Work Text:
“Okay. Remember, bedtime at eight on the dot for the little miss, and I expect you to be in bed by ten,” Tony said, voice lightheartedly stern.
Peter rolled his eyes, ignoring Tony’s offended ‘I saw that, young man!’ “Mr. Stark, I know the rules,” the teenager whined.
Tony clapped a hand on Peter’s shoulder, smiling fondly. “I know, Roos, just making sure, because a certain spider-baby likes to stay up until one in the morning,” he teased.
“Oh my god,” Peter dramatically sighed out. “Hurry up and get out of here, old man!” He exclaimed as he began pushing Tony towards the door.
“Hey!”
Pepper tried to stifle her laughter as she walked towards them with Morgan in tow. The little girl, however, did not care to conceal her giggles. “Are you picking on your dad, Pete?” Pepper asked playfully, reaching out to ruffle Peter’s hair.
Peter blushed lightly. Both Tony and Pepper, moreso Tony, have always found the boy’s reaction to referring to Tony as his dad endearing. It never failed to make Peter shy, along with every time Tony used terms of endearment to refer to him.
Honestly speaking, he never thought he could have this. It wasn’t even until the final battle with Thanos that the teenage vigilante realized just how much Tony cared about him; just how much Tony mourned him. All of Tony's emotions were displayed to Peter as soon as Tony hugged him on the battlefield, his face showing the most emotion Peter's ever seen on it. He cried when, just a month after Tony snapped—and whilst the man was confined to the Medbay to recover—Tony confessed to Peter that he was the sole reason that he invented time travel; Tony risked it all for him. Tony risked everything to have his son back. That was another thing that Tony confessed to him, and the genius was over the moon to hear that Peter had seen Tony as a father figure for a while. He explained to Tony that, before the blip, he had been too scared to tell his mentor how he felt, because he didn’t know if they were there yet. It’s safe to say that Tony felt immensely guilty that he had been the one to plant that seed of doubt.
It’s been five months since Bruce and Tony snapped, and things have been great for Peter. He’s happy. At first, he was scared. After all, he was returning to a world that had moved on without him. So much had changed around him. He found out that May and Happy were dating, Tony and Pepper were married and parents to a little girl, Morgan Stark, and a good portion of his classmates at Midtown had graduated high school long ago and moved on to college and were building their lives. But, with Tony, May, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, and Morgan by his side, he managed to pull through. He was slowly coping with the changes, and he was learning to accept them as they were.
It was surprisingly easy to grow accustomed to Morgan Stark. Peter thought it might be awkward or strained, but the little girl was beyond excited to meet ‘the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that Daddy always talks about’ (if anyone asked, Peter would tell them that he did not get emotional upon finding out that Tony talked about him to Morgan, told her stories about him, and even simply just constantly thought about him. And maybe he was happy that Morgan declared him her favorite Avenger). Morgan was immediately in love with Peter. Every time Peter visits the lakehouse, he’s met with an armful of a certain little girl as soon as he gets out of the car. The two have grown incredibly close ever since Tony and Pepper introduced them; they're nearly inseparable, especially since Peter's spending the summer there.
Peter also managed to find family within the Avengers, a group of people he never thought he would grow closer to and grow to love after the Civil War fiasco. Despite the rocky first impression he got of his childhood idols, however, everything that happened with Thanos changed everything. He began to see them in a new light, especially since Tony seemed to forgive them. Peter's still a bit stiff around Captain America—because of what happened to Tony in Sibera—but he's warming up to the man, slowly but surely.
Peter’s personally closest to Natasha and Bruce. He even calls Natasha ‘Auntie Nat,’ upon the woman's insistence. In turn, she calls him ‘little spider.’ And Bruce is someone Peter loves to hang out with, because the scientist is always teaching him something new, and Peter is always fascinated by everything he says. As for the other Avengers, he's grown comfortable with them; they joke together (Sam still hasn’t left him alone about him trying to make conversation during their Civil War fight), have movie afternoons at the tower every other Sunday along with May, and Peter even occasionally shares hugs with them (Bucky loves to ruffle his hair, and, although he’ll deny it, Clint has a tendency to hug Peter for a lot longer than everybody else).
At this moment in time, Tony is preparing to leave the lakehouse and head out for an Avengers mission. Although he claimed to have been retired, Fury managed to rope him into it, and Tony ended up agreeing (only after Pepper caught wind of what the mission entailed and encouraged Tony to go). The mission was predicted to take, at most, three hours, and it was located a couple hours away. On the other hand, Pepper was also getting ready to leave the house for a last minute meeting that was being held in California the next day, requiring her to leave now if she wanted to make it to her hotel at a decent time (now being four in the afternoon).
Both Tony and Pepper were a little worried to leave Peter and Morgan at the lakehouse on their own for what they deemed as too long, but Peter did his best to assure them that it would be perfectly fine.
“Alright, we're heading out now, kiddos. Come here.” Tony picked up Morgan and tugged Peter closer, having a secure arm around both of his children and gently squeezing them. He gave them each a kiss on the forehead. “I love you two. I’ll miss you loads,” he said.
Peter wrapped an arm around Tony’s waist and smiled. “Love you too,” he responded quietly. Morgan wrapped her arms around her father’s neck with an ear-to-ear grin. “I love you 3000, Daddy!”
Tony chuckled fondly, before planting one more kiss to both of their heads and then setting Morgan down. He then let go of Peter and allowed the two to bid farewell to Pepper while he headed outside.
Peter and Morgan threw themselves at Pepper, wrapping her up in a tight group hug. “I love you, Mommy! I miss you already!” Morgan exclaimed dramatically. Pepper laughed and bent down to kiss her forehead, and then kissed Peter’s as well, just as Peter followed Morgan’s lead. “Love you, mom,” the sixteen-year old muttered shyly.
Pepper grinned. “And I love you both, my babies,” she stated. She couldn't help but coo when Peter nuzzled his head against her shoulder with embarrassment as a result of her kissing both of his cheeks.
With one final squeeze in the hug, Pepper pulled away, and headed out the door. “Be good for your big brother, Morgan,” she called out. “Love you! Stay safe and remember to lock up, sweetheart.” The last line was directed towards Peter.
The kids waved goodbye to her, and then she was gone. Peter and Morgan rushed towards the window, just in time to see Tony and Pepper kiss each other goodbye before the CEO was getting into a car being driven by Happy, and Tony was boarding the quinjet awaiting him. Peter and Morgan looked at each other and playfully gagged in unison.
- – — ✮ — – -
It was half past midnight when Peter felt his spidey sense go off, creeping up his neck and causing him to shudder with the sheer force of it.
For the first couple hours of Peter and Morgan being left on their own, the two played whatever Morgan requested, and then that bled into them playing Just Dance for half an hour. They took a break from that to eat dinner, and then spent the next hour and thirty minutes watching a movie, which Morgan fell asleep during. As it was nearing eight o’clock, Peter woke Morgan up, but ended up simply carrying a half asleep Morgan upstairs, brushing her teeth for her, and then tucking her into her bed. He read her a bedtime story before quietly standing up and retreating to his own room once he realized she had fallen asleep.
He had managed to fall asleep, but that only lasted until a little past midnight, when he felt his senses go off.
Something was very wrong.
Peter’s expression grew serious. If there was a threat nearby, his only mission was to protect Morgan, even if it cost him his life. She is his top priority.
“FRI?” He called out. He didn’t need to say more.
“There are four armed intruders on the premises, quickly approaching the back door. Two of them appear to be enhanced. I highly advise you and Morgan to make your way to the boss' personal lab, as per the Safeguard Protocol.”
“Crap,” Peter muttered to himself. He couldn’t deny that he was nervous. He knew that he could easily take down four regular men, regardless of them being armed or not, but now that he knew that there's two enhanced, whose abilities he doesn't know, he's beyond anxious. He could feel the panic bubbling up in his chest and coursing through his veins. He could hear his heart beating erratically.
He hasn't put on the suit (it's been hard for him to even look at it) let alone trained, in months. What if he's too rusty and slips up, and then these people hurt Morgan? On top of that, he has no backup. Morgan’s safety was solely in his hands, and when that fact dawned on him, it only served to wind him up even more. He wanted nothing more than for Tony to be here, but now wasn’t the time for a panic attack. He needed to act quickly. He needed to get to Morgan.
“I have notified Boss of the situation, Peter,” FRIDAY added as Peter shot out of his bed, snatched his suit out of his closet, and made a beeline for Morgan’s room across from his.
Peter looked up briefly, as he usually did when talking to the AI. “Thanks, FRI.”
“Of course, Peter.”
He knew he had at least a few minutes, because, given that this is the home of Iron Man—Tony Stark—his wife, and his children, it isn't exactly easy to break in.
Tense and slightly shaking, Peter quickly entered Morgan’s room, and didn’t hesitate to scoop her up into his arms and settle her on his hip, swiping her teddy bear from her bed as he did.
“Petey?” Morgan asked sleepily as she clung to Peter’s neck. She was confused as to why they were running down the stairs and headed for their dad’s lab. “What’s going on?”
Peter swallowed thickly. “We have a- a bit of a situation, Mo, and I’m gonna need you to be brave for me, okay?”
This seemed to wake Morgan up quickly. Tony and Pepper had once sat her down to discuss this very thing, but the five-year-old never really expected it to happen. She grew scared. “Are we gonna be okay, Petey?” She asked meekly, looking at him with wide eyes.
Peter’s head suddenly swung to look around, as they heard the loud thumping of the intruders trying to break down the door. He picked up his pace and then punched in the code to Tony’s lab with an urgency like no other. “Of- Of course, Mo. Everything will be fine. I’m Spider-Man, remember? But most importantly,” he started as he set her down in the room, “I’m your big brother. I’d never let you get hurt, not while I’m still breathing.”
He crouched down and placed his hands on her shoulders and spoke quickly. “Okay, Mo, listen up. There’s food and drinks in the mini-fridge in the corner, blankets and flashlights in that white cupboard over there with the plant on top, and a phone right over there,” he explained, pointing in various directions. “I need you to stay here, stay calm, and try to be brave, okay? If anything happens, have FRIDAY patch you through to me or Dad.”
Morgan quickly nodded. Peter stood up and hastily got changed into his suit.
FRIDAY spoke up. “Peter. You have approximately fifteen seconds before the intruders enter the house. Mr. Stark has been alerted of the situation and is on the way, and joined by the Avengers. His ETA is one hour.”
“Thanks, FRI!” Peter called out before bending down, kissing Morgan's head and hugging her one last time, and then dashing out of the lab.
He knew that Morgan would be safe there. It was the safest place in the house, and Tony had designed it for situations just like this, though he hoped that they would never happen. Tony had installed a protocol that would lock down the lab so that it could act as an emergency bunker, and it was extremely secure. The only people who can access it once it's locked down are Tony, Peter, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy.
Peter quickly exited the lab, and then quietly shut the door, before whispering, “FRIDAY. Initiate the Safeguard Lockdown.” Instantly, a slam and then a click was heard, and Peter knew that Morgan was now as safe as she could possibly be.
- – — ✮ — – -
Tony's heart had skipped a beat the moment he heard FRIDAY’s urgent voice sound throughout the quinjet, telling him that there were armed intruders, some of which were enhanced, closing in on his home. His home where he had left his two children alone. He was well aware that Peter could hold his own, but as their father, he was immediately consumed by not only worry and fear, but rage. If those intruders hurt his kids, there would be hell to pay. Tony will make sure of it. The only thing he found comfort in was the fact that he knew Peter would do everything in his power to make sure Morgan was safe.
On the downside, Peter lacks any sense of self-preservation. Who will protect Peter? Tony's heart races just thinking about it.
Steve rushing to stand up was what brought Tony back to reality. The super soldier was pressing the button to open up the back of the quinjet. Tony noticed everyone was now tense and looking at him. He appreciated the fact that everyone loved Peter and Morgan so deeply.
“Go,” Steve said urgently.
Tony wasted no time in engaging his suit and taking off into the night sky. He knew that Natasha would be following him to the lakehouse with the quinjet. He wasn't even surprised to see Thor and Sam flying alongside him with serious expressions, even surpassing him in speed at some points.
“FRIDAY, prepare the medical team at the tower, and get Pep on the phone.”
- – — ✮ — – -
Peter peeked around the hallway wall and was able to see all four of the men quietly walking into the house and surveying the layout. They were heading straight for the stairs that led to the bedrooms, which made it clear to Peter that they weren’t there to loot their home. They were there to take Morgan (no one knows about Peter's relationship with the Stark family, so they can't be there for him).
Before the men could get all the way up the stairs, Peter stepped out. “You guys do know that this is private property, right?” He called out after placing his hands on his hips. He couldn’t resist getting the quip in. MJ says that it would get him killed someday.
All four intruders turned around and stared incredulously at him. They obviously were not expecting Spider-Man to be at the home of the Stark family, and Peter used that shock to his advantage.
Peter quickly jumped into action. Literally. He launched himself at the closest intruder, and a few moments later, he slightly regretted it, because this guy packed quite the punch. Peter is fully aware that he can hit way harder than this guy, but he’s always pulled his punches in fights due to not wanting to severely hurt people, even if they were the criminals of New York. It’s what he’s used to. But he was quickly shown that he shouldn’t have been pulling his punches with this man.
In the blink of an eye, Peter was being flung across the room, and ended up landing on the coffee table, which broke upon impact. The teenage vigilante groaned and rubbed his now aching back. “Dude, that was not cool!” He called out weakly. “Mrs. Stark is gonna kill you.”
He was taken by surprise when the same man stomped over to him and then proceeded to pick him up by the neck. Peter couldn’t afford to mess around anymore. This man’s enhancement seemed to be super strength, at the very least, so the least Peter could do is level the playing field and use his own super strength. Using his flexibility to his advantage, he was able to bring his leg all the way up and kick at the man’s face, causing him to let go of Peter’s neck and drop the boy to the floor. Peter pushed himself up and then charged at the man.
Peter and the man exchanged several blows, some getting blocked, others landing (mostly landing, on Peter’s end).
He wasn't using his webshooters because Pepper hates it when he uses them in the house, and he can't bring himself to go against her rule, even in life or death (he was also making an effort to not destroy too much furniture or dent the walls). As a result, Peter was no longer pulling his punches as much (yet he was still holding back by a long shot—he didn't want to kill the man), and he was satisfied to see the intruder gritting his teeth in pain. Peter wasn’t uninjured, though. He was sporting a nosebleed, a bruising eye, an even more bruised everything else, and a fractured wrist. That didn’t thwart him, however.
He took a quick glance around the house as he was fighting the man, and realized that the other intruders were using this opportunity to search the house. He could hear them roaming around, having left his sight several minutes ago. Crap.
Peter realized his spidey sense went off a moment too late, and was caught off-guard by the man swinging at him. He was hit right in the head with the butt of a gun, with all the man’s might, super strength and all. Peter was thankful that this man wasn’t nearly as strong as him, but that didn’t change the fact that he blacked out for a second, and when he finally came back to himself, he was swept off his feet by a wave of nausea. His vision swam in and out of focus. He fought the urge to vomit. He could also feel the blood and sweat trickling down the side of his face. Unfortunately, that was long enough for the man to kick Peter down further and wrap his hands around the boy’s throat.
Peter was definitely panicking now. This cannot be how I die. I need to protect Mo. Think. He needed to think, but he was consumed by fear, and his brain just couldn’t process much else at the moment. He was too disoriented from the blow to the head, and he knew that wasn’t a good thing; he’s had his fair share of concussions throughout his time being Queens’ Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
As a last-ditch effort, Peter, who was trying to gasp for air, lifted a weak arm and pressed down on his web shooters. He wasn’t aiming for anything particular, so long as it got the man in the face in order to distract him, but he was lucky enough that he got the man’s eyes. The intruder grunted as he stood up and began to pull at the webs obstructing his vision, but was unsuccessful. The web fluid that Peter designed was incredibly durable.
Peter seized the opportunity and punched the man in the gut, and then utilized him doubling over in pain to ram his knee into the man’s head and knock him out cold. As he collapsed to the floor, Peter let out a breath of relief.
Too soon.
His spidey sense went off just a second later, and he was just in time to dodge a bullet. However, due to the blow to the head he received, he was unsuccessful in dodging the two that followed. One embedded itself in his thigh, while the other hit him in the stomach. Peter gritted his teeth as the pain hit him, but couldn’t help the strained whimper that left him as he kneeled on the floor. It was a pain like no other. Something was different about the bullets that just hit him, but he didn't have time to dwell on what it could be.
A part of him was angry at himself that he was currently being bested by four guys, when he was Spider-Man. And he knew why. It was because he was scared; scared to be Spider-Man.
But he doesn’t have time to focus on that.
Morgan. I need to protect Morgan.
He stood up on unsteady feet and shaky legs. Honestly speaking, the next ten minutes were uneventful (hard to watch, but uneventful). Peter took out the intruder who shot him, and then went after the other two, who were wandering around the home, being wary of the fact that one was enhanced (fortunately for Peter, this guy was a lot weaker than the other enhanced guy, and a hell of a lot more inexperienced), and then webbed them up fairly easily, much to his liking. What wasn’t to his liking was that, in the process of taking care of the intruders, one of them managed to stab him.
Great.
Once all four intruders were webbed up and Peter was sure they weren’t going anywhere, he allowed himself to fall to his knees. His entire world was spinning, and he squeezed his eyes shut with every wave of nausea. He sluggishly tugged off his mask, and took a deep breath once it was removed. It sucked that that deep breath felt like it did more harm than good, judging by the handful of blood he was staring down at.
As he coughed more blood into his hand, he pressed his free one against his stomach, whimpering into his glove. He couldn’t bring himself to care about the blood being smeared across his mouth, although he knew it would probably be quite the sight for Tony when he gets there.
Where is Dad?
Am I gonna die here?
He was dizzy and nauseous. His head was pounding, his vision was blurring, and his limbs felt like they weighed a ton. His strength was slowly dwindling with every second that passed by. It was getting harder and harder to keep himself upright.
Just as his body went limp and he was now lying on his back, his enhanced hearing picked up on the distant, familiar sound of the Iron Man suit’s thrusters.
Dad’s here. Peter weakly smiled to himself, but it quickly fell as he blacked out. When he came back to just a few seconds later, the front door slammed open, causing Peter to let out a wounded noise as he was hit by yet another wave of pain.
The sound that left Peter’s mouth must’ve reached Tony, because the frantic man’s head snapped towards that direction. The suit’s helmet retracted and, through his lidded eyes, Peter was able to see the horrified look on his father figure’s face before the man was running towards him.
“Mor- Morgan,” Peter choked out. He tasted the blood on his lips.
Tony was quick to send the suit back into its housing unit, and kneeled by the boy’s side just as Thor walked into the room with heavy steps. It only took one glance to tell that he wasn’t happy upon seeing Peter’s state. As Tony took in all the blood on Peter’s face, his jaw clenched. He spoke over his shoulder without taking his eyes off of Peter. “Give ‘em hell, Point Break,” he growled.
“With pleasure,” Thor responded, voice deep with fury. “There will be little left for the authorities to deal with.” With that, he grabbed two of the intruders and dragged them out, nodding gratefully when Sam came in and grabbed the other two.
Tony focused on Peter and cupped the boy’s cheeks. “Underoos, can you hear me?” Tony asked. He was worried by Peter’s distant gaze.
Peter seemed to choke on his words for a moment. “‘M fine, I’m… ‘M jus’ a little… tired,” the boy slurred. “Mo? Where’s Mo?” He couldn’t remember where he left her.
FRIDAY spoke up this time, voice soft. “You were able to get Morgan to the lab and initiate the Safeguard Protocol, Peter. Morgan is safe and being retrieved by Captain Rogers and Mr. Hogan.” Tony hadn't even realized that the others made it. He didn't register them entering the house.
“Come on, kid, stay with me,” Tony frantically muttered when he noticed that Peter’s eyes were closed. “I need you to stay awake for me, okay? Keep your eyes open, baby.” Tony's heart was stuttering in his chest at the sight of his kid bleeding and barely conscious in his arms.
“Dad,” Peter mumbled. “Mo's safe?” It was clear he didn’t fully register FRIDAY’s confirmation from just a few moments ago. He coughed up a bit of blood, nearly giving Tony a heart attack.
“She’s safe, kiddo, your little sister is safe, thanks to you. You did good.”
Natasha appeared behind him, and Tony heard the small gasp that escaped her at the sight of Peter, but she quickly composed herself and wore a blank, serious expression. “Let's go, Tony. We need to get him on the jet with Bruce, now,” she stated firmly.
Tony sniffed and took a deep breath before hooking his metal arm under Peter’s knees, and wrapping the other around the boy’s back. He quickly hoisted his kid up into his arms, and rushed out of the house alongside Natasha. Steve, Happy, and a crying Morgan weren’t too far behind them. Every few seconds, Tony would shake Peter to keep him awake, but his efforts were having less and less of an effect as the seconds went by.
When Tony and Peter were finally on the quinjet, along with everyone else—excluding Thor and Sam, who were… occupied—Peter sluggishly looked around as Tony laid him down on a cot. The teenager's dazed look had everyone concerned, and his movement was alarmingly delayed. Bruce was quickly by his side, and once the man got a good look at Peter, he grimaced.
When Peter caught sight of Morgan, he finally let go. His body went slack, and the last thing his brain registered was everyone's hearts racing.
- – — ✮ — – -
Peter’s hearing went in and out for a few minutes. He picked up on hushed voices talking over him. Judging by the sterile smell of the room he was in, he knew that he was in the tower’s medbay without opening his eyes, which felt like they were weighted down by lead. He could feel that someone had a tight grip on his right hand, and another hand was running its fingers through his brown curls.
He’s been in the Medbay enough times to know who those hands belonged to.
He groaned softly once he finally managed to open his eyes. Almost immediately, he heard two loud breaths of relief. He looked to his right and saw May start crying, bringing his hand up to her lips and pressing a firm kiss to the back of it. On his other side, what he saw had his heart dropping. Tony sat there staring at him, wearing the same expression he wore on the battlefield that day; the same expression he wore once he had finally gotten Peter back. There were tears in his tired eyes, and both he and May looked significantly more stressed than they usually did.
The sight of the two had Peter feeling guilty. “I’m… I’m sorry about yesterday, Dad,” he whispered. “I-I… I got scared.” He felt like he was moreso trying to admit it to himself. “I tried my best to- to protect Mo, but then the guy got the upper hand and he got me, and- and- and-”
“Roos.” Tony called out, interrupting Peter’s rambling. “Calm down, buddy. No one is mad at you, or blaming you for anything. God, we couldn’t be more proud of you, especially now that we know you were that terrified. You also had no backup,” the genius explained. “Pete, you did what you could in a scary situation. You gotta remember that you're just a kid. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Morgan is safe because of you, and I can’t thank you enough, bambino.”
Tears brimmed Peter’s eyes.
“Tony’s right, baby. You did what you could, don’t beat yourself up. Morgan’s safe and sound, and now you are too,” May pitched in. She gently rubbed Peter’s hand with her thumb.
Peter hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “How- How long was I out? Everything happened, like, last night, right?” He asked nervously.
Tony looked down. “No, kid,” he responded quietly. His body seemed tense, his words stiff. Peter's eyebrows furrowed with worry. “Your injuries… they were severe. Besides the expected bruising everywhere, you were severely concussed, you took a knife to the abdomen, and… you were shot twice. You nearly bled out in my arms, Roos,” the mechanic confessed.
Peter frowned deeply. He's been hurt countless times just like this, and sure, Tony and May acted similarly, but he’s positive that there’s just something off about the way that they’re looking at him.
“There's… There’s more, isn't there?”
May squeezed the teenager's hand and looked at Tony, who grimaced and nodded before sitting up to meet Peter’s eyes again. “I’ll just rip the band-aid off, kiddo. Ross was behind this whole gig. We’re thinking Steve and I might have pissed him off with the stunt we pulled in Amsterdam a couple weeks ago, so he hired a gaggle of musclehead mercs to go after Morgan when they thought that she was alone,” Tony revealed. Peter gasped quietly.
“Good thing she had her brave big brother to keep her safe,” May interjected with a soft smile.
Tony smiled too, but briefly. “The bullets. They were laced with enough of a fast-acting poison to kill ten super soldiers, and they did a number on your healing factor, and I am so goddamn thankful that you’re alive. You've been out for two whole weeks.”
Peter's eyes widened. “Two weeks?!” He asked in disbelief. No wonder Tony and May and most likely Pepper and everyone else were going gray with worry. It all made sense now.
Tony stood up and then sat down on the edge of Peter’s bed, before leaning down to press a kiss to the boy’s forehead. He lingered for a moment longer, as if he was afraid Peter would disappear. “I love you so much, kid. I love you.”
“Sorry for the scare,” Peter murmured under his breath as he closed his eyes. “I love you too.”
Tony hugged Peter and smiled cheekily into the boy's hair. “You know I’d do anything for you, right, kid?”
Peter snickered. “No, Dad, you can’t murder Ross, as much as I know you want to.”
“Speaking of murder.”
Peter and Tony slowly turned to look at May, faces paling with pity.
Tony sighed and glanced at Peter. “Stop me all you want, the real focus should be on May Parker.”
Peter grinned up at Tony, whose heart melted. “You and I both know that nothing could ever get between Aunt May and whatever she’s intent on doing.”
“Even murder.”
“Eh. She likes to call it protecting her loved ones.”
“How easily do you think I could bribe a judge, Petey Pie?”
“Oh, lighten up, boys,” May suddenly chimed in with an easy going timbre. “I’ll go easy on him.”
“Wait, really?”
“No.”