A one-shot that hails back to the roots of the Strands series, with very little plot and lots of character interaction. Just a little slice-of-life sickfic to kick off Sicktember that I wrote last minute in the midst of packing for a weekend away and all the chaos that goes along with that. Barely read-through, so sorry for any typos or issues!

Peter only had a couple more weeks at the Tower before May would be back from her travel-nursing stint, and then school would be starting, and Tony had been far busier than he'd wanted to be. He'd been working with the Accords committee in D.C. several days this week as they ironed out the final details of the new Avengers Initiative, had been collaborating with Bruce as they analyzed and speculated on Peter's lab results, had been trying to get a new Starkpad finished up for testing to meet SI's release schedule, and they'd been finalizing wedding plans all week. He was kind of exhausted.

Finally, the Starkpad project was out of his hands, and had been sent back to R&D for testing. The wedding was set to happen in just over two months, on October 10th, and he was done with Accords meetings for at least a few weeks. Maybe he and Peter and Pepper could do something fun tonight. Or at least go out to dinner together or something. He felt like he hadn't seen either of them in a few days. Tony dumped his sports jacket on the chair outside his closet and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. Why did he feel so tired?

"JARVIS? Will you see if we can get a reservation at Armando's for seven?" he asked, after a quick reminder to himself about which AI he was talking to. Technically either could hear him, but JARVIS had jurisdiction on their personal floor and in his labs.

"I will look into it, sir. For two, or three?"

"Three, I think, but let me talk to Pepper first real fast, if she's available."

JARVIS was silent for a moment, and then he heard Pepper's voice as he was peeling off his shirt.

"Tony? You're back?"

"Yeah, finally. Hey, Pep, are you free tonight for dinner? We could do just us, or us and Peter?"

"Yes, I think I can make it. Let's do all three, if he's not busy. He's at Ned's today, remember?"

"Right. I'll talk to him. Armando's okay?"

"Yes, of course. I should be able to head up by about 6:15." He heard her murmuring in the background to Andrea, double checking the time. "Yes, 6:30 at the latest."

Tony glanced at the clock. It was just after five.

"Sounds good, honey. I'll see you soon?"

"I'm looking forward to it," she replied with playful lilt. As much as he'd missed the kid the last few days, maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if he already had plans with his friends.

"Me too. End call, J."

"Would you like me to call the young sir?"

Tony side-eyed one of JARVIS's sensors. Peter had asked him not to call him that, but though his AI was agreeable to the boy's face, he still insisted on using that term for him. Tony found it mildly annoying, but also kinda sweet. He tried not to give JARVIS too many directives about his individual preferences like that. He was just so glad to have him back, and didn't feel the need to micromanage his creation like he still sometimes did with FRIDAY.

"Yes, please," Tony said, sitting on the bed to pull his shoes off and kick them underneath. It was way too much effort to bend down and move them to the closet right now. He'd do that later when he didn't feel kind of lightheaded. Probably just needed to eat.

"Hey, Mr. Stark, what's up?" Peter's voice was welcome, but louder than he expected, and he winced, and gestured at JARVIS to turn it down a bit.

"Hey, kiddo, you busy tonight, or d'you have time to grab dinner with Pepper and me?"

"Uh, I was just getting ready to head back to the Tower, actually, so that sounds great! I didn't know you'd be home already!"

"Yeah, remarkably, we finished earlier than expected. I'm planning to buy a lottery ticket later." He heard Peter laugh at his half-hearted joke, and it made him smile. Yeah, he could really used an evening with his little family-of-sorts. Next week should be so much calmer, and it was also Peter's birthday. He hoped for them to do some fun things together and get lots of lab time, if his kid didn't have other plans.

"Are you swinging, or is Happy picking you up?"

"At this time of day? Traffic is ridiculous. I'll be there in like half an hour," Peter said. "See ya soon!"

Tony slipped into a pair of his most comfortable jeans. Years of wear helped them give in just the right spots, and he frowned at a tiny hole developing where one of the metal rivets attached the pocket, and looked suspiciously at the other side to find similar signs of wear. He sighed. One of the richest men in the world, but that wouldn't keep stuff from eventually wearing out. Money couldn't buy time. He frown turned to a slight smirk. It could buy the time of a very clever tailor though. She'd already carefully repaired this pair at least twice in the past, but it looked like they were ready for another "spa weekend." He wished Pepper was already here to roll her eyes at his term for sending his favorite clothes out for repairs.

He topped them with one of his favorite t-shirts (also well-worn) and padded out to the great room. Why were the lights so bright? Maybe he should eat something. Or drink something? Eh, he'd do both of those at dinner. For now he was going to just sit down on the couch and put something mindless on for a bit. He recoiled slightly at the cool feel of the leather.

"Hey, J? Will you turn down the A/C? I think it's a little overenthusiastic in here."

"It is at its normal temperature, sir, but I'll adjust it for you, of course," JARVIS replied. "Are you feeling quite alright, sir?"

"Sure, sure," Tony said. "Turn on something I like, will you?" JARVIS turned on the wall panel on and helpfully put up a variety of choices, highlighting one at a time and paying attention to Tony's slight shakes of his head until he got to something that looked interesting. He did enjoy those shows where they rebuilt classic cars, when they knew which systems to go original with, and which were better to improve. It was so restful having JARVIS back. Almost no one knew him better.

His chosen program started playing, and Tony laid his head back against the couch for just a moment as he listened to the introduction play.

The next thing he was aware of, he could hear quiet voices, but he couldn't get his eyes to open for some reason, and couldn't quite wake enough to react to them.

"—long has he been asleep?"

"Approximately 20 minutes, young sir."

A sigh. "JARVIS."

"My apologies, Peter. He complained about being cold, and seemed unusually tired."

A soft, cool hand settled against his forehead, accompanied by the light scent he recognized as Pepper's perfume.

"He does feel a little warm. JARVIS?"

"Sir's temperature is approximately 99.8º."

"I was afraid of that. He's been running himself ragged lately, and it seems to have caught up with him."

"D'you think it's the cold Happy caught a few days ago, or something else?"

"Happy was sick?" Pepper asked.

Tony finally forced his eyes open. "H'said it was just allergies." Somehow he was sideways, but at least Pepper and Peter's legs were mostly blocking the light. His head felt fuzzy and kind of hurt. "'M not sick. Jus' a headache, and I'm cold."

Pepper leaned down and tilted her head, her eyebrows scrunching up adorably. She leaned in and cupped his cheek with her wonderfully cool fingers, and kissed him on the forehead. "Pretty sure you are, sweetheart," she said, compassion coloring her voice.

"Nah. Let me just pop a few Advil, and we'll go to dinner," he said, a little more clearly, and sat up. Hmm. Apparently that was a mistake, since the room swam around him.

His eyes finally focused on Peter, who was standing with his arms folded stubbornly.

"Tony, I think we should order in. You're running a fever." The kid was looking and sounding more like a young adult than a kid, and Tony hated it.

"It's not a fever until it hits 100.4," he insisted, trying not to move his head too much. Oh, and his throat was kind of scratchy.

"Crap. Maybe I am sick."

"You think?" Pepper asked, worry and amusement warring in her face. "Tony, you have many talents. Self care is not one of them." She pushed him gently back against the couch. "So we're going to help you out."

"Yeah, you need to rest," Peter insisted.

"But what about dinner?"

"JARVIS, please cancel our reservations, and give the maitre'd our apologies," Pepper said. "And let's put in an order from that little sandwich place a few blocks south. They usually have really good chicken soup, even in the summer. Do you want one of those little pastrami wraps, too, Tony?"

"I don't think so. Maybe just the soup."

Pepper pursed her lips. "You could probably use more calories."

"But my throat's all weird." Tony closed his eyes and let his head lean fully against the back of the couch.

Pepper sighed. "Order the wrap and we'll just stick it in the fridge, in case it sounds good later. You know my order. Peter?"

"Just the usual, I guess." Peter sounded distracted, and Tony opened an eye to see him around the room for something.

"I don't suppose we can convince you to go to bed after we eat?" he asked Tony.

"I'd rather watch something in here. You guys can go, though. If you stay, you might get sick, too."

"That's why I'm gonna curl up in this chair right over here," Pepper said, opening her arms to catch the pillow Peter had just pulled out of the storage ottoman.

"And I'm gonna stay here with you, tonight and tomorrow." Peter said, pulling out two more pillows. "I almost never catch anything, and I know you hate to be alone when you don't feel good."

Tony ducked his head as the sudden burning in his eyes had nothing to do with the too-bright lights.

"J, reduce lights to half?" he said gruffly, trying to pull himself together. As nice as it sounded to hang out on the couch with some of his favorite people, he didn't really have time to be sick.

"And as I've told you before, if you don't take time to take care of yourself, your body will make you take the time," Pepper said firmly. Oh. Had he said that last part out loud?

Tony shivered, and after a moment he felt a throw settle over him.

"You still cold?" Peter asked.

"Eh, I'll warm up. The blanket helps. You wanna grab one of my hoodies out of my closet, maybe?" His neck and head felt like they wanted to be wrapped up.

Peter left the room, and Pepper dared infectious closeness and threaded soft fingers through his hair. "I'm canceling your schedule tomorrow, and we'll see about the day after that."

"Pep, I—"

"Tony, please let us take care of you. You've been doing so much, and you need to rest."

He sighed, and stopped fighting, sinking back against the couch.

Peter returned, and plopped down next to him, handing him a black sweatshirt.

"Hey, where has this been?" Tony asked, unfolding it. It was one of his favorites, from a random trip to Paris, but just the right amount of fluffiness, and the ties managed to never get uneven.

"Where the rest of them end up," Pepper said with a laugh, "in Peter's room."

"Sorry," Peter said, obviously not sorry at all.

Tony sat forward and pulled it on, sighing in contentment at its cozy warmth. It did smell a bit like the Parker's house, which adding its own amount of comfort. Who knew how nice it could feel to be all warm and wrapped up, even on a hot August day?

Tony unconsciously scooted down so he fit more comfortable against Peter, and let his head tilt into the teen's shoulder.

"Hey, no going to sleep until you eat your soup," Peter protested. "JARVIS, ETA?"

"Approximately six minutes."

"You hear that? Stay with us."

"Hmm."

"J, turn on the Fast and the Furious."

Tony felt his mouth curve up in a small smile. It hadn't taken Peter long to start addressing JARVIS with a couple of the nicknames Tony commonly used for his artificial friend.

"Which one?"

"Just the first one. Something to keep him awake for a few minutes."

Tony grumbled, and turned so his nose was tucked against Peter.

"But after that, can we do like the Brady Bunch, or the Addams Family or something?" Tony asked.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, I feel like I watched some of those on TV when I was a kid, and stayed home sick. Ana and JARVIS let me lay on their couch instead of in my room and watch TV all day. Was nice."

He felt Peter lean into him as well, as the not-such-a-kid-anymore huffed a little laugh. "Sure. You're king for a day. Or, for like 24 hours. But if we're still on this couch watching movies tomorrow evening, I get to pick. And it's gonna be Star Wars: the Bad Batch."

"Noted," Tony said drily. "I'll be sure to be back to normal before that."

The door buzzed, and Pepper got up to go get their food from the Tower concierge.

"You know I'm kidding, right?" Peter asked with a gentle nudge of the shoulder Tony was leaning against. "If you're still not feeling well, we can just hang out and watch whatever you want for a few days. I don't mind just being here with you."

"You don't have to do that," Tony said, swallowing painfully against the increasing discomfort in his throat.

"Eh, nothing else to do. Might as well waste time here as well as anywhere else," Peter lied cheerfully.

"I have plenty to do, so I'm going to let Peter do all the hard work tomorrow," Pepper remarked as she returned with the food. "You guys are both equally terrible patients, so you deserve each other at times like this."

"Hey!" Tony and Peter protested in stereo.

"But tonight," she said, ignoring them, "we're just going to hang out together and pretend that a quiet night in is what we had planned in the first place. And actually, I get to pick the first old TV show. JARVIS, play the candy factory episode of I Love Lucy."

As soon as he finished his (admittedly delicious) soup, Tony started dozing, content to feel his kid next to him, occasionally shifting under his head, and lulled by the quiet commentary Pepper and Peter kept up about the show they were watching. Maybe he'd feel better tomorrow, but even being sick wasn't so bad if this was the result.