"You bought him a pony…?"

"You say that like it's unreasonable, Stephen."

"Did he ask for a pony?"

"No."

"Did he want a pony?"

"Not especially."

"So, you bought him one because…?"

"Because I wanted to buy him a pony."

"What the hell is he going to do with a pony, Tony?"

"He's going to give it to Clint's daughter for her birthday."

"So, you bought Clint's daughter a pony."

"No. I bought Peter a pony. Pay attention."

Pepper smiled at the expression on the doctor's face. He looked confused and perplexed. She was well aware how he felt. She'd felt that way plenty of times when dealing with Tony.

"Where is it, now?"

"They just loaded him into a crate, and into the Quinjet and are flying to Clint's to make it in time for Lila's birthday party."

"Natasha went with them?"

"She did – and so did Steve. She's known Clint's kids since they were babies, and she's looking forward to seeing the reaction."

The doctor changed the subject that had been his original reason for stopping in that morning – aside from seeing Natasha, of course.

"How was Peter this morning?"

"Stiff and sore," Pepper said, looking concerned. "He fell asleep watching movies with us in our quarters last night, and must not have done any sleepwalking, because he was still on the sofa where I left him when I went to bed, but he was walking with a pronounced limp – even though he said he didn't feel too terrible."

"He ate breakfast," Tony reported. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his appetite."

"When are they supposed to be back?"

"Early afternoon. After lunch – and cake and ice cream."

"You're welcome to stick around if you'd like," Pepper told him. "We could probably find something to entertain you."

"I appreciate it, but I'm going to head back to the sanctum. I'm a bit behind from being gone for longer than I intended, and it's not fair to leave it all for Wong – although he says that he doesn't mind."

"Come by for lunch," Stark suggested. "Then you can be here when they get back."

"I will. Thanks."

The doctor vanished, and Pepper turned to Tony.

"Do you want to take a drive with me? I'm going to take the trailer back."

"Sounds good."

He could use the distraction. He was getting used to having Peter around, and felt a little lonely when he wasn't there to spend time with.

OOOOOOOO

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Peter nodded, wiping his eyes, which seemed to be watering for no reason.

"Yeah."

Natasha wasn't the only one that didn't look convinced. Steve and Clint were both watching him, as well.

"You're not sorry you gave Lila Peter?"

He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm more upset that you let her name him Peter."

"The heart wants what the heart wants," Clint told him with a smirk.

"Did someone say something to upset you?" Natasha asked, still focused on the fact that Peter's eyes were watering – and had been most of the morning. He also looked somewhat more miserable – which was saying something considering he'd been limping pretty badly since she'd seen him at breakfast.

"It was a dozen ten-year-old girls, Natasha," Clint said. "What are they going to say?"

"I'm fine, guys," Peter repeated, sniffing. He cleared his throat. "It was fun. She looked like she had a good time."

Clint smiled.

"She did. Thanks to you."

"Tony and Pepper got her the pony. I just got to hand over the keys."

"It wasn't just the pony," Natasha said, smiling. "I watched her hanging on you all morning. You were so cute, the way you put up with her."

He rolled his eyes, smiling and blushing at the same time. He definitely wasn't used to being the focus of a crush, and there was no doubt that Lila Barton had a bit of a crush on him. She'd hugged him when he'd handed her the lead for the pony – which she'd immediately dubbed Peter – and then she'd insisted that he sit beside her when she opened her other presents, and when they'd had cake and ice cream and she'd confided in Natasha that she was going to marry Peter when she grew up.

Romanoff hadn't shared that piece of information with Peter, or with Clint, but it was amusing to her all the same.

"It's her birthday," Peter reminded her. "You only get so many, right?"

"Uh huh."

Romanoff scratched her collarbone through the light sweater she was wearing. She was going to have to stop wearing wool, the way it was making her itch.

"Thanks for putting up with her, Peter," Barton said. "You really did make it a special day for her."

"I didn't do that much," Peter said – again. "But you're welcome. It was fun."

As much fun as a sixteen-year-old could have hanging out with little kids. Besides, Peter was a fan of cake, even in the morning.

"Then why do you look like you've been crying?" Steve asked. "Are your eyes bothering you?"

"A little. Probably too much sunshine after so much snow."

"They're pretty red…" Natasha said.

"Yours are, too, Nat," Barton said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"It's nothing," she said. "I feel fine."

Both men frowned, looking at each other. Neither looked convinced, but Barton shrugged.

"Well, let's get out of here. I'll call Tony and let him know we're on our way back."

Steve nodded, looking around the fuselage of the jet, which still showed signs of transporting the pony, even though he'd been in the safety crate. Bits of straw were everywhere, and dust particles were floating in the air, reflecting the sunlight coming in from the open ramp.

"We'll want to clear this thing out when we get back."

Natasha sneezed.

OOOOOOO

Tony wasn't the only one waiting at the pad when the Quinjet landed at the compound. Strange was standing beside him with Pepper standing between the two men. She and Tony were eager to hear how the pony had been received, and Strange was just there because he wanted to check on Peter and see Natasha. Maybe in that order, but maybe not.

The jet settled on its landing gear, and after a minute the ramp came down and Natasha and Peter appeared, with Clint and Steve flanking the two. Strange frowned at how badly Peter was limping when he headed down the ramp. The boy was smiling, even though his eyes were red and he winced with every other step.

Natasha's eyes were red, too, he noticed, and she was idly scratching her shoulder and side as she watched Peter's progress.

"Are you two alright?" Tony asked Natasha and Peter, noticing that Clint and Steve both looked slightly amused.

"We're fine," Natasha said, sniffing.

"How did Lila like the pony?" Pepper asked when Peter reached the bottom of the ramp.

The boy grinned.

"She squealed and then all her friends squealed, and you never saw so many pieces of carrot being fed to one lucky pony."

"Why do you look upset?" Tony asked, reaching out and putting a hand on Peter's forehead.

There wasn't a fever.

"I'm not."

"I'd guess they're allergic to Peter," Steve said from the top of the ramp.

"What?" Pepper asked, looking over as Stephen had greeted Natasha, but had immediately pulled her sleeve away from where she was scratching her arm, rolled it up and frowned at the rash he was seeing. "Peter?"

"Not Peter Parker," Clint clarified. "Peter Pony"

"Peter Pony?" Strange repeated.

Peter rolled his eyes with a wry smile.

"That's what Lila named her pony. Peter Pony. They've been showing all kinds of symptoms of being allergic to him since we put him on the jet, but Steve and I didn't put it together until we were on our way home. They were both pretty stuffed up when we got to my place this morning – after spending the flight in close proximity, they cleared up a bit during the party and were worse when we left. And now…" he shrugged. "I'd say they could both use a healthy dose of Benadryl – which is not something we keep on the jet."

"You're allergic to horses?" Strange asked Natasha, surprised.

She shrugged.

"I've never had the opportunity to be around them. I suppose I am. I can't think of what else it could be."

"Peter?"

"I guess." He shrugged, too. "Might just be a cold, from being in the snow."

"No one else is sick," Pepper pointed out. "And you were fine, before. Stephen?"

"We'll take them inside and check them out," the doctor said, more amused than concerned – although Peter's limp worried him more than a little. "At first guess I'd say Clint is right, but it won't hurt to make sure."

"It's a good thing he was afraid of that pony," Pepper said, as Tony put himself in position beside Peter to give him some support to help keep some weight off his injured side. "It'd have been a disaster if he'd fallen for it and wanted to actually keep it."

"I'm not afraid of it," Peter told them all. Again. "I just didn't want it to eat me."

You never knew, after all.

"Come on," Strange said, still not bothering to hide his amusement. "Let's get you guys taken care of."