Okay so I work in finances (mortgages) and my focus is in efficiency gains. Basically I look at things and figure out why they happened and how they could be better.

That being said I have discovered that ya'll tend to review more when we torture Peter. Now was does that say about the audience? XD

Okay okay, bit of fun there. Here's the next chapter! When I originally wrote this section of Peter at the group home it ended up being extremely long, in the end while I was drafting this story I ended up breaking it into two parts which means we'll have some more Tony and Co. development and hopefully put some of those plot points to rest before getting to a bit of IronDad fluff.

Thank you for continuing to stick with me and offering your comments, concerns and constructive critiques.


"So...first house huh?" Toby confirmed the next day when Peter finally dragged himself from bed. It was Saturday so no school and apparently the other teen didn't have anywhere to be. "So what's your story?"

"My story?" Pete wondered.

"Yeah ya know. Why are you here?" It had been asked by a younger boy at dinner but the adults hadn't allowed it. "Look. I've been in seven houses. I have a deadbeat dad that used to beat me and my mom; and a mom so addicted to everything I'm pretty sure she doesn't realize I'm gone. Everyone's got a story. So what's your deal?" Toby- Toby Garfield that was, didn't seem bothered by his past, wasn't using it to one up Peter but to simply show that whatever his tale was, it didn't matter, it was what it was.

"My Aunt died." He stated, finding it easier than he thought to say. Clearly Toby didn't understand, "She...took care of me after my parents died..." Again, he found his resolve holding.

Toby blinked at him, "No...no shit really? You're like...actually an orphan? Damn that sucks. At least I can guilt my parents into buying me shit every couple of years when they try to sober up."

Did it suck? Peter didn't want to focus on that right now. "Can you...like, what do I need to know? About the house?" He wondered, the blond haired teen seemed nice enough, at least open enough to tell him more.

"The house? Uh, sure." Toby shrugged from his place laying in bed, having been tossing a small football up into the air while waiting for Peter to be available for the aforementioned questions. "It's actually a pretty good place, ya know? Well no, I guess you don't. John and Mrs. H are a bit weird about things. Ya know natural stuff, like making you tea if you don't feel good. God man she uses oil for everything. Headache? Dab of oil, stomach ache? Oil. Bad grades? Oil. You get used it, she's harmless." He shrugged.

"Does the smell go away?" Peter wondered, sounding a bit disgusted and Toby laughed.

"I don't really smell it any more, people at school will, it's like infused in our clothes and shit, but fuck'em. Right?" Peter nodded slightly, sure. "Otherwise you do your chores and they're pretty relaxed. We've got curfews, different for each kid- depends on whether or not you've screwed up, if you got a job, stuff like that. Greg and Michael right now are the only two old enough to work. And they're about to age out so they can be assholes sometimes." He shrugged simply, "They both work around the corner. Sometimes Greg gets to bring home leftover food they were gunna throw away at the end of the shift which is pretty cool. Mrs. H does all home cooking which is nice cause we get good meals." Simply not enough for growing Spidermen, "But sometimes I just want a burger and fries." And Greg could apparently help with this.

The rest of the first week passed in a very similar fashion. Peter had lots of questions and so did the others in the house. For example after his first shower he had to wonder, "Why is there a plant in there?" In fact it was like two sticks with weird leaves tied up and hanging off the showerhead.

Another boy, Des- slightly younger than Peter, would laugh at the other teen's confusion, "It's Eucalyptus." He shrugged though, not having a better answer. Mrs. H did, apparently it opened the pores and the lungs. All the scents in the house apparently served some purpose. Better for the body or for cleaning.

News also spread quickly that Peter had a cell phone, and a laptop. One of the other teens pointed out that as soon as the bill wasn't paid, Pete's cell phone service would be shut off, but at least until then he could still call Ned without having to use the house phone. This also meant he could set up his mobile hotspot to get internet access on his laptop- who cared about how much data was used? The bill would just go unpaid and the service would be shut off anyway. Greg had come to him, offering a trade that Peter had jumped on instantly. Greg would bring him a burger meal from work in exchange for use of Peter's laptop.

His naivety worked against him and before the end of the first week his laptop had been confiscated by John due to whatever inappropriate things Greg had been looking at (and subsequently been caught doing), the extra food stopped instantly.

Peter was supposed to start school the week after his arrival but John had pulled him aside to break the news. There was less than a month left in the school year and apparently, that meant the school could just refuse. There was no way for Peter to complete the coursework necessary to successfully complete the year and unlike college, his work at Midtown wouldn't count towards it. He would have to repeat the year. That was a rough blow.

He tried to talk to Ned every night but it was getting harder. He knew none of this was Ned's fault but it was hard not to grow envious of his friend's situation, they had so little in common now worth discussing. He found himself shying away from speaking to Ned after their last call.

"So you aren't going to school?"

"No. Not until next year, I have to repeat 10th grade."

There was silence for a moment, "Uh...I guess that's cool for now though right? Few extra weeks of summer vacation?" Ned was trying, it was an impossible situation.

"Yeah few weeks off so I can add a whole extra year. I'll be kicked out of the house before I can complete high school, sounds awesome." Peter couldn't help himself, he was agitated, so much pent up inside. He was scratching his arm, it itched for no reason. The headache was a constant but at least his spidey sense had stopped going off.

"Dude...I'm sorry." Ned tried, he really didn't know what to say.

Peter sighed, instantly regretting the fact that he had snapped at his best friend. "No..Ned...It's not your fault I'm just...I haven't felt good."

"No it's okay you're going through a lot Pete. Still feeling bad?" They'd talked, granted they hadn't brought up any Spiderman stuff but Pete had hinted at his issues before.

"Yeah." He gave, sounding defeated, "And it's just like...I don't know. Mrs. H is nice but her answer for everything- everything is oil. Headache? Dab it behind your ears. Stomach ache? Rub it on your stomach! I'm pretty sure I'm covered in it. I smell like an elf. This is what elves smell like." He was positive.

Ned chuckled then, "Food's good though right?"

"Yeah." Pete had mentioned that. Mrs. H was way better than Mrs. Leeds or May with home cooking. Every meal was great, it just wasn't enough, he wanted more, he needed more.

"So uh...you see the new Star Trek movie yet?" Ned wondered, trying to find a topic.

"No." Peter hadn't, if May was still around he was sure he would have, he and Ned and maybe May too, would have gone to the movies. May would ask questions and completely not understand half of the storyline but she'd have fun with them. "I don't think we do that." He hadn't been here super long but there didn't seem to be a whole lot of outings. "Maybe when it comes to DVD." They had watched a few movies John obtained but he'd have to ask if they ever went out.

"My phone's gunna get shut off." He admitted. "No one is paying the bill." And he certainly didn't have the money to continue paying for it.

Ned didn't know what to say on the other end. He knew Peter's laptop had been taken, but now his phone too? "Are we gunna be able to talk still?"

"I don't know. I guess. There's a phone in John's office to use but he'll be in there." Not that they talked about anything super secret but it would still be a lack of privacy.

"That sucks." Yeah. It did. They couldn't talk about school, about the Decathlon team, about the new Star Wars Lego set Ned got, or the new movie. Peter was cut off from everything in his old life and that left them with so little to discuss. It hurt but Peter didn't call Ned again and Ned called less often. They both realized it even if neither would come out and say it.

While his conversations with Ned became less frequent, feeling subpar happened more often.

It was daily. Headache, stomach ache, pointless itching, sometimes a dizzy spell, too hot, too cold. Sometimes there was a pain behind his eyes, sometimes his throat burned. Mrs. H really did think oil solved everything and apparently, he didn't look like he felt good because she'd notice and have him apply the oil as needed to solve whatever was bothering him most.

The hunger was a near constant and it even kept him up at nights, counting the hours until the next meal, doing whatever he could to take a slightly bigger slice of whatever they were having.

He snapped at some of the others, he recognized he was agitated but he could do nothing but ride it out. Naturally that was the worst thing he could have done and at the two week mark of living in the house he'd snapped at the wrong person.

"Headache still dear? Here, little bit of this behind the ears." Mrs. H was giving as she drew out her trusty little bottle of oil ready to let him dab some on his fingers so he could put it on.

He couldn't take it anymore. Peter stood up quickly from where he sat at one of the folding tables, the chair skidding across the tile behind him and drawing the attention of others as he snapped. "I don't want it! I'm sick of this! It doesn't work. It doesn't. Stop...Just…Just Stop!" Okay, on the scale of breakdowns, of anger coming to a head, Peter's was rather mild, but he was naturally not the sort to curse or name call. Instead it was just him, shouting in agitation and slamming his hand down full force on the table. He realized his mistake a second later, expecting the table to break under the strength he had...but it didn't.

Mrs. H was surprised by his sudden outburst. Peter was surprised at his lack of strength. John however, who had been watching Peter's slow decline, wasn't surprised at all. "Parker." He barked, calling the teen over to him, for his part, the teen did look somewhat mortified as all attention was now focused on him.

"I'm sorry…" he managed, voice hoarse and remorseful as he looked to Mrs. H, her expression guarded.

"Go on dear." She gave, nodding towards her son and Peter robotically moved to follow the other.

John led him to his office and motioned for him to take a seat. "Want to tell me what that was about?" John sounded more reserved, colder, than he had before. Peter didn't blame him, he'd just shouted at man's mom.

"I don't…I don't know. I'm sorry...I'm sorry. I just don't feel good." He didn't, god, he was cranky. Could he blame it on that?

John seemed to watch him, looking for something- what it was, Peter was unsure.

"Pete. I didn't expect your transition to be easy. You've gone through a lot. I did give you the benefit of the doubt. You've claimed you have a headache almost constantly. Upset stomach, itchy skin, sleep issues...There are times you just zone out, irritable and now this." John was right, he was telling the truth. "I'd like to believe your emotional state is affecting your physical state- it can happen, but I think you're smart enough to realize what all those signs point to."

Peter wasn't. He really wasn't, and so he stared in silence, mind trying to put the pieces together but drawing a blank. John reached into one of his desk drawers, pulling out a clear plastic cup with a lid that he sat down on his desk, right in front of Peter. Oh. Oh.

Brown eyes widened, "No- John I...I don't...I'm not on drugs." Why did that seem so embarrassing?

"And I want to believe you Pete, but your actions aren't demonstrating that. So let's just get this over with." His stomach dropped out. How had he gone from being Spiderman, from being a good kid at a great school- to this moment?

He swallowed, or tried to, but his mouth was dry. What if his mutation messed with the test? "Please...We don't need to do this."

John was already standing. "Peter this is happening, resisting really isn't helping your case. Come on." He grabbed the cup before beginning to herd Peter. He felt like the short walk from office to bathroom was like that walk from the old Green Mile movie. Dead man walking. The others who'd been in the living room were all watching, clearly interested in all the drama.

Into the bathroom they went, it was set up like a gym bathroom, with several stalls and showers down at the end. The cup was offered out and John's stern expression prevented any further protests. Stepping away he resigned himself to doing the deed, when he came out he barely noticed that John had obtained gloves from somewhere, taking the cup and setting it on the edge of a sink before opening the little kit he had. Peter just stood there in silence. He knew he didn't do drugs- he wouldn't! But it didn't make him feel any better about the situation.

Soon enough John was sighing in relief. "Well that's good news Pete. You're clean." Pete knew that. "I'm going to clean up here, why don't you head to bed. We'll talk later about your outburst okay?" Peter nodded, wanting nothing more than to disappear into his room. He did just that, taking the stairs up two at a time. Tears came again, he felt violated, even if he wasn't on drugs the fact that he was...That someone had thought he would. That his word wasn't trusted, that this was his reality.

He wanted May, he wanted her back but he knew she was never coming. Why hadn't Tony come for him?

He didn't know when he fell asleep but he was glad it was before Toby could return to their room.

"Dude...Pete...Pete!" Toby called, rousing Peter from his sleep the next morning. It was early, the other teens would be heading off to school, leaving Pete alone for the day. He didn't have to be up early, but apparently the blond thought he should be.

A pillow came sailing across the room and he grunted as he sat up with a glare over. Toby only laughed, "Do you know you talk in your sleep?"

For the second time and less than 24 hours his stomach dropped, "What?"

"You talk in your sleep. Or at least last night you did. Don't worry, it's cool, so long as you don't snore."

"Did I...did I say anything?" Anything incriminating?

"Nothing that made sense, it was pretty funny. You were asking Tony Stark to come get you." And Toby thought that was hilarious.

"O...oh? Yeah I...I don't remember." he shrugged, it was a dream right? He couldn't be held accountable for what he said in them. He honestly didn't even remember dreaming.

They didn't have time to talk more as John knocked on the door, "Hey guys. Pete. Why don't you get up and dressed? We've got an appointment with the doctor, see if we can't get you feeling better." John moved away then, checking on the other boys to make sure everyone was getting up for school.

Peter didn't feel up to breakfast- he was hungry but also nauseous so remained in bed while Toby headed off to shower. No sense going down now and waiting in line. As the other teens moved to grab breakfast, he headed down with his things to shower. After, he took his things back up to the room before heading down again to find John.

Entering what he'd dubbed the great hall, he blinked. His Spidey sense wasn't going off but he felt like there was something wrong. A few of the others were looking in his direction and chuckling. "Save me Iron Man!" One of the older teens finally cried out, mockingly. "Please come save little orphan me!" Peter looked to Toby who merely shrugged, it wasn't meant to be a secret was it? Toby wasn't joining in on the teasing, but he also didn't look guilty for having shared what Peter talked about in his sleep.

"Alright guys. Let's get going. Pete, you too." They'd be going to the appointment after dropping everyone else off it seemed.

"Yeah come on Pete." Michael, the boy who'd been teasing, gave as he looped an arm over Peter's shoulders, all but dragging him outside and to the van. "Come sit with us." He gave, loud enough for John to hear before all but shoving Pete to the back of the Van with him and Greg.

Sat in the middle Peter merely tried to ignore the two but they weren't going to make it easy, "Gunna have another pity party Parker? Come on, everyone knows you got caught, so what is it you do? Probably just Adderall. You come in here trying to act like you're Mr. Perfect Parker."

"I'm not-"

Greg cut in, voice mocking Peter's "No John! I don't do drugs. I'm a good boy! I am! Gee golly gosh I'm so mad Mrs. H!" John clearly couldn't hear them at the back of the bus and Peter didn't really want the older man to come to his rescue anyway, that would just make it worse.

"Face it Parker." Mike gave, "You're just as messed up as the rest of us, only we're not whiney ass bitches thinking Iron Man's gunna come rescue us." The van rolled to a stop and John ordered them all out. As Michael crawled passed Peter his arm darted out as if to sucker punch Peter in the gut and while his spidey sense didn't go off, Peter did flinch instinctively which only had the older teen laughing.

"Pete!" John called, "Why don't you come up here?" He would, moving to the passenger seat once all the others were out and halfway inside the building. He didn't bother mentioning what had happened to John, it wouldn't help anything. At least they weren't calling him Penis Parker.

The doctor visit was a simple affair. He was weighed, not sure if he'd gained or lost really, he didn't pay much attention to that sort of thing. His temperature was taken, the doctor looked in his ears, and his throat. In the end, the doctor's expert opinion was that he had the flu, bed rest and fluids were the recommendation- along with antibiotics just in case as he did have swollen lymph nodes. It was out of season for the flu but given the emotional stress he'd been under the doctor wasn't really surprised, it seemed he was used to dealing with the wayward teens from the house.

Back in the van John offered him a smile, "Looks like you're off chore duty for a while." They'd get Peter feeling better first. "Do you feel up to grocery shopping or would you rather go home?" John left the choice up to Pete, the teen didn't feel well but he also hadn't had much opportunity to get out of the house. Besides, some things he was picking up would be for Peter. Mrs. H was going to make a batch of her cure all chicken noodle soup.

"We can go to the store." Pete actually liked the idea of staying out a bit longer. John nodded and would drive them back towards home, taking them to the grocery store on the other side of the concrete wall his window looked out to. It was the first time he was seeing the front side. There was a Burger King towards the front of the parking lot, a T Mobile as well. Built into the same strip mall as the grocery store were several other smaller shops. A Hallmark store with a big sign indicating they shipped UPS items. A dollar store with over the top window signs explaining that everything was a dollar, what looked to be nail salon and something further down that Pete couldn't see well enough from the opposite end where John parked the car.

Grocery shopping was...well it was. He realized there was a reason why he never went with May. It wasn't bad, just boring. He was sick so he didn't need to be touching the food and there wasn't much for him to do to help as John pushed the cart through the aisles. Peter pushed a second one because feeding a dozen teens required two carts per trip. John did ask for his input on cookies though. Original or chewy? Naturally chewy was the only answer that made sense and John nodded in agreement.

By the time they moved to check out Peter was starting to feel a little bit better. Maybe it was just the fresh air, or knowing that the doctor didn't think he was dying. He wanted to help with loading the van but John insisted he take it easy so Pete just returned both carts to the corral before getting in and taking the short trip around the block to home.

Off to bed he was sent and he didn't really mind, he was feeling a little better and maybe rest was all he needed. Kicking off his shoes he tried to forget Greg and Mike.


So there we have it! Another chapter down. Several of you already commented on links between the house and Peter not feeling well. Can you imagine what Tony's reaction is going to be?

As always, reviews make me feel good. :)