I curled up between dad and Uncle Bucky on the couch, my head resting on dad's chest and my legs on top of Uncle Bucky's lap, both his hands wrapped tightly around my left one.

The thieves had been taken away into the custody of Stark Industries Security and were currently being interrogated by Aunt Nat. Loki had gone with to "glare at them until they confessed." Both had only done so after giving me their own hugs and confirming that I remained unhurt.

Now, everyone else, as they had all been awoken by the alarm, was gathered on the couches and chairs around us or pacing the floor as Dad explained what had happened from his side of things.

Dad squeezed me tightly, "FRIDAY has a back-up code in her, if she's shut down and the proper follow-up procedure isn't completed within ten minutes, she sets off an alarm. That's what woke me up, and all of you too, I presume. I tried to access her database through my lab, but it seemed to be more of a hardware problem so I had to head down to the basement where her equipment is stored. Some of the connections were fried, and at first, I presumed they'd just reached the end of their functional life. I replaced the parts and got her up and running. That's when she alerted me to the intruders—and that they had you. I instructed her to keep the alarm going only in the near vicinity of the intruders, and to provide updates to the other tower occupants. Barnes, Natasha, and Loki met up with me at the entrance to the floor, demanding to know your location. We made a quick plan where it was still somewhat quiet then headed to the computer lab. I wanted them to relax so we could get them a bit off guard, so had FRIDAY give the rebooting message while I approached the main door. Loki teleported himself into the room, I gave Barnes access to the other door, and Natasha came through the vent. We figured my arrival would attract all the attention so their presence wouldn't be noted. Then they grabbed you…"

Dad's voice broke down, thick with worry, so Uncle Bucky took over, "I won't lie, I wanted to run over there and pull you away from them… But I knew we had to be smart about it or you would wind up hurt. Wanted to try and solve the situation as peacefully as possible."

Dad gave a wry laugh, "Then they tried to shoot me, so that went out the window and Natasha, Loki, and Barnes each shot one of the intruders. Aiming for disabling, not killing."

"Not that they deserved that mercy." Uncle Bucky mumbled. I squeezed his hand, getting a much stronger squeeze in return.

Dad continued as though Uncle Bucky hadn't spoken, "I was focused on the intruders, wanting to make sure they were no longer a threat… I didn't even notice you'd fallen until after."

Uncle Bucky grumbled again, "Maybe if you had, you could have caught her."

Dad shot him a glare, so I pulled their attention back to me before things escalated, "It's fine. I was fine. I am fine. Thank you."

Both of them hugged me tightly, and there were murmurs of agreement from around us, everyone expressing they were glad that I was okay. I shot them all grateful smiles before snuggling closer into Dad's chest, closing my eyes as I listened to the conversations around me.

I could hear murmured talking from those further away, but nothing distinct enough that I could make out.

"So everything is secure now?" Steve asked.

I felt Tony nod, "Yes, FRIDAY has been repaired and has run extra surveillance and security protocols to make sure nothing got missed."

"So we can all go back to bed now?" That was Peter, yawning partway through the question. I smiled, amused at his exhaustion, and glad I wasn't the only one fighting to stay awake.

"Yes, sleep might be good for you mortals, you need it more." Thor.

Uncle Bucky chuckled, "I think Y/N would agree with that plan. Okay, everyone, back to bed. Goodnight."

There was a round of goodnights and everyone shuffled off. Tony prodded me up into a seated position. "C'mon, Pumpkin, time for bed."

I shook my head. I'd had enough trouble sleeping earlier, and I had a feeling that no matter how tired I now felt, I wouldn't be having any luck falling asleep this time either, when I could still feel the knife against my throat.

Uncle Bucky chucked under my chin, "You're practically passed out on Stark's lap, I think that's a sign of needing to sleep."

I shook my head, more vehemently this time, tucking my face into Dad's chest, my voice coming out tiny and muffled, "What if they come back?"

I heard two sharp inhales, and Dad's arms tightened around me. "They won't. They're under guard."

I just shook my head again. There was a sigh, and I felt Dad shift, feeling like he was looking up at Uncle Bucky.

New footsteps entered the room, "Tony, are you coming?"

"Yeah, in a moment, hon. Just have to figure out how to make Y/N feel safe again first…"

Her perfume wafted over to me on the light draft in the room, and her soft voice was much closer when she spoke again, "Why don't you stay with her for the rest of the night?"

There was a moment of silence, then Dad's head shifted again, so he was looking down at me, "Would that help, Y/N?"

I thought for a moment. Would having dad with me make me feel better? Yes, I think it would. I nodded into his chest, then had another lightbulb moment, mumbling, "Uncle Bucky too."

"Whatever you want, Sunshine."

"Okay, then, goodnight Pep, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Tony. James. Y/N."

"Night, night."

Dad chuckled as he lifted me into the air with him, his chest rumbling as he spoke to Uncle Bucky, "So how are we doing this?"

"Her bedroom? You put a massive enough bed in there."

"Fine, but you're still sleeping on the floor."

"Of course I am." Uncle Bucky answered resignedly.

It was silent as we made our way to my room, and soon enough I was being carefully dropped down onto my soft mattress. I quickly burrowed under the covers, peeking out through forced open eyes. I pointed to my right, "Dad here." And then to my left, "Uncle Bucky here."

"No, no, I'm not sharing a bed with him."

I gave Dad my best puppydog eyes and he sighed, grumbling under his breath as he kicked off his shoes and got into the bed on my right. Uncle Bucky got in on my left, taking my hand protectively in his as I stretched across the bed to snuggle with both of them. To my surprise, I dropped off almost immediately, barely having time to savour this milestone in their relationship.

"You can do it."

"No, I can't."

"Flip me."

"No."

"Flip me!"

"I can't!"

"FLIP ME!"

I jerked harshly on Aunt Nat's arm as I bent down, and to my surprise she actually did go flying over my head.

Her feet landed firmly and she used the leverage from where I was still holding onto her arm to then lift me over her head, my back thudding into the mat beneath us, making me groan.

She leaned over me with a grin, "Next time, remember to also let go."

"Uh huh." I dropped my head back against the mat. Ow.

Dad had let Peter and I skip school today, since our sleep had been interrupted by the intruders. But when simultaneous S.I. and Hydra emergencies took place, sending Pepper and Tony to spend the last several hours at the company, and most of the Avengers off on a plane, Aunt Nat had offered to stay to watch us. It had of course been a trap, as she had then immediately turned around and decided this was an excellent opportunity to get some extra training in.

Peter was ecstatic. I was less so, since I was still a bit tired and worn-out from the night's events. But you couldn't just say no to Aunt Nat… so here I was, getting a lesson on self-defence in case I ever ended up in a similar situation again. She did not get points for comforting thoughts, but even I had to admit it was probably a good idea.

Sitting up on my mat, I glanced up at the Black Widow, "Okay, that's enough for me. I'm tagging out. I'll leave you spiders to do whatever insane workouts you want."

Peter glanced down at me from where he was using a boxing bag hung close to the ceiling—while he himself stood on the ceiling, and gave me puppy eyes, "Stay and watch?"

I shrugged, "Sure, but I'm gonna move into the comfy chairs in the next room."

He flipped down to the ground with a grin of acknowledgement, and I moved into the connected gallery space. Several of the training rooms had one side that was a giant very-reinforced and shatter-proof window, so that visitors could watch them train. It was also used for when they wanted to watch each other train, either just for fun or to be able to provide feedback. It had tiered chairing, with 30 plush-covered seats, all with cupholders. The ones in the front row also had small tables that could be used for taking notes. Similarly, there was a podium off to the side that someone could pull into the centre of the window to use if they wanted to stand while they watched.

I settled into the front row, feeling a bit excited myself now. I had never been allowed to watch Peter train before I knew he was Spiderman and had not had a chance since discovering his secret.

Peter crouched down in his usual position, facing towards Nat, grinning widely at her, "Whenever you're ready, мама паук. No gadgets?"

Aunt Nat nodded and assumed her own sparring position before launching across the room at Peter. He flipped over her head, twisting around to face her, his arm coming up to block her blows. They moved back and forth around the room, flipping over and around each other, trading blows, and using all sorts of fancy maneuvers. While Peter was able to stick to the ceiling, being up there didn't save him from Nat, since she would just launch herself off some of the other equipment to attack him from below. The first time she'd done that, Peter's jaw had dropped so far I thought he was broken and was going to need a reboot— but he'd still managed to catch her punch. Eventually Aunt Nat's training won out over Peter's natural skill and she stood victorious while he sat up on the ground, clutching his abdomen and groaning. Aunt Nat reached down with her hand to help pull him to his feet and they walked over to where I was sitting.

"So, dinner time?"

Peter's eyes perked up at Nat's mention of food, and I also eagerly nodded.

"Great, so pb&j sandwiches good for everyone?"

Peter's face fell oh-so-briefly before he put a smile back on, and responded back with clearly fake enthusiasm, "Yeah, that'd be perfect!"

I rolled my eyes, "Only if we want Spider-boy over here to starve. I can make something."

"Spiderman."

"Uh huh, whatever you say."

"Wait, can we get Delmar's?!"

I made an offended noise, "Are you that afraid of my cooking?"

"No, of course not! I just…really like Mr. Delmar's sandwiches."

I laughed, "Don't worry, I know. How 'bout this, we order in a sandwich for you, and you can have that with whatever I make to satisfy that empty hole of a stomach?"

Nat grinned, "Seems like a good plan to me."

"Great."

We entered the penthouse and I immediately went over to the kitchen to decide what to make. Peter pulled out his phone to order his sandwich, and Nat slid into one of the chairs at the island to watch me while I cooked.

I decided on a 4-cheese lasagna with ground beef and pork and lots of vegetables. Once Peter got off the phone he came over to help, and I had him work on shredding cheese.

"Pass me a cutting board and a knife, I'll help with the chopping."

I slid the tools and a few vegetables across the island to Nat, who began cutting. I immediately had her stop and took the items back. "This is cooking, not torture. That was terrifying. No more cooking for you."

She laughed and shrugged, leaning back against the chair, entirely unbothered.

We all chatted, making jokes and laughing as I cooked, Peter eagerly helping where he could and excitedly setting up the table all proper and formal. He left briefly to get his sandwich, and when he came back he smooshed it down into a flat board against the counter before unwrapping it and taking a bite.

Not much longer after that, Pepper and Tony returned, and we invited them to eat with us. Sitting at the table, surrounded by everyone talking and laughing as they ate the food I'd made, I felt a sense of happiness and peace settle inside of me. I loved moments like this in the tower, where it once more felt like I was surrounded by family.