Tony had been at the Compound since Thursday morning going through the Accords (both the original form and the even-more-amended form he was trying to push through) with Bruce, Thor, and—this was still blowing his mind—Loki. The trickster god actually had some good insights, when he deigned to speak. Bruce and Thor were making him completely re-hash all the original and interim arguments, and both had different viewpoints. Bruce was understandably wary of all of it, especially with his rocky history with the government. Unfortunately, Tony could have seen his friend siding with Cap, which would have been a huge blow in more ways than one.

Thor, however, seemed to see Tony's viewpoint about some kind of oversight, and agree with it, as it pertained to everyone except maybe him. (Which wasn't that helpful.) But his bigger-picture background from being responsible for an entire population (and failing to protect most of them) gave him a unique perspective. But he also felt the government should be granting the Avengers more sweeping permissions, coming from his monarchical background. It was so much back-and-forth and talking-it-out and re-explaining that Tony thought he might just go mad. But with Thor and Bruce back, and with more information on things that were happening at a galactic level, they were calling an emergency (cloistered) Accords meeting the next weekend, and he needed to get them all up to speed. And, with any luck, on the same page.

He was so grateful Friday afternoon when Happy arrived with Peter in tow. The kid was usually like a breath of fresh air, and today was no exception.

"Hello, young Peter!" Thor said happily, stretching his arms over his head as he straightened. Peter's eyes were wide, and he inched closer to Tony, probably unintentionally.

Bruce looked up briefly and smiled at Peter before bending his head back to the documents spread all over the conference table.

"Okay. Do you guys need me for anything else, or can I get out of here to spend some time with the kid? We've got science stuff to do."

Bruce smiled indulgently and Thor tilted his head curiously. Loki didn't react, his face impassive as he read through the long-version of the amendments already passed.

"I thought I needed to help Mr. Thor with his phone?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"It's just Thor, Pete. And he's busy right now. Maybe after dinner. Did FRIDAY get everyone's order?"

The group at the table all nodded.

"Did Happy get you lunch on the way out of town?" Tony checked. Peter murmured an affirmative reply.

"Okay, c'mon then. I need some serious paperwork detox."

"Does that mean we can blow something up?" The boy finally cracked a smile, and sounded even more eager than usual. Hmm. Maybe he hadn't quite shaken off all the stress of finals yet. Tony had just the thing.

"If you're very lucky."

"Tony?" He ignored Bruce's concerned tone. This was going to be fun.

"Tony, what in the actual—"

"Careful, Honeybear, there's a minor present!" Tony sang out.

Rhodey stood in the doorway of the lab, looking around in dismay at the mess.

"Dude. Did you just find every scrapped project in the place and find different ways to destroy it?" Rhodey asked, his tone dripping with judgment.

"See, I told Peter you were smart! You don't get into MIT without a killer brain, Pete, didn't I tell you?"

"Yes, Mr. Stark," Peter said brightly, popping up from where he was using an arc welder to break down a big steel frame from who-knows-what project. At least he was wearing protective gear, unlike Tony.

"Tony, why ?"

"We needed stress relief. And all this junk has been building up. We're mostly just breaking it down to base pieces and elements for recycling or reusing. Caring about the planet and all that."

Rhodey folded his arms and leaned against the doorway. "And the stuff that's not?"

"Oh, that's where the educational part comes in. Pete's in charge of figuring out what's flammable and what's not, and he's keeping track of melting points and burn speeds and whatnot."

"And it's awesome," Tony's mini-me piped up from across the room.

Rhodey just shook his head. "FRIDAY said she told you already, but the food's here. Come up and eat. After you turn off and disconnect any heat sources, preferably."

"You're no fun."

"Maybe not, but I'm a large part of the reason you're still alive," Rhodey shot back with a long-suffering sigh.

Tony smiled down into his project at the prospect of dinner with Rhodey, Peter, Thor, and Bruce. Even Loki. The god was cuttingly funny, occasionally. It was just nice to have the Compound busy and full. It's what he'd envisioned while building it, and it hadn't really happened yet. It would be nice if Vision was here, too, but he'd been on one of his disappearance kicks the last week or two. Tony was almost sure he was spending time with Wanda, but he never talked about it when he came back, and Tony didn't feel the need to press. He'd gotten to know the synthezoid much better in the last couple years, but he was still a little quiet and aloof, and very into self- and world-exploration. Which, he was only a couple years old, so probably fair.

Dinner was a loud, somewhat chaotic affair, and Tony found himself questioning if "this" is what he really wanted. (Yes.) He did manage to zero in on the conversation Peter was having with Tall, Dark and Difficult on surprisingly mundane topics.

"So you spend days or weeks putting it together, then you just… disassemble it? What is the objective?"

"Well," Peter said, really thinking about it, "the point is to get to put it together again. And even taking it apart is kinda fun. Ned and I get numbered ziploc bags and put all the right pieces back together in bags just like the LEGO set came, so it's like opening it when it was new and doing it all again. But sometimes we leave really cool sets together for a while. I usually have a bunch in my room. I could show you!"

Tony cleared his throat, and Peter glanced at him.

"Um… I can show you later, maybe?" Peter backtracked.

Tony raised an eyebrow at him and went back to eating his Chinese food. Yeah, he was letting Loki stay here, but he wasn't comfortable with Peter running around with him unsupervised, super powers or not. Peter was far too trusting, and somehow, even with all he'd been through, was still a little naive. Remarkably, at this point Tony didn't have any hard feelings against Loki, knowing what he did about his past and the circumstances surrounding his part in the Battle of New York, but he didn't trust him at all. Especially not with Peter.

Loki acted as if the exchange hadn't happened. "Yes, perhaps. So, I understand that you treat them as puzzles? Where the value is not in the end product, but in the process?"

"Um, yeah, I guess. We kinda like to play with them when they're put together, but not as much as when we were kids," Peter said, flushing lightly.

"Hey, Thor," Tony called. "You want the kid to give you a quick rundown on your phone in a minute?"

"That would be most excellent," Thor said happily, brandishing his chopsticks as if they were a pair of tiny swords.

Peter, distracted from his conversation with Loki, turned to Tony, asking quietly, "What do I need to show him?"

"I think just the differences between this operating system and what he would have had a few years ago. The basics of where everything is found and the proprietary swipes to get certain menus to pop up. He'll tell you. If you can get him more comfortable with it and teach him how to use the voice assistant, he should be good to go."

"But couldn't FRIDAY have done most of that? Or you?" Peter asked, a little confused.

"FRIDAY doesn't have fingers, and I didn't want to. Plus, it was my apparently unneeded excuse to invite you up this weekend," Tony said with an affectionate scratch of Peter's back as he stood up with his dish. "Have at it."

Peter swallowed nervously, and then started to stand and pick up his own dish. Tony scooped it away from him and jerked his chin towards the Asgardian, who was deep in conversation with Rhodey and Bruce.

Peter shot him a dirty look at being thrown to the proverbial wolves, but went to do as directed. Tony smiled to see his best friend pull Peter quickly into their circle when he noticed him walk over.

Of course Peter had nothing to worry about. The kid was delightful, if still a little awkward, and he was good at explaining things. Thor seemed to be enjoying and understanding his tutorial.

Tony was pleasantly surprised when Pepper arrived around nine. She had mentioned wanting to come out to join them Friday night when she got into town, but Tony had figured she'd be too tired to drive further after being in D.C. all week. Tony had been there briefly on Wednesday for one meeting, and gotten to have a quick lunch with his fiancée, but otherwise hadn't actually seen her most of the week.

"Hey, sweetheart!" she greeted him tiredly. He pulled her in for a quick kiss and a longer hug.

"Didn't even take time to change?" he asked rhetorically.

"I was afraid if I went in our room, I'd collapse into bed and definitely not make it out here," she said with a small smile. "Come help me change and freshen u—Are those egg rolls?"

Tony grinned. He didn't like that she was overtired, but enjoyed how much more unfocused and distractible she became after long days or long weeks. It was adorable in contrast to her normal super-focused and competent state. He grabbed the plate of egg rolls and added a scoop of sesame chicken to it, and followed her back to their suite.

It was helpful that Pepper made the effort to come to Compound that night. Most of her meetings had been Accords-related, more the legal and financial side of everything, with her entourage of SI accountants and lawyers, and she had a lot to fill them in on. Thor, Bruce, Rhodey, Loki, and even Peter and Happy were listening closely, though Peter pretended not to be too invested in what he was hearing.

Their discussion with all of its side-conversations and explanations went late, and suddenly Tony felt Peter drooping against his shoulder. The teenager jerked a bit when he realized he was starting to fall asleep, and Tony reflexively pulled his arm up behind him so Peter had a more stable base to lean into. Then he slid his fingers into the boy's hair to urge him to settle in. Peter had had a long week, and it had probably been a while since he caught up on sleep.

In the familiarity of the Compound, and surrounded by his "family," Tony didn't think anything of the gesture, but he saw Bruce trying to hide a surprised grin, Thor's eyes widening, and Loki's head tilting to the side with a slight change in expression that said he was trying to figure something out. Peter was oblivious, and he was leaning harder into Tony now, his breathing already evening out into near-sleep rhythms.

Whoops. Well, it's not like it was a secret how close they'd gotten, and they weren't going to be able to hide it from anyone who spent much time around them, even if Tony was very careful in public most of the time. Primarily to avoid any media attention or targeting for Peter. He wondered how long it would be before Peter outed himself as Spider-man in this smaller setting, since everyone but Bruce and the Asgardians were already aware. It was only a matter of time.

"Tony?" Bruce asked quietly from across the coffee table. His friend glanced briefly at the teenager next to Tony, apparently deciding he wasn't listening anymore.

"Yeah?" Expecting a comment about Peter, Tony was a little blindsided at what came next.

"I talked to Steve and Nat this morning. They agree that it's important for us to re-form a united front for earth's protection, if you're willing. They're planning to join us at the meetings next weekend. Maybe Clint and Scott, too. I just thought you'd want a head's up, so you have some time to think about it, and so we can talk about it if you want to."

Tony felt Pepper shift next to him, and she squeezed his hand gently. A quick side glance at her showed no surprise in her features. She'd already been aware of this. He glanced at Rhodey, and he, too was just watching Tony for his reaction, a certain tightness around his friend's eyes betraying his own apprehension.

Suddenly his light grip on Peter's hair turned into something he needed to ground him, as he drew a slow, shaky breath. Okay, then. He could do this.

"I guess it's probably time."