"Are you sure this is a game?"

Natasha looked up from the laptop she had in front of her. Peter had one, as well, as did Tony. They were all sitting on his bed, and had been for almost an hour, now.

"You're not having fun?"

"I am," he said. "It just seems like a sneaky way to get me to do homework or something…"

Romanoff smiled.

The game was a simple one, really. They each had a laptop, and were connected to the internet through the network in the compound – one of the fastest and most comprehensive in the world – and were doing what could only be referred to as a scavenger hunt. Each of them had the same list in front of them and had to find a website that had an example of the item, or the concept, or the person on the list. They had to go in order, and they had to copy and paste the item into a document that would then be added up and scored once they were done.

One of the stipulations that made the game more interesting was that no one could use the same image or all of them were forfeited. Another was that if you couldn't find the image you needed, you could use an art program to create one. It took more time, of course, but was a guarantee that your image would be unique.

It was competitive and a little exciting and a lot interesting, and Peter wasn't lying when he said he was having a good time. But it did seem like homework, as well.

"It's not homework. I promise."

"And not some warped way of getting us to do research for some random new project?" Peter asked Tony, who had looked up from his own web search for an example of a one-eyed-one-horned-flying-purple-people-eater and was watching the conversation.

"Why would I need you to search for a lemming scratching its back with a pinecone?"

Which was almost certainly an image that they would all be creating in order to get points for it.

"I don't know. Something new for your suit?"

Stark rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Maybe the left handed can opener, but not a lemming."

The room went silent as they continued working on their lists, the only sound the clicking of the keyboards when they were doing a web search, or typing in a label if they had to make an image. They were so focused, in fact, that none of them noticed when Steve and Barton came to the doorway of Peter's bedroom more than an hour later and stood watching them, quietly, waiting to see which one of them looked up, first.

It ended up being Peter. He might not have been the first to realize that they were there; Natasha was always fully aware of what was going on around her and who was in her vicinity. Peter's spider senses told him someone was around as well, but when it was someone that he knew, liked and trusted, then they didn't scream at him. It was more of a gentle prodding to make sure he wasn't startled.

"What are you guys doing?" Steve asked when Peter looked up.

He was holding Jack under one arm, and the puppy was watching them all, cheerfully – although Peter figured he was also trying to find something to chew on.

"At the moment?" Stark replied. "I'm drawing a falling angel…"

Barton wasn't the only one to frown.

"Why?"

"Because it's on my list."

"What list?" Rogers asked.

"I don't have a falling angel on my list," Peter said, picking up his paper.

"It's number 41," Stark said.

"That's a fallen angel, Tony," Natasha told him. "Not falling."

"What?" He scowled, picking up his list. "Son of a b-"

"What are you doing?" Clint asked, coming over and plopping himself on the bed beside Romanoff, looking over her shoulder and picking up the list in front of her.

Peter explained the game, while Tony looked at his own list, clearly trying to decide if he was going to be able to bluff a falling angel into a fallen angel.

"Why aren't we playing this game, too?" Steve asked.

"You can play round two, if you want," Natasha told him. "If we finish this list, I'll have Pepper make one for tomorrow."

"I've never heard of this…" Barton said. "How'd you come up with it?"

"I just thought of it," she admitted with a shrug.

"It's fun," Peter said.

"I'm glad you approve," Romanoff said, taking her list from Clint. "What are you guys doing?"

"Finished our training runs," Steve said, reaching out and taking Peter's paper, curious as to what kind of items would be on the list. "We could play this… I bet we could catch up."

"Not a chance," Stark said. "We have too much of a head start. You'd be working on it until dinner time."

"Is there a time limit?" Barton asked.

"No, but the first one finished gets extra bonus points."

"I'm going to go get my laptop," Rogers decided. His quarters were right beside Natasha's, so it wasn't too far away.

"Peter? You have an extra laptop, don't you?" Clint asked.

"Yeah." He had the one that Pepper and Tony had provided, but also his original one, that he and Tony had brought from the tower when he'd sorted through the items from his old room. "Want to borrow it?"

"Can I?"

"Sure." He gestured toward his dresser, where the new one had been placed on top, out of the way. "Help yourself."

"Tony? We're going to need a couple more lists."

Stark rolled his eyes and pulled himself away from his laptop. Aside from being competitive, he hated being interrupted when he was involved in a project. Even a project that had been invented for the sole purpose of distracting a teenager. But he was also enjoying the fact that Peter was well and truly having a good time, and knew that adding Clint and Steve to the game was only going to make it more fun for the boy.

It didn't mean he had to be gracious about being interrupted, though.

"No one gets to work on their list until I get back."

He left with his paper in hand, heading for the lounge where there was a copy machine. Clint picked up the laptop from Peter's dresser and settled himself at the foot of Peter's bed, opening it up and powering it on.

"Good idea, Nat."

Peter nodded his agreement.

OOOOOOOO

Tony was waiting in the garage when Pepper arrived home. She smiled a greeting as he held her door for her, brushing a kiss against her cheek when she handed him her bag.

"How was the drive?"

"Fine. Relaxing. How was your day?"

"It was good. Spent the day with Peter."

Of course.

She nodded, and they left the garage. She'd want to drop her things off in their rooms, but then would check on Peter and see if he was about ready for dinner.

"How's he doing?"

"Stephen checked him this morning and is allowing him to sit up in bed – and only in bed, still. But it's an improvement."

"Did he have a good day?"

Tony nodded.

"Romanoff came up with an online scavenger hunt for us to play and we spent the day doing it."

"All day?"

"We stopped for lunch. And to clarify a few rules when Steve and Clint decided that they wanted to play, too. And to debate the difference between the words falling and fallen. Aside from that, yeah. All day."

"And it was fun? You didn't have to bribe him into it?"

"Nope. He seemed to really be having a good time."

"Who won?"

"We don't know, yet. The judge just got home and hasn't looked through the entries, yet."

"Me?"

"If you're not too tired," he said. "And you're willing."

"I can't be partial."

"You don't have to be. We all know I won."

"And they agree?"

"Of course not. That's why we need a judge. Some of the images are pretty similar."

He explained the game as they walked, and she frowned, changing out of the business suit that she'd worn to work and into jeans and a polo shirt with a little Ironman instead of a polo pony emblem.

"How many items are on this list?" she asked as they headed toward Peter's rooms, now.

"101."

"Seriously?"

"Some are easy. Arm and Hammer. Unicorn and rainbow. Dancing pig."

Pepper shook her head.

"I'm not judging it alone."

It would take her all evening, and she wanted a chance to relax and spend some quality time with him and Peter.

"Maybe Nick will volunteer."

"Maybe monkeys will fly out of my bottom…"

He smiled.

"Let's hope not."

They were both still smiling when they reached Peter's rooms. Aware that he was stuck in bed, it was pretty much a given that no one actually knocked on his front door. Instead, they walked in and tapped lightly on the door to his bedroom – which was also open. Peter was sitting on his bed alone. Which surprised Pepper, since she'd expected there to be a crowd.

Tony was, too, obviously.

"Where'd everyone go?" he asked the boy.

"They went to get dinner – and Steve said he had to go feed Jack."

"They left you?"

Peter smiled at the exasperation in Tony's voice.

"They offered to hang out until you guys came, but I told them it was all right."

Pepper sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Hi, sweetheart."

"Hey, Pepper," he gave her a hug, genuinely pleased to see her. "Did you have a good day?"

"Yes. You?"

"Yeah. We did this scavenger hunt thing online. It was fun."

"I'm sorry I missed it."

"Me, too. We can do another one, sometime, though," he promised. "They take a while to do, but the list probably doesn't take long to make."

"What kind of list?"

He reached over and handed her the list that he'd used. All of the laptops had been put away, and the resulting images and collages had yet to be printed, so his bed was neat and not cluttered like it had been before. Pepper scanned the paper with interest and then handed it back.

"I can't wait to see what you guys came up with for some of those."

"It was interesting."

"I imagine." She brushed his forehead with her fingers. "Are you ready for dinner, yet?"

He nodded.

"You're going to stay?"

Pepper nodded, smiling. It was nice to be wanted.

"Of course."