control, really. "But it seemed to be a pretty intense thing."

"Negotiations usually are," Pepper agreed. She'd know better than anyone, really. She did it all the time. "We'll have to ask Carol when she gets back."

"Yeah."

Neither even looked askance at the fact that Peter was dreaming about things as they were progressing. They were used to the mind stone putting its will forward with their son and showing him things he was worried about. Tony looked at Pepper.

"You'll be gone all day?"

"Yes." Peter was only scheduled for about six hours of schoolwork that day – and as long as it worked out well for him, that's how it would continue to be scheduled – but when taking in consideration for breaks (Tony had called it recess and made the boy roll his eyes, amused) and lunch, it would be much closer to eight. "We'll be back around my usual time, I think."

If Peter was done before Pepper (and he probably would be) then he could amuse himself in his room at the tower, or spend time with her, or explore the building, although he knew it fairly well, by then and he'd come home with her, rather than have Tony or someone pick him up, separately.

"What are you going to do, today?" Peter asked.

"I have a couple of things to work on in my workroom," Tony said. "But the fender for the Pontiac is supposed to be here, today, and I thought I'd start piecing things together." He smiled, gesturing at Peter's hand with his toast. "You can't help me build, right now, with your brace on, so I'll do any manufacturing while I have downtime, and when you get home, or this next weekend – depending on how far along I am – you can help me put it together."

The boy nodded.

"That sounds great. Thanks."

Tony's smile was cheerful.

"I enjoy building. You know that. It's not even a chore."

Especially since he was doing it for Peter.

Despite the early hour, Stephen and one of the physical therapists had both been in the lounge with Pepper and Tony when Peter had walked into the room, still sleep-muzzled and yawning. Peter hadn't expected them, but he assumed it was Tony or Pepper – or both – wanting to make sure that he really was healthy enough to go spend the day at the tower rather than be on his back in his bed. He didn't mind, and he wasn't too worried. For a change, he felt pretty good and even the hand only ached a bit when he ran it through all the range of motion tests that the doctors had put in front of him.

"He looks pretty good," the physical therapist had said, looking pleased as they watched Peter put the brace back on. That wasn't going to be removed, just yet. "Keep up the swimming and the ball manipulation, and we'll see how it looks next week."

"Thank you," Tony had replied. Then he looked at Strange. "Stephen?"

The physical therapist was there for Peter's hand. Stephen was there because he knew Peter's health the best, and he would have final say in the matter.

"How do you feel, Peter?" he'd asked. "Any signs of dizziness? Light-headedness? Weakness?"

"No. I feel good."

"Then he's good to go," Strange had confirmed. He looked at Pepper. "Keep an eye on him, though. If he looks tired, make him take a break and get some rest."

"I will."

Peter had rolled his eyes, envisioning an entire day of Pepper standing over his shoulder asking how he was feeling, but he was still in a cheerful mood from the day before, and it was Pepper. She could sit on his desk and yammer at him all day for all he cared.

"Then feed him breakfast and have a good day," Stephen had said. "I'll be at the sanctum most of the day, though, if something comes up."

OOOOOOO

"Wow…"

Pepper smiled, looking pleased, as she watched Peter take in the set up they'd had created for his homeschooling time. Her office was immense, so there was plenty of space, and her assistant had been told to do whatever he thought would be best to make the area set aside for Peter comfortable and fun – although it was going to be in Pepper's office, so maybe no fireworks or loud video games. She and Tony had looked it over the day before, just to make sure they couldn't think of anything their son might need, but it was ready, unless Peter – who had the final say in this – didn't like it for some reason.

At the moment, that didn't seem to be an issue.

The boy walked over to the far side of the room. Where there had once been a low-slung sofa, there was now a glass and steel desk with one of the invisible screens set up. There was a chair that was designed for comfortable sitting – similar to Pepper's – and all the usual accruements needed for office or school; pencils, pens, notebooks and the like.

"You think it'll work for you?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah." Peter smiled as he walked over and ran his hand along the desk. "I figured I'd be using your coffee table."

She chuckled at that and put her arm around him.

"I thought we could probably arrange things a little better than that. It's interfaced with Friday, who is going to be your primary instructor – although I'm the secondary, in case you have a question that only a real person can answer. I'm sorry it isn't Karen, but she can interface with Friday if you need her for some reason."

Tony had already explained to Peter that he preferred not to have a double AI set up in Pepper's office at the tower. Peter didn't mind at all. He got along fine with Friday and didn't mind her being the 'teacher', so to speak.

"It's great," he assured Pepper, smiling the proof of it. He would also be close enough to her desk that he could see what she was doing without being intrusive. "Thank you."

"If you'd prefer, we could set you up in an office, somewhere…"

"No. It'd be lonely. I like it this way. As long as I'm not going to be underfoot?"

Pepper simply shook her head.

"I like having you underfoot. Try your desk out, will you? Friday has your first assignments all mapped out. Just let me know if you have any questions, or if you need anything."

She went over and sat at her desk, but watched surreptitiously as he sat down in his chair, smiling at the leather and the way it leaned back so smoothly. He also grinned when he noticed that there was a 'welcome to homeschool' banner going across the display screen. By the time her first call came in, Peter was already settled at his desk, running through his first class of the morning.

She'd have to let Tony know it seemed to be a success.