Chapter Text
“He’s sleeping now,” Bruce said softly, walking into the living room where a tense Tony and Pepper sat with the rest of the Avengers. Pepper let out a sigh of relief and sagged into her husband’s hold. “There should be no permanent damage, but I’d like to keep an eye on his ribs. One of the shards broke off and punctured his lung---and while it is healing, it’s not healing as fast as I’d like.”
“But he’s okay?” Tony asked, looking at Bruce seriously. “He’s fine?”
Bruce nodded. “He’s fine.”
“Thank God,” Tony said, leaning back against the couch. “I swear that kid is going to give me grey hair.”
“You already have it.” Clint called. Tony threw a couch cushion at his face in retaliation. Clint just stuck up the middle finger and laughed loudly.
Tony rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Real mature Bird-Brain.”
“I dunno,” Clint said in a sing-song voice. “Calling people names seems real mature.”
Pepper let out a soft giggle that she quickly covered behind her hand. “You two…” she said with a fond shake of her head. She then frowned, the mood sobering as she looked up at Tony. “What happened back there?” she asked.
Tony stiffened and Steve froze, looking at Tony with a concerned look in his eye. Was Tony going to tell Pepper what he did? Tony sighed and looked at the ground. “I did what I had to, Pep,” he said softly, taking hold of her hand. His thumb brushed over her knuckles as he spoke. “That man---Dr. Zemo---he was really bad. He hurt Peter. He was the reason my parents were killed---” Pepper sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes filling with concern. “---I’m not proud of it but...he’s not going to bother anyone ever again.”
Pepper flinched back in surprise, her mouth opening in an ‘o’ of understanding. “So he’s...he’s…?”
Tony nodded silently and the playful atmosphere disappeared. Pepper leaned forward and embraced Tony tightly. Tony buried his face in Pepper’s shoulder, grateful for the comfort. “Oh Tony,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry.”
“What about S.H.I.E.L.D?” Bruce asked, sitting down in one of the arm chairs with a frown. “Do they know?”
“I assume they do,” Tony said. “But he was threatening the life of a civilian. We did what we had to do.” Tony’s fist clenched as he remembered the cold of the outdoors, the way Dr. Zemo’s cruel grin seemed to follow even after he was dead. Tony shuddered.
“Everything is going to be okay.” Pepper said, squeezing Tony’s hand like a lifeline. “We have each other and that’s all that matters.”
Tony looked around at the room, the smiling faces on his friends and family. He allowed a small smile to grace his face.
“Yeah,” he said. “That’s all that matters.”
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XX
x
Peter awoke to the sounds of breakfast.
Peter smiled as the familiar scent of bacon, eggs and pancakes wafted into his room. He stretched out against his bed and winced when he felt a sharp pain in his side. Oh right. The fight.
Suddenly Peter shot up and dove for the door, nearly wrenching it off it’s hinges in the process, and tore down the hall. He entered the kitchen with barely concealed panic.
“Hey Bud how’re---What? What’s wrong?” Tony cried. He had put down the spatula and was now looking Peter over for any sign of what might be wrong.
“May---” Peter cut himself off, his throat spasming in pain. He brought his hand up to his throat only to remember that he’d been strangled yesterday. Tony seemed to understand because he winced.
“Oh yeah, you should be careful there, kid,” he said softly. “Your throat’s gonna hurt for a while until the bruises heal up.” he then looked at Peter’s pleading eyes and nodded. “May is fine. She’s resting right now, but the doctor said there would be no permanent damage. So take it easy, will you?”
Peter nodded, his hand dropping away from his throat. He ignored the tingling he felt in favor of taking a plate from Pepper and setting it on the table. He sat down and slowly began to eat, wincing from the stress it put on his throat every now and then.
The conversation at the table was strained---but only just. It was obvious there was something they weren’t telling him and they didn’t know how. Peter fought with the knot in his stomach as he ate. What could they possibly be hiding from him?
Finally he just couldn’t take it anymore. “What are you hiding from me?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
Tony winced. “Can’t hide anything from you, can we kid?” he asked with an awkward chuckle. Peter said nothing, merely staring at him, waiting. Tony sighed. “Look...I don’t know how to tell you this Peter...It’s…”
“Just tell me.” Peter said, his heart lurching at the sympathy and fear on Tony’s face.
Please, please, please, please, please---
“Barnes decided it would be better if he wasn’t here.” Tony said all in one breath. Peter stopped, looking at him with a slight tilt of his head. Wait, what?
“Wolf?” he asked. Peter suddenly didn’t feel as afraid anymore. He instead chose to let out a laugh and lean back against the chair, allowing a mischievous grin to grace his face. “Don’t do that! You almost gave me heart attack! I thought you were gonna say someone died or something!”
Tony flinched at that but before Peter had the chance to comment he said, “You’re not upset?”
“Why would I?” Peter asked with a slight shrug. The Avengers stared and Peter sighed, picking up his fork and absentmindedly began to play with his food. “Look, Wolf and I… He’s my family, okay? But I’m used to him going off and doing his own thing. It’s nothing new. He’ll pop up whenever he feels like it. It’s not like he’s going to stay in…where did he say he was going?”
“Wakanda.” Tony said. “There some people I know who can help him with his conditioning.”
“Right. Well it’s not like he’ll be there forever,” Peter continued. “He’s an adult and so am I. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Wait, hold it mr.” Tony said with a frown. “You are fifteen. Not an adult.” Peter scowled but Tony continued. “And you’re very much grounded.”
Peter wanted to argue but he knew he deserved it. So instead he just sighed and let out a warm smile. Surprising both Pepper and Tony, he pulled the two in for a tight hug, leaving his breakfast behind him.
“What’s this for?” Pepper asked, leaning down to press a kiss to the crown of Peter’s head.
Peter just burrowed deeper into the hug. “Back there…” he said softly. “I thought I was going to die without getting the chance to tell you.”
They both stiffened at the mention of Peter dying but Tony pushed through to ask, “Tell us what, bud?”
Peter pulled back, grinning at them happily. “That I love you.” he said. (Tony and Pepper froze, their eyes wide at the smiling child before them. Pepper felt tears spring into her eyes while Tony had no qualms letting them flow down his face) “I’ve been a real brat and I’m sorry about that. But I’m really glad you’re my mom and dad.”
Tony pulled Peter back into a hug, hiding his tears in his son’s chestnut curls. “I love you so much baby.” he said. (His voice did not crack)
“Oh Peter.” Pepper whispered, hugging Peter from the side. She pressed a gentle kiss to his temple and a few tears leaked out from her eyes. “I love you.”
Peter let out a soft giggle. “Guess what guys.” he said, mostly to himself at this point. “I found my way home.”
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XX
x
“Sir. The experiment got away.”
“So? Have Zemo take care of his own messes.”
“Zemo is dead sir.”
“He is? That’s a shame. I suppose we have no use for any of his projects then, do we?”
“Sir?”
“I want a recovery team as soon as possible. We need to clean up that base before S.H.I.E.L.D finds anything important.”
“And the missing experiment, sir?”
“What about it? It’ll be dead soon anyway.”
“Yes sir.”
The end…
...or is it?