The Avengers entered the tower looking worse for the wear, save for Tony, whose suit protected him well. The only thing was that he looked plain tired and in need of a good nap. Clint was cradling his stomach with his right arm and walked with a stiff gait. Thor, who was simply dirty, supported his brother on his right side, with Steve on the opposite side, who sported more than just a few bruises himself. Loki was grinning widely at something Peter had said about driving and damaging an expensive car. And Peter was still carrying Benji, who'd been barking at passersby, and especially at Friday every time she spoke.

This was the sight that greeted Natasha, Bucky, and Dr. Banner as the returning group entered the medical facility.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Peter asked first.

"We're fine, but I think we should be asking you all that question. What happened out there?" Bruce said as he took off his reading glasses and setting some papers aside.

"Well- ", Steve started to say, but Clint quickly took over.

"We put out a fire, rescued a bunch of people, it rained flowers on Cap and Loki, I became a human whoopie cushion, and we have a new addition to the team. Now can we hurry up and get it over with?"

Natasha rolled her eyes, Clint's disdain for hospitals couldn't be more obvious. Her attention was suddenly attracted to Peter, who stood to the rear of the group.

Bucky and Bruce shared confused looks before the latter spoke up, "We have a new member?"

At this point, Tony cut in, "Yup, we have a mascot now." He moved over to reveal Peter holding a small brown dog.

"Ta-da", Peter cheered as he raised the dog a little higher.

"Oh, hey Indy", Bruce said as he finished checking on Clint and Loki.

"You know him, too? Who else besides me knows this dog?" Tony asked, insulted.

Both Bucky and Natasha raised their hands, staying silent and the latter rolling her eyes yet again.

Bruce simply shrugged.

By now, Peter had walked up to an empty metal table and set Benji on it slowly.

"Dr. Banner, could you please check his paw? He's been limping on it ever since we found him.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do", Banner said as he gently picked up Benji's paw and examined it closely. After about a minute, he hummed victoriously.

"I see the problem, there was a splinter in his paw. I got it out now, so he'll be good as new. You probably may want to take him to the vet to get his shots and everything, just to be on the safe side."

Peter nodded eagerly and was already making plans to visit the local veterinarian with Clint and Steve.

Clint spoke up at this point, "So Cap, this is the dog you were telling about last week? He looks better in person or whatever than that picture you snapped, it was pretty blurry."

Steve rolled his eyes and smiled in agreement. In the other hand Tony simply looked flustered.

"So is there some sort of conspiracy against me like, 'lets keep a secret from Tony' or something?"

Natasha decided to deign that with an answer if her own this time, "Well you never asked."

Tony threw his hands up in exasperation before narrowing his eyes and looking towards the ceiling suspiciously.

"Friday, did you know about this too?"

'Yes boss. Actually, Mr. Rogers informed me -- months ago when inquiring about foods that are harmful to dogs.'

"Traitor."

'Whatever you say boss.'

ARF!

"And you", Tony swivelled around and pointed at Benji. "Stop barking at my AI."

Arf.

"Are you sassing me, dog?"

At this Benji crouched and growled playfully at Tony, just itching to jump on him. Peter decided to intervene while they were ahead.

"I think we ought to feed him. And don't worry Mr. Stark, we really don't want you to feel left out. From this point on, he will be known as Benjamin Indiana Stark", Peter exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why does he have to have my last name? Why not Barton's or Rogers'?"

"Well it's the thought that counts. And it sounds better too, eh? Like it has class-"

"Forget it kid. Just get him patched up and be done with it. I'm gonna go now and get my lunch; Pepper's waiting on me anyway."

And with that Tony left.

Little did he know, that later on, that was exactly the name they put on the vet papers for Benji.

Ok, so Chapter 5, up. Honestly, I have rewritten this chapter at least 6 times, and was not satisfied at all with it each time. The only reason it is now up is because my sibling helped me with it. Hope y'all like it though.