Just a little silliness before update day.

Making The Most Of Opportunity

Steve was mid-poker game with Rhodey and Bucky when he heard sounds of a passionate conversation coming from down the hall. A moment later, Peter strode into the common room.

"And none of you thought to tell me?" he asked dramatically, hands held above his head and eyes wide. "Not one of you!"

Steve and Rhodey exchanged a look and Bucky chuckled. Steve was surprised Bucky seemed amused when Peter was clearly distressed, but then Peter went on and Steve understood it was a little funny.

"No one told me about Oppy?"

Tony followed Peter into the room, fingertips massaging his temples. "I am really sorry, Pete. But I just assumed you knew—that you'd seem the news or one of the Stones told you or Ned or… Honestly, when it happened I was kinda consumed with Morgan and you and Pep and I figured you'd… I don't know… look on Twitter?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because there'd be nothing weird about Peter Parker's Twitter being active when he was dead. And I was consumed with Mo and you and Mom and everyone here and everyone in the Soul Plane."

"I'm really sorry," Tony said again.

"I just wish I'd known," Peter said, flopping down on the couch next to Steve who wrapped an arm around him and pulled him against his side. "I could have… I don't know… Poured one out for him."

"Poured one out?" Tony asked. "When did you became a gangster?"

Peter laughed. "Relax, Dad, it's a figure of speech. But I would have liked to have known…" He shook his head. "Did they get a last communication at least? Did Oppy know what was happening?"

"Did the Mars Rover Opportunity know what was happening?" Sam asked, lips quirking with a smile.

"Yes," Rhodey said, shooting Sam a narrow-eyed look. "The last thing he said was…"

"Rhodey," Tony growled. "He does not need to hear this."

"What?" Peter pressed. "What did he say? Tell me. I need to know."

Rhodey grimaced, seeming to regret entering into this conversation, and said, "He said: 'My battery is low and it's getting dark."

Peter's mouth dropped open and Steve was horrified to see his eyes were wet. He'd not realized how seriously Peter was taking this. He'd not really talked a lot about the Mars Rover when it had been active, though Steve supposed that was more the sort of thing he'd do with Ned more than them. He wondered if Ned was the one who told Peter the rover had deactivated or if this was news Peter was going to have to break to his best friend, too.

"Pete, it lived way past its expected duration," Rhodey said. "It was only supposed to last 3 months. It had years!"

Peter nodded and said, "Yeah, I know, I just… Poor Oppy."

Bucky's smile had faded, and Steve guessed he could sense the very real sadness that Peter was feeling. Steve remembered the online madness when Oppy had powered down as it seemed to evoke a whole new round of grief in the survivors of The Blip.

Pepper came into the room and said, "Is everything okay?" a little warily, and Morgan danced straight to Peter and climbed into his lap.

Sam grinned "Peter's still moving through the stages of grief for Oppy, but I think he'll be okay as long as he tips some soda onto the grass."

Peter scowled at him.

"Why are you upset, Petey?" Morgan asked, patting his cheek with her small hand.

"I just heard some sad news," Peter said, hugging her closer to him. "But it's better now I'm getting Morgan hugs."

She beamed and looped her arms around his neck. "That's because I'm magic."

"It absolutely is," Peter said. "You are very, very… magic…"

Tony sipped his coffee and flicked on the TV to get the morning news. He was expecting the normal headlines that greeted him each day, although what he got was a harried man in a shirt with a NASA pin being interviewed.

"And you weren't expecting this communication at all?" the anchor said.

"No, this is the exact opposite of what we expected. There is no way Opportunity's batteries should be able to charge after so long. Even with all the imagination we here at NASA had, we believed this was impossible."

"If you're just tuning in this is the breaking news that a communication from Mars Rover Opportunity , colloquially known as Oppy, was received by NASA this morning. The rover's mission was declared complete in February 2019 when the rover's batteries died and recharging was impossible, but this morning, against all odds, Oppy has come back online."

"Back to life," a voice said behind him.

Tony spun around and saw Peter grinning at him, hair mussed from bed and eyes a little red from tiredness.

"Peter, did you go to Mars last night and save Oppy?" he asked, torn between amusement and pride.

"No, not me, it must have been magic." Peter grinned and then said, "Did you know the tools you made me for my birthday were compatible with NASA parts? Never would've expected that."

Tony crossed the room and pulled Peter into a tight hug. "You're crazy, kid, but I love you."

Peter hugged him back and then said, perfectly sincerely, "All those people got to come back thanks to you all and what you did, and I figured Oppy deserved the same chance."

Tony pressed a kiss to his brow and said, "What's Mars like then?"

Peter beamed. "It was dusty and hot, but also one of the most incredible places I've ever been. It was Mars, you know, and I was the first there, and—"

Tony listened to his son wax lyrical about his amazing night and he felt a deep peace in his heart. Here, now, with his son chattering happily about the miracle he'd performed, knowing that NASA were reeling in shock and others would celebrate all over the world, Tony felt like the luckiest man in the world.

So… Short and silly, I know. But my reaction to Oppy's last communication was the same as Peter's and when I had this idea I knew I had to go with it to satisfy myself if no one else.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx