Once all the phone calls were made, the entire group gathered at the dining room table. They were going to meet in the living room, but Peter had fallen asleep and no one wanted to wake him for something that he wouldn't need to add any input to. Instead, Pepper had propped every cushion and throw pillow on the couch around him to hold him in place and had gone to sit beside Tony, smiling at him when he brought her a cup of coffee.

"So, we're going to be here a while," Stark said, standing up because he was running the impromptu meeting and he thought better when he was standing. "You've all met Elmer?"

There were assorted nods, and the photographer gave the table a half-wave in greeting.

"Good. There's no reason to worry about this. The cabin is designed for luxury and winter – obviously."

"We're not going to run out of food?" Ned asked, more comfortable with Stark than MJ, who had the same concern.

Tony shook his head with a tight smile. They'd never have that concern with Stephen in the cabin with them, but he'd address the issue for MJ and Rupp.

"No. We brought a lot more than we needed – on the assumption that more people might show up. If we start running low, I'll go Ironman and find the closest grocery store."

"Wouldn't that be a sight," Natasha said with a wry smile of her own. "Ironman in the produce department picking out cantaloupes."

He rolled his eyes. That was the whole point of having a suit that would disengage at will. Ironman would land in the parking lot, Tony Stark would walk the grocery aisles looking for coffee grounds.

"If we do run out of food, we adults will take a vote and eat you kids, first."

That made Ned and MJ both smile, which was the whole idea.

"Other than that, we'll just keep enjoying ourselves. The snow isn't so bad that we can't find the sledding hill – if anyone is interested – and there is plenty to do inside. No snowshoeing or skiing, though, unless it's a group. Mr. Rupp? Try not to wander off, either, okay?"

"Right."

Elmer was just relieved that he wasn't stuck in the little cabin that he'd started in. He was definitely aware that there weren't enough provisions there for any prolonged stay – and it would have been lonely.

"What about Peter?" MJ asked. "Shouldn't he be in a hospital?"

Pepper hid her smile. Not the question – which was a fair concern – but the fact that it was MJ who was asking.

"No," Stephen said, fielding the question, since it was definitely his to answer. "I have all the medication needed to take care of him, and there's nothing a hospital could do that I can't do here. Although I might call on everyone to assist me in taking care of him."

"What does he need?" Tony asked.

"Right now? Just rest. We won't want to move him around too much – or let him move any more than necessary. Which means that we'll be gofers for him."

"He won't like that," Ned said.

He knew Peter best, of course.

"I know. But do it anyway. I'll explain things to him when he wakes up and is a bit more coherent. Keep him company when he's awake, to distract him." Strange looked at Clint. "No roughhousing – and no William Tell."

Clint rolled his eyes but nodded.

"It wouldn't be very sporting right now, anyway."

"Any other questions?" Tony asked.

There weren't.

"Okay." He looked at Pepper. "Breakfast?"

She nodded.

OOOOOO

"Peter?"

The soft voice pulled him from a dream that had him and Tony flying through the air, both in their respective suits with the city lights far below them and a rush of excitement coursing through him at the speed that they were going. Reluctant to lose that vision, he didn't open his eyes immediately, thinking that he could go back to sleep. When a hand touched his cheek, however, he knew Tony wasn't going to let him go back to sleep. With a sigh at that realization, he opened his eyes, feeling the now familiar ache in his lower side that was present any time he was awake – although at the moment, it didn't seem to hurt too much.

Stark was sitting on the coffee table in front of him, watching him. Someone was sitting beside him, because there was a warm body beside him and an arm around his shoulder holding him secured. His head was resting against her and while he didn't look to see who it was, the touch was so familiar that he knew it was Natasha.

"Hey…"

Stark smiled. The voice was barely a croak, but he didn't look too terrible. Just sleepy.

"Hey. We need you to wake up and eat, okay?"

"I'm sleepy."

"I know."

"And I was having a good dream."

Tony smiled.

"About what?"

"We were flying. I was stuck to-"

A hand came over his mouth, cutting him off mid-sentence. He knew Tony hadn't moved, so it had to be Natasha's. She covered up the motion by pressing a kiss against his cheek, and Stark frowned and looked to the side. Peter followed his gaze and saw that MJ was seated on the other side of Natasha, playing 3-D chess with Bruce. She was looking his way but didn't seem to be paying too much attention to the conversation.

"How about some lunch?" Tony asked, smoothly.

"Where's breakfast?"

"You slept through it."

"It was good, too," Bruce said, looking over from his seat on the floor in front of the coffee table. "Biscuits and gravy."

"No one woke me?"

Natasha brushed a kiss against the top of his head, smiling at how petulant he sounded.

"Stephen told us to let you sleep. Blame him."

"Can you eat a chili dog?" Tony asked him.

"Three?"

"Sure." Stark was pleased that he had an appetite. "Stay awake, okay?"

"Yeah."

He closed his eyes, though, and dropped his head back to Natasha's shoulder when Tony got up and headed into the kitchen.

"What did you guys do today?" he asked her, not opening his eyes.

"Ned, Steve, Clint and MJ went sledding this morning. We played cards. Elmer showed Pepper some of the photos he's taken."

"What kind of photos?"

"Wildlife. That's what he was out doing when he got lost, apparently."

"They're pretty good," MJ said, speaking up for the first time. "He gets a lot closer than any that we got."

"I'd like to see them, too."

"After we feed you something," Natasha said. "Just in case you get messy. Then you won't spill on his equipment."

"Yeah."

"How do you feel, Peter?" MJ asked.

"I'm fine."

He felt a tingle coming from the direction from the kitchen and knew that his lunch wasn't going to be made from scratch – or even from a can. Which was fine; he was too hungry to wait that long.

"You don't look fine."

"Well, maybe not fine. But not too bad. It only hurts a little, right now. You went sledding?"

He wasn't comfortable talking about himself.

"Yeah. The snow is really deep. They made a new enclosure for Jack, earlier, too. We're going to try making an igloo tonight – if the snow gets wetter so it'll pack."

He thought about saying that he'd help them make it, but he knew that he wasn't going to be ready to be on his feet that soon. Even if he really wanted to be. He was saved from any response by Tony returning with a tray that had the requested chilidogs as well as a pile of potato chips. He draped the tray over Peter's legs but was very careful to avoid letting it touch the inured hip when he did.

"Dig in," Tony ordered him. "If you eat everything on the plate, I'll even bring you a piece of pie."

"We have pie?"

"Elmer made it," Natasha said. "Apparently he's quite the baker when he's not taking pictures."

"I think he feels bad for shooting you," MJ said in a whisper, looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't around to hear her. "It's good pie, though, so take advantage of it while you can."

Peter smiled and picked up his fork.

"What time are we leaving?"

"At this rate?" Stark said, reclaiming his spot on Peter's left, careful not to jar him and hurt him, or make him spill his lunch. "Friday."

"What?"

"Eat," Natasha said. "We'll explain later."