"I had a pretty good party planned out, you know?"

"Strippers? Beer?"

A smile and a laugh.

"Nothing like that."

"Then what?"

"Pony rides and clowns."

"I'm too old for that."

"And too young for strippers and beer."

"Then what?"

"I would have liked to see you get your license. I know just the car you can drive once you do…"

"I got it. And the car."

"I'll miss the look on your face when you see the car."

"I don't need anything. I have everything I need."

"Everything you want?"

"Everything I need. No one ever has everything that they want. That isn't how life works, or I would still have mom and dad – and you."

"I know."

"Can I get you anything for your birthday? A going away present?"

"No. There's only one thing missing, and I'll never be able to have you back."

"I know. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"So am I, May."

A smile. A gentle touch. An understanding look.

"You're having a good time, though, right?"

"It's great. I love sledding."

"I want you happy."

"I know." He did know. "I am happy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Prove it."

OOOOOOO

Stephen Strange felt the woman beside him shift in his embrace and opened his eyes. He frowned when he realized that she was sitting up and reaching for her clothes.

"What's up?" he asked, sleepily.

"I need to go check something. Go back to sleep."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I woke you."

He frowned, realizing she was putting on a sweater. It wasn't cold in the room by any means. All of the rooms had their own thermostats, after all.

"Are you going outside?"

"Yes. Just for a minute."

He sat up, too, and reached for his pants.

"I'll come with you."

Romanoff shook her head.

"It's probably nothing."

"What?"

"I had a dream about Peter."

She stood up, dressed, although not bundled up since the heavy outerwear was hanging by the front door.

"What about him?"

Strange was suddenly dressed.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I think he was sledding…"

Romanoff turned toward the door and Strange joined her, walking down the hallways, silently, and then stopping at the room that Peter had claimed for his own. She opened the door silently. Unlike the quarters at the compound – and in the tower – there were only bedrooms, with just a bed, a nightstand and a dresser. Natasha turned on the light, illuminating the room.

The bed was empty.

"He might be in the kitchen getting a snack," Strange said, even though he was now worried, as well.

"I think he's outside."

Romanoff headed for the front door and Stephen followed.

It was dark. There were small lights that illuminated the entire deck and porch, but they were muted, serving only for safety and not really to actually allow people to see much more than just the wood below them to avoid tripping over anything. Natasha shivered, even with her heavy coat on, and they walked down the steps and around to the back of the building, using the path that had been trampled in the snow earlier to help them find their way. Stephen handed her a powerful hand-held flashlight that she knew he hadn't brought from the cabin, and turned on another in his own hand, which made it much easier to find their way in the dark as she led him to the hill behind the cabin.

"He could have gone into Ned's room…"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'd rather make sure."

They stopped at the bottom of the hill and shined their lights up along the sledding area, looking carefully in the dark. The powerful beams didn't pick up any sign of the boy – although an owl suddenly ghosted by, startled by the sudden appearance. Stephen waved the beam across the surface of the hill and Natasha sighed.

"I guess I was wrong," she said, shrugging. "It was so real, though. A lot like the last time when I found him in the-"

The flashlight in her hand caught a motion and both of them turned their light in the same direction, along the side of the hill, where they'd cut a trail into the snow from multiple trips up the hill that afternoon. Walking up the hill, holding a sled in his left hand and wearing only a pair of sweats was Peter.

"Jesus," Strange muttered, waving his free hand.

A moment later a portal appeared directly in front of the boy, who stepped through it without noticing. An instant later that portal was gone, and a new one opened right in front of them, and Peter stumbled out, when he suddenly found himself going downhill a moment after going uphill.

Natasha reached out to catch him, but he didn't fall. He had better balance that that – even asleep.

"Peter," Strange said, a blanket suddenly in his hand and draping it over the boy's bare shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Proving to May that I'm happy," he answered, turning back to the hill. "I'll be back in a minute."

"We need to go back to bed," Natasha told him. "It's too cold out here. She wouldn't want you to catch cold. Right?"

"No."

Strange tightened the grip on the blanket and suddenly all three of them were back in their bedroom.

"He's freezing," Natasha told him, trying to rub Peter's shoulders to warm him, but trying to do it without waking him up.

Peter moved away from her and crawled into the bed, pulling the blankets over himself and closing his eyes. Natasha followed, pulling her boots off, and taking her coat off, but figuring the rest would only help warm him faster. She drew the remaining blankets over the two of them and sidled as close to him as she could get. He rolled against her, tucking his cold nose into her side.

"Do we wake up Pepper and Tony?" Stephen asked, sliding into the bed on the other side of the boy and adding his own body heat to the effort.

"Nothing they can do tonight," she said, shaking her head. "Do you mind him being here?"

"Of course not."

He added another warm blanket that hadn't been in the room and draped it over the boy as well.

"I should have known he was going to do something," she said propping herself against the pillows behind her and getting comfortable. "You warned us that he was missing May. I just thought he'd be too worn out to do anything."

"It probably would have embarrassed him to have brought it up in front of MJ, at any rate," Strange told her. "We'll talk to Tony and Pepper in the morning and see what they think we can do tomorrow night."

"I didn't see the rock, though," Natasha told him, brushing her fingers against the boy's cheek – which was warmer, now, at least. "I guess he's where he wants to be, at least."

"I'm happy," Peter whispered to her, almost asleep, but replying to the conversation even though he wasn't really part of it. "That's what May wants."

"It's what we want, too, Peter," Strange told him, softly. "Go to sleep."