I am so sorry for the long wait guys, 2020 has not been very good to me so far:

January: I got Scarlet Fever right at the start of the month. The medication I'm on for my rheumatoid arthritis (yes, you read correctly. I'm 22 and have arthritis) lowers my immune system. That meant the Scarlet Fever lasted longer than it usually would have. It took nearly a month and 3 courses of antibiotics to finally get rid of it. My dad's uncle also died, so that wasn't great.

February: My cat unfortunately died. She was the first of my animals that I've had die and it really hit me hard. I was the only one in the family she would let stroke her and she always came to bed with me, so it's been horrible without her. For those of you who have pets, I'm sure you understand just how much they can become a part of your family. My dad also went into hospital at the end of the month and was there for two weeks.

Now March: My dad had to go back to hospital for a week, but thankfully he seems better now. Thank God! We also have this corona-virus going around which is just horrible. I hope all you guys are well and stay safe.

So…yeah. 2020 can just fuck off. Sorry for the rant, I just needed to explain why I've been gone for so long because you guys deserve to know that I haven't just disappeared, I've just been dealing with some stuff.

Anyway, please enjoy :)

Chapter 10.
Rogues and Tag.
Tony feels ice cold dread wash over him as silence fills the room. This could not be happening. It was like he was in a nightmare.

Peter and the rogues are in the same room…and Peter announced to them, and the UN representatives that are here as well, that he is his son and that Steve almost killed him.

He's not ashamed of his son, or people knowing about him, but he did not need the UN knowing about his son because those NDA's are going to be a bitch to get and he definitely did not need the rogues knowing he has a son.

He knows that, because they'll be living in the compound, there was a chance they'd run into Peter, but most of the time Peter is in his private area, which the rogues do not have access to, so they wouldn't see him often. The few times they would have seen him, he'd have played it off as the internship.

Can't do that now.

He also now can't pretend that Siberia didn't happen, since Peter blurted that out too.

He chances a look at Rogers, and he sees that his face has paled a couple of shades and he's looking nervous and guilty.

He flickers his eyes over the other three rogues, and they all look confused. Natasha less so because it's not in her nature to show her emotions, but he could see a brief look of confusion in her eyes.

Clearly, they don't know what happened. Which doesn't surprise him, since Rogers isn't great at sharing secrets.

Not that he wanted everyone to know, of course, but they're going to now because they're going to want to know what Peter is talking about.

Tony sucks in a deep breath and bites back his anxiety because he will not have a panic attack in front of the rogues. Especially not when Peter's in the same room as them either, because he needs to be in full working shape to protect his son, if needed, in case any other them try anything stupid.

He's pretty sure they wouldn't attack a kid…but at the same time, he was pretty sure that Rogers was his friend and wouldn't hurt him…look how that ended.

"Peter, our floor. Now" he needs to get his son out of here this room and away from them. He can't think properly with Peter so close to the people he once considered friends.

He just wants Peter somewhere safe.

"And leave you here with them? With him?" Peter narrows his eyes at Steve, pure anger in his eyes.

Steve takes a small step back. There's a table between him and the boy, but that doesn't feel like enough space. The amount of anger rolling of the child, and the fact that he apparently knows what unfortunately happened in Siberia, makes him feel uneasy.

Rhodey steps forward and places his hand on Peter's other shoulder, trying to help Tony push the teen out. "Me and Vision are here, okay? We're not gonna let anything happen".

"I'm not leaving" Peter moves away from his dad's and Rhodey's hands, and further into the room.

The giant table in the room separates them all. Him, his dad, Rhodey and Vision on one side, the side closest to the door. While the rogues are on the other side, with the UN representatives standing at the top of the table in the middle of both sides.

"You are leaving. Now" Tony grabs Peter's arm by the crook of his elbow and again attempts to pull his son out of the room.

"No, I'm not", Peter's gaze doesn't waver from the rogues as he easily pulls his arm free. "He's proved that he doesn't care about you and that he's capable of hurting you if he feels like it".

"Peter-" Tony starts.

"Peter…I do care about your…dad" Steve breaks his silence, still unsure of what exactly is going on. They had come to here to hear the new terms of the accords and hopefully come home. He regrets everything that's happened between them all…well almost everything. He doesn't regret not signing the first accords or helping Bucky…but everything else, he wishes it went differently.

That's another reason why he came back, to make things right. Especially with Tony.

God…He never knew that Tony had a son, and that makes him feel even worse about how things happened in Siberia, which he didn't know was possible.

And clearly Tony's son knows what happened in Siberia, so he can't blame him for acting like this. He sees a threat to his father and wants to protect him. "I didn't mean to hurt Tony, I just…I couldn't let him hurt Bucky".

"Shut up" Peter's glare hardens, "you didn't mean to hurt him? You beat him till he was on the ground and then you left him there. You didn't know what kind of damage you did to him! You broke his suit so he couldn't fly home or call for help…you left him stranded and for dead!"

"I never meant for that to happen" Steve swallows, and he really didn't mean to hurt Tony like that…he didn't even realise till now just how much he hurt the man. He was just trying to protect Bucky and Tony wasn't backing down, so he had to use a bit more force. If he'd have known just how hurt Tony was, he never would have left him in the bunker.

Now knowing that Tony apparently has a son just makes it even worse, not only had he'd horrible hurt his friend…but he almost took a parent away from a child.

He's disgusted with himself.

"He'd just found out the truth about what happened to his parents. He was hurt and upset. After you watch your parents get murdered, you don't act logically…you don't even think. You just react" Peter's hands start curling into a fist as his anger continues to rise. "Dad saw the man that killed his parent's standing in the same room as him and he acted like any other rational person would have-".

"Bucky-" Steve, against his better judgement, tried to interrupt to defend Bucky.

"Was brainwashed? Yes, he was. Technically he was only the brainwashed weapon and it was Hydra that killed them. However, after you've just watched a video of your parents being killed, you aren't thinking about the technicalities and you aren't thinking rationally. You've just seen your parent's die. Your first thoughts aren't going to be 'well it wasn't really him because he was brainwashed'. You're going to be hurt and angry. You're going to attack the person that killed them" Peter's breathing quickens as he works himself up. "If you had told dad the truth about his parent's when you had found out…then maybe he would have had time to come to terms with what happened. It still would have hurt seeing that video of his parents dying…but it wouldn't have been a surprise. He would have already had time to process what had happened, meaning that he most likely wouldn't have attacked your friend".

The room is frozen in silence.

Rhodey is watching Tony like a hawk, ready to get his friend out of here if it looks like he's about to have a panic attack. He knows that his friend doesn't want the rogues to see or know about the attacks, and frankly he doesn't want the rogues around Tony while he's in a vulnerable state. They've shown how much they care about his brother, or don't care seeing as none of them ever noticed Tony's mental illnesses and struggles when they had been living with him.

He's also keeping an eye on Peter, because his nephew is working himself up and since he's proven that he's a lot like his father, Rhodey can tell that a panic attack is close.

Sam and Wanda look at Steve, their eyebrows frowning in confusion at what Peter had said. They can see the destroyed look on Steve's face. Guilt and remorse pooling in his eyes. That alone tells them that the things Peter had been ranting about…were true. But how could they be? Steve wouldn't do something like that…

Natasha looks at Steve from the corner of her eye. She knew that he had never told Tony about his parents, which she thought was a mistake, but it wasn't her place or secret to tell. She also knows that Steve has a single thought whenever Bucky is involved, so she isn't surprised that he ended up fighting Tony. She is surprised to hear how hurt he left Tony though, even if it was in defence of Bucky.

She flickers her eyes over to the boy who is apparently Tony's son. He certainly looks like Tony and is obviously protective of him…she's just very curious as to when this happened because there is no way she would have missed this.

The UN representatives are just wondering how they picked the short straw, because this has just gone from complicated to bomb sight.

"I'm sorry" Steve says, his voice sounding rough and his face visibly reflecting the pain and regret he felt.

Peter shakes his head, his anger still burning and yet he felt tear start to form in his eyes. "It's all your fault! If you had acted like the friend you were supposed to be to my dad and told him the truth…none of this would have happened…but you just don't stop to think about the consequences of your actions!"

Tony comes out of his shock and knows that he really needs to get Peter out of the room. His son was becoming distressed and his breathing was starting to become erratic. He needed to get him to calm down before he sent himself into a panic attack…or before he decided that the best course of action was to attack Rogers.

As much as he'd love to see Rogers get knocked on his ass, it would defiantly give away Peter's web-swinging alter-ego…and that was not something they could deal with right now. Not with everything else that Peter's already spilled out to everyone.

He just wants to get his son and leave. Rhodey and Vision can handle finishing up the meeting because he can't face any of them, not when he knows that they all have questions about what Peter just said.

Tony steps closer to his son and grabs his arm again. He leans closer to Peter's face and lowers his voice, "Peter, we talk about this… the accords, Germany…Siberia…it wasn't just on Rogers; it was on me too…it was on everyone. We all played a part in what happened and what happened was a mess".

"But you didn't almost kill someone" Peter's voice is hard and his wet glare on Steve is unwavering. "How could you actually let them back here?"

"You know why" Tony says softly but firmly.

Peter finally turns his gaze from Steve to his dad. His glare turning into a look of fear, tears starting to make their way down his face, "he hurt you".

"I know, and I hurt him back".

"He was able to walk away…you almost didn't" Peter chokes out.

"But I did" Tony pulls on Peter's arm gently, "come on".

"I'm not leaving you with him" Peter shakes his head adamantly.

"I'm coming too. Rhodey and Vision can finish things here".

Peter nods his head but turns to look back at Steve. His icy glare back on his face, "you ever hurt my dad again, and it will be the last time you do".

"Come on Pete" Tony says firmly, and this time Peter let's Tony drag him out of the room.

Once again, the room falls into silence as the father and son leave. No one sure of what to do or say.

Rhodey crosses his arms over his chest as he re-takes his seat. Now that his friend is out of the room, he can relax a little bit. He didn't want Tony to be here in the first place because he knew the affect it would have on him, being in a room with Rogers and Romanoff.

Tony is one stubborn bastard and would not just let him and Vision handle it. He was kind of glad for Peter's interruption…even if he did let several cat's out of their bags.

"Okay…I'm just gonna…" Sam breaks the silence of the room, eyes flickering between Steve and the door that Tony and Peter just left threw. The shock wearing off of him, "I'm gonna ask what everyone else is thinking…What the hell?"

"That is a good question" Rhodey leans back in his chair as he looks at Steve.

Steve closes his eyes in shame and lowers head. He hadn't told the others the full story of what happened in Siberia. He should have. He knows he should have…but he was too…disappointed in himself and about what happened to ever actually tell them. All he had ever said about Siberia was that when he and Bucky had gotten to Siberia, Zemo had already killed the other soldiers and T'Challa had taken him into custody. Steve suspected Natasha knew that more had happened, because she's Natasha, but she's never asked or confronted him.

"Steve?" Wanda frowns.

"When me and Bucky were in Siberia looking for the other soldiers…Tony showed up. He found proof that Bucky wasn't responsible for the bombing and came to help us with the soldiers, without Ross's knowledge", Steve explains, looking up at his team. "When we found Zemo in the room with the dead soldiers…he had this computer and on it he played a tape from one of the Winter Soldiers missions", Steve swallows hard. "It was of the night Tony's parents died".

"Wait, hold up" Sam raises a hand to stop Steve, "are you saying that your buddy did kill Tony's parents?"

"It wasn't Bucky…but it was the Winter Soldier. The tape showed the Soldier killing Howard and his wife…and Tony watched it. He was upset-".

"Understatement" Rhodey mutters rolling his eyes.

"He attacked Bucky, wanted to kill him…I…I was just trying to stop him…I never meant to hurt Tony the way I did. I just…" Steve trails off because he has no argument. He messed up.

Wanda quietly takes a seat, digesting everything. She's never been a fan of Stark and will never be friends with him…but she can understand the loss of family.

The UN representatives still look like they would like to be somewhere else.

"Man…" Sam shakes his head and bites his lip, "so your brainwashed buddy killed his parents and then you beat him up? You should have told us this sooner Steve. We're supposed to be a team…aren't we?"

"I know I should have…I just…I was worried that if you knew that you'd want to leave and I wanted to keep what little bit of a team we had left, together. I knew what I did to Tony wasn't right…he's my friend and he was angry…but I just…I couldn't let him hurt Bucky either" Steve says, the shame and the guilt thick in his voice. "I know I messed up and I don't have any good excuses…I wish I could take it all back".

"I don't even know what to think right now" Sam mutters, pulling back a chair and falling into it.

"The kid said something about 'if you had told him when you had found out'. What did he mean?" Wanda asks.

"After we found out that Hydra still existed, and we uploaded their stuff onto the internet…we found the written reports of Howard and his wife's deaths…I didn't know whether or not to tell Tony…I didn't know at the time if it would do more harm than good" Steve says.

"I wiped the files on Hydra's involvement in the Starks deaths off the internet after making a copy for Steve to give to Tony if he decided to tell him" Natasha adds.

Natasha regrets a lot of what happened. All she had wanted to do when she join SHEILD was to finally do some good, to wash some of the blood from her hands, which she thought she was doing when she became an Avenger… She also thought she was finally part of a family, even if it was a bit dysfunctional.

And then it all fell apart.

She wishes she that she didn't go behind Tony's back by letting Steve go, breaking Tony's trust…but she thought she was doing the right thing for the future of team. She thought that if Steve got arrested by Tony then things would end badly.

Things ended badly any way.

And now here they are…attempting to fix something that's going to be very hard to put back together again.

"You knew too?" Rhodey looks at Natasha. Actually, why is he even surprised?

Natasha nods.

"In the end I chose not to because I didn't want to hurt him" Steve looks at the ground.

"And yet you ended up hurting Mr Stark more than if you had told him in the first place" Vision states, not intending to be harsh but his bluntness of the fact makes Steve flinch.

"I know that now, and I wish I'd made a different call" Steve looks at Vision, his face full of honesty.

"You're not the only one" Rhodey mumbles.

"I really am sorry about what happened and how it happened" Steve looks at Rhodey with pleading eyes.

"It's not me you have to apologise to…however, I'd give it some time" Rhodey says. He's not sure whether Tony would ever forgive what happened, and frankly he's not sure whether his friend should or shouldn't. Rhodey may be a bit biased but he isn't single minded, he knows that it wasn't all Rogers fault. Tony had messed up too, they all had…but seeing as it was his friend who got beaten and left for practically dead, he's pretty sure no one's going to blame him for holding a grudge against Rogers. "Good luck getting past his bodyguard though. Peter's not going to let you anywhere near him, not that you can blame him".

"Right, and Peter is?" Natasha raises an eyebrow.

"I thought that was made pretty clear" Rhodey stares back.

"Last time I checked; Tony didn't have any children" Natasha digs.

"Last time you checked, Tony didn't know he had any children" Rhodey shoots back, "He only found out about Peter at the start of the year and trust me when I say, that if you want to get on Tony's good side, do not go interrogating Peter. You'll find your pardons gone quicker than you can blink, and I'll be personally blasting you out of the compound", Rhodey fixes all of the rogues with a look, finishing his stare on Natasha. "Peter is off limits".

Natasha nods her head. In the past she would have paid no attention to that warning and the spy in her still wants to go and find out as much about this boy as possible…but she won't. She has a lot of making up to do and going behind Tony's back again is not something she wants to do. She knows that Tony will never trust her like he once did, and that's on her, but she still has to try.

"Uh…maybe we could…um, get back to the meeting", one of the UN representatives stutters out.

"Of course, where were we?" Rhodey asks.

"We were explaining the conditions of the pardons and the accords" Vision floats into a chair next to Rhodey, while Natasha and Steve slowly sit back down.

"Okay, well first, one of your conditions for your pardons is that you have to sign the accords and before you-" Rhodey looks pointedly at Steve, "-start going off on some righteous freedom speech, the accords are not yet finalized, these are just drafts that you're signing as a sign of good faith" Rhodey pauses for Steve's outburst, but the man is keeping quiet…though he doesn't look to pleased. "If you had listened the first time the accords were presented, you would have known that they were still a work in progress, and you could have been a part of making them", Rhodey can't help but dig at Rogers a little. Sue him, he hurt his best friend. "Tony has been working with the UN on the final draft of the accords. He's been trying to find a fair middle ground between what the UN wants and what we want. He's made them see that having the accords how they were would do more harm than good because it would only make the people they want to sign it feel threatened and like they have no freedom at all. He's made a lot of changes and progress, and hopefully the finalized Sokovia Accords will be finished soon".

"What kind of changes?" Steve asks, he knew that a condition of their pardons would be the accords. He just hopes that they have changed.

"Well for one, you only sign the accords if you're a part of the Avengers or another group of enhance or powered people. If you're enhanced, or whatever, and you don't want to sign and you want to go live a normal life, then you won't be forced to sign. If, however, you commit a crime, you will then of course be registered so that you can be tracked and monitored. You also have to be over the age of 18 to sign the accords and if you have a secret identity, you do not have to reveal it as long as someone else, who has signed the accords, vouches for you" Rhodey explains. Letting them know how much the accords have changed and just what Tony's done for them is a good incentive and guilt trip. "Another change is that while we won't be working under the government, we'll be working with the government. We'll have a liaison officer as well as an agreed upon set of guidelines for when we do or do not get involved. Avengers will no longer deal with threats that normal task forces can handle, such as terrorists, unless we are given permission or asked for help. We let the normal people handle the normal threats that they are trained for. The Avengers are around to deal with enhanced people, weapons or aliens".

Sam let's out huff of air, "Starks been working on this, even after what happened in Germany?"

Rhodey nods, "there's other things he's managed to get tweaked, but you can read it through once the accords are finalized".

"What are our other conditions for our pardons?" Wanda asks.

"Obviously, you'll be staying in the compound so that you can be monitored to make sure you're not doing anything you shouldn't. For the foreseeable future, you'll only be allowed to leave the compound when there is an assemble. After a period of time, depending on good behaviour, you'll then be able to come and go from the compound" Rhodey explains more of the conditions. He can tell that Rogers isn't completely pleased but is keeping his mouth shut. "Your arrival back in the country and your pardons are being kept quiet for now while everything gets finalised and settled. It'll probably be a month or two before we announce that you've returned, just so we can plan out how we release the information. You know info control, so we can make it look positive".

"How did Tony get the committee to agree to these changes and to the pardons" Natasha interrupts.

"He simply laid it all out to them", while Tony was the one who went to all the meetings over the accords, Rhodey did also go to some of them as well. So, he saw first-hand how Tony persuaded the council to listen to his ideas. "He explained that if an invasion were to happen again, the world would lose because our armies and weapons wouldn't last long against the advance technology that other worlds have. Earth needs enhanced people and such to be able to stand a chance in a fight for the world, which is why they eventually but begrudgingly agreed to your pardons" Rhodey explains what Tony had told the UN. "It's also why they've agree to some of the changes within the accords. Just like you, other enhanced people aren't going to sign something that almost seems like it's about tagging and tracking them. They won't want to register themselves if it's just so they can be watched because they are different. It invades their rights as humans. So, Tony told them that they have to meet in the middle of control and no control, for the safety of the Earth".

"And it worked?" Sam asks, slightly sceptically.

"Well, you're here getting your pardons aren't you" Rhodey points out and Sam concedes.

"You said that we'd be have a liaison officer. It's not Ross, is it?" Steve asks warily. He can accept the accords and the conditions, but there is no way that he'll work with Ross. That man built an underwater prison for enhanced people to be lock away and forgotten about.

Rhodey snorts, "hell no. Ross tried to get the council to appoint him as the liaison, but Tony made sure that didn't happen. He told the council point blank that the Avengers won't work with him".

"Bet Ross was happy about that" Sam smirks.

"He couldn't show that he was pissed off in front of the UN, but you could see he was fuming…it was very satisfying".

"If we could get back on track", one of the UN representatives interrupts, pulling out the copies of the accords to be signed.

"Right, once you sign these, you'll be shown to your rooms. You're all on the same floor in the same wing. For now, you'll only have access to your floor, the communal kitchen and living room, the med-bay, the gym, the training room and the outside area. You'll only be allowed access to other areas if given permission by someone with full clearance" Rhodey informs the rogues as the accords gets passed to them.

"And someone with full clearance would be?" Natasha asks while she flicks through her copy of the accords.

"Tony, Pepper, myself or Peter".

"You said that we aren't allowed to leave the compound for some time" Wanda says, "so even though we have been pardoned…we're still prisoners".

"You should be thankful that you got your pardons and that your 'prison' is the compound. There are a lot of worse places that you could have been stuck in" Rhodey points out with a raised eyebrow and Wanda shuts her mouth, "and like I said, it's only for now. You'll gain your freedom back once you start earning back the trust that you lost".

"Mr Barton and Mr Lang have already started gaining trust with the good behaviour they have been showing during their house arrests" Vision states, "they will, in fact, be coming to the compound tomorrow".

Sam and Wanda sign their copies of the accord, followed by Natasha. Steve stares at the accords hard for a moment before sighing and reluctantly signing also.

"Thank you for your cooperation Mr Rogers, Mr Wilson, Mrs Romanoff and Miss Maximoff" the UN representative collects the accords, "thank you for your help Mr Rhodes and Mr…Vision".

"I'm just glad that a solution could be found" Rhodey stands and shakes their hands, "F.R.I.D.A.Y will show you out".

The UN representatives collect their things and leave the room.

Rhodey turns back to the rogues, "Vision will show you to your floor so you can get settled", Rhodey starts walking out of the room as the rogues stand up from their chairs. "By the way. If any of you hurt Tony again, they won't find your bodies", Rhodey doesn't bother to turn around as he threatens them, he just continues out the door.

Steve knew that things would be hard…after everything thing that's happened between them. He wasn't stupid, he knew that everything wouldn't go back to the way it was before. Things are different now. Trust was broken.

He just hopes that eventually things could at least be better than they are now.

Although it seems like that's all it's going to be. Hope.

After his dad gets him out of the room, the rest of Friday goes in a hazy blink for Peter. He vaguely remembers his dad taking them to their floor and sitting him down on the couch.

They didn't speak much, which was fine with Peter because he didn't know exactly what to say. He had accidently blurted out that he was his son and the stuff about Siberia, all of which is supposed to be a secret. He was worried that his dad would be mad at him, so he was glad when they just sat together on the couch in mostly silence. Peter snuggled into dad's chest so he could hear the firm beating of his father's heart.

He remembers Rhodey appearing at some point, but all he was focused on was his father's heart beating, proving he was alive.

Talking could be done later, now was a time for cuddling.

Peter doesn't sleep well that night, spending most of it tossing and turning. His mind focused on the rogues only a few floors away.

Tony and Pepper share a look with each other over breakfast when they see they the dark circles under Peter's eyes at breakfast.

"It's going to be a few hours before Clint and Scott get here, so why don't we go to the lab and work on your bot some more? I have some bits and pieces to finish up too" Tony asks once Peter finishes shovelling the last piece of his breakfast into his mouth.

Peter shrugs, "sure".

The boys make their way to the lab while Pepper leaves for work. Peter's bot was almost finished. Its coding was almost complete, and once that's done, he can finish putting his bot together.

His bot, once complete, will be about half the size of a soccer ball. Not very big, but that wasn't what Peter wanted. He wanted a small bot that would be easy to for him to take with him if needed and wouldn't get in the way.

As much as he loves his brobots…you have to take cover sometimes when they start swinging their arms around.

Peter and Tony sit side by side working on their own projects for the next couple of hours, with Tony interjecting occasionally to help Peter with his bot.

"Boss, Mr Hogan has arrived with Potato" F.R.I.D.A.Y interrupts.

Peter blinks, "…did Friday just say…potato?"

"Ah, yes. Send him up here Fri and tell Hap he can go back to SI" Tony says, picking up a rag to wipe his hands.

"You ordered a potato?" Peter frowns in confusion.

"Yes…well, no. Not an actual potato, but you should absolutely call him that". Peter continues to stare at Tony like he's grown a second head, "okay…after yesterday, I figured you could do with something to take your mind off of everything. Now I know that Cooper and the other small people are going to be here soon…but I made a call to an old friend of mine. He helped me out a few years ago-".

"Sell me short why don't you mechanic" a boy huffs, walking into the lab, startling Peter. "I more than helped you. I totally saved you a few years ago, and I'm insulted it took you this long to invite me out to visit by the way".

"You're potato?" Peter squints at the new arrival, the boy looks to be around his age. He has light brown hair that, like his own, is a mop on his head. Though Peter's is more controlled due to the fact he uses gel to help tame his curls.

"Seriously? That's what you're making Friday call me?" the boy glares at Tony.

"Yes" Tony nods with a satisfied grin.

"Now I'm insulted and offended" the boy huffs "also…why didn't you tell me sooner that you have a kid now?"

"It's not public knowledge" Tony shrugs.

"I'm not the public, I'm the kid that saved your life-".

"Helped".

"-and we're supposed to be connected".

"Which is why I've told you now" Tony says in a tone that implies it was obviously, but the boy only glares.

"Um…h-hello?" Peter stutters, interrupting his father and the stranger.

…Does his dad have a habit of picking up stray children? Is he secretly Bruce Wayne?

"Right!" Tony claps his hand together, "Peter, meet Harley. He helped me out of few years ago during the Mandarin thing and we kept in touch because he's pretty smart and an okay kid".

"Wow…I'm so touched by those thoughtfully and loving words. You really warmed my heart" Harley clutches his chest, holding onto his heart. "The oh so great Ironman thinks I'm 'okay'. My life is complete".

"He's just as much of a little shit as you are Pete, so you'll get along fine" Tony glares at Harley while the boy just grins at him. "Harley, meet my recently discovered son, Peter… Well not that recently discovered, it's been six months now".

"Hi" Harley grins at Peter, "I think it should also be said that I shot your dad with my potato gun. That's why he apparently has Friday call me Potato".

"You didn't shoot me with a potato gun, you missed" Tony scoffs.

"I almost shot you" Harley insists, and Tony just rolls his eyes.

"Oh my God" Peter groans, his face falling into his hands.

"What?" both Harley and Tony ask.

Peter raises his head and he stares at Tony, "you've set up another playdate".

"No, no, no-" Tony shakes his head.

"Holy shit…you have" Harley's eyes widen, "dude! I'm 16".

"And I'm almost 16" Peter huffs.

"Hold on! I never set up the first playdate! That was Scott and Clint" Tony defends himself, "and this isn't a playdate. I just thought it would be nice for you two to meet. Sorry for trying to be thoughtful".

"You've become one of those embarrassing dad's" Harley snorts.

"You have no idea how embarrassing he can be" Peter says with a look in his eyes that says that he's seen some shit.

Harley grins like an evil genius, "tell me every bit of dirt you have on him, and we're going to be the best of friends".

"I've made mistake" Tony mutters, the realisation hitting him.

"I can do better then tell you, I have videos" Peter grins pulling out his phone.

"I've made a very big mistake".

"Robin Hood and Stuart Little have arrived, along with the small agents" F.R.I.D.A.Y announces.

"Oh, thank God!" Tony cries in relief, "send them to the communal living room, we'll meet them there".

"Don't think this saves you mechanic" Harley says, "I'm here the whole weekend, remember?"

"Devil child" Tony glares at Harley as Peter sniggers behind him.

"You know what…I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks dad" Peter smiles, not very innocently, at Tony.

"I'll ground you" Tony points at Peter.

"Pepper will un-ground me" Peter shrugs.

"No one here respects me or listens to me" Tony huffs in defeat, "come on. Let's go meet Tiny Tim and Feathers".

"Tiny Tim and Feathers?" Harley frowns in confusion as he and Peter follow Tony out of the lab.

"Antman and Hawkeye" Peter clarifies.

"I thought they were in hiding with the other ex-avengers?"

"To the public, yes they are in hiding" Tony says.

"And to the not public?" Harley asks, an eyebrow raised.

"Hawkeye and Antman have been out of hiding and on house arrest for about five months now" Tony explains, "though their house arrest is officially over today".

"Really?" Peter asks.

"Since the others have gotten their pardons, it's only fair that Clint and Scott get theirs too" Tony explains, "Especially since they've done more to earn them".

"The others?" Harley asks.

"The other…ex-avengers arrived back here yesterday and as you can probably guess that is also not public knowledge" Tony gives Harley a pointed look.

"Got it" Harley mimes zipping his mouth, "I know nothing".

"…Jon Snow" Peter adds.

"Who?" Tony frowns while Harley snorts.

"We are definitely going to be good friends" Harley grins.

"A ginormous mistake" Tony mutters.

The elevator automatically takes them to the communal living room, which currently only has the people Tony wants to see, in it. Tony had told F.R.I.D.A.Y to tell the rogues to stay away from the communal areas until he gives the 'okay', because he wants to minimise the time Peter is around them. He's surprised that they actually listened.

"Hey guys" Tony greets the Barton's and the Lang's, "ready to get those stylish bracelets off?"

"Hell yeah" Scott cheers, pumping a fist in the air with Cassie giggling next to him.

Clint frowns when he catches sight of Harley, "who's the kid?"

"The kid is Harley" Tony introduces, "say hello Harley".

"Hello Harley" Harley gives a cheeky grin while Peter, Cooper, Lila, Cassie and Scott all snigger.

Tony closes his eyes and sighs.

"And Harley is?" Clint asks, his voice taking a suspicious tone.

"Awesome. That's what Harley is" Harley winks and Tony physically resists face palming.

"Please stop" Tony begs before turning back to Scott and Clint, "Harley is a kid I know, and I figured he could, you know, meet and greet the other kids".

Clint gives Tony a hard stare, "what happened to the children being a secret for their safety?"

"I'm a great secret keeper" Harley defends both Tony and himself, "I never told anyone, not even my mum, that Ironman had stayed in our garage. Mum only found out about it afterwards because Richy-Rich here redecorated the garage".

Tony nods, "You can trust Harley…I mean, do you think I would tell him about Peter if I didn't know that I could trust him".

"A lot of trust is built when you save someone's ass" Harley adds.

"Helped out".

"Saved".

"Helped, Potato".

"Saved, Old Man".

"He isn't another illegitimate child of yours, is he?" Clint's mouth twitches in amusement, "because I'm hearing a resemblance".

"Shut up Birdbrain" Tony rolls his eyes.

"You'll claim Peter, but you won't claim me…I always knew you loved him more" Harley says dramatically while Peter sniggers next to him.

"Wait, you do have another kid?" Scott stares wide eyed at Harley.

"No. I only have the one child and that's Peter" Tony rolls his eyes at Scott's lack of a brain.

"Dad's like Batman" Peter explains, "I'm Damian Wayne, the biological son, and Harley is Dick Grayson, the adopted son".

"I feel like I'm more Jason Todd, but yeah…Tony is definitely Bruce Wayne…just, you know, older" Harley agrees with a smirk on his face, "a lot older".

"I hate you" Tony glares and Harley only grins wider.

"Jason? Come on, Dick is way better. He's the original" Cooper slides into the conversation, happy to finally be able to get involved and potentially have another friend. Which takes his grand total of friends up to two…

"He's not bad, but Jason is better. His way of doing things is a lot more effective than Batman's" Harley states.

"I'll agree that killing the bad guys is more effective…but Jason is basically a thug. Plus, if it wasn't for Dick, there wouldn't be any Robins in the first place".

"I wouldn't say Jason is a thug, it's not like he beats people up for fun or for their money" Peter says before throwing in his opinion, "what about Tim? He was the only one who never gave up on Batman when everyone else thought he was dead. Plus, he got Ra's approval and not many people get that".

Cooper snorts, "yeah because having the approval of a crazy old man is what everyone wants".

"Now Cooper has another person to nerd with over comics" Lila huffs interrupting the boys, her eyes rolling in amusement, "come on Cassie", the two girls run off together.

"Are we cool?" Tony asks Clint. He messed up a little… He should have talked to Clint and Scott about Harley first. He wouldn't appreciate it if they brought a random person with them to meet Peter.

Clint watches Cooper have a debate with Peter and Harley about which Robin is the best. It's not something he gets to see, his son having fun with others his age. Thanks to his job, his wife and children have had to give up a lot. While he doesn't regret his part in SHIELD or the Avengers, he does wish his family could have had a bit more of a normal life.

The last few months have been good. Not just because he's back with his family, but because there is a bit of normalcy. Cooper and Lila both have a friend, who they text and see, and even he has friends he can talk about his kids with.

It's nice, having a bit of normal.

Clint is happy that Cooper has Peter as a friend…and if there's a chance he could have another friend, he can't get in the way of that. His son has been so cheerful recently now that he's got someone outside of the family to talk to…it's what all parents want, for their children to be happy.

"Yeah, we're cool" Clint agrees, a smile forming on his lips as he watches the teen boys.

"You'd like my friend Ned, he's a Dick Grayson fan too" Peter says.

"Then he clearly has a brain" Cooper smirks.

Harley groans, "Dick is basically a pretty boy who can do cool tricks, he is not the best Robin".

"You need your head examining, he is definitely the best" Cooper protests.

"Yeah…maybe, but let's not forget that Tim figured out who Batman was when he was like nine" Peter argues.

Scott jumps into the conversation, agreeing with Cooper, "Dick is the original! You can't get better then the OG".

Tony and Clint take a couple of steps back to distance themselves from Scott.

"He's a giant child" Tony sighs, ignoring the fact that he and Clint are also basically children.

"Yeah, but he's our giant child" Clint states.

Tony snorts in response before nodding in agreement, "I suppose. But if we ever go out in public, I'm pretending that I don't know him".

"Me too" Clint chuckles, a soft look on his face as he watches his son. Cooper just looks so happy and carefree…which is probably what prompts Clint to ask, "have you met Peter's friend; Ned was it?"

"Yeah, he's a bit like Peter. Awkward at every turn but a genius. The kid managed to hack into some of my stuff" Tony says, his voice showing that he's still impressed at Ned's hacking.

"Seriously?"

"Yep. I was more impressed then pissed, though I've warned him not to do it again because I won't be so forgiving the next time".

"So, does that mean that he knows that you're Peter's dad?"

"Yeah, him and his other friend Michelle know about me being Peter's dad. Michelle is terrifying, she's basically a mini Pepper. She actually goes by MJ…but she doesn't let me call her that. Apparently only her friends are allowed to call her MJ".

"So…you'd say that Ned and Michelle are trustworthy then? You trust them knowing about you and Peter?" Clint presses.

"Yes, I do. Peter has two good friends who have his back" Tony says firmly before looking at Clint with a slight frown, "why?"

"Could they be trusted to know about Cooper and Lila?"

Tony stares at Clint in shock, "who are you and what have you done with Birdbrain?"

"I've never enjoyed keeping Cooper and Lila away from everyone. It's for their safety…but I've always felt guilty that they couldn't have a normal childhood, with school and friends" Clint sighs, "It's why, as you know, I brought them here to meet Peter and Cassie, so they would finally have a friend".

"And you want them to have more friends" Tony concludes.

"If possible".

"I can promise you that you can trust Ned and Michelle. They hold a lot of Peter's secrets".

Clint snorts, "how many secrets does a 15 year old have? Other than having a billionaire for a father".

Tony chuckles, "you'd be surprised. But anyway, if you want Cooper to have some good friends, Ned and Michelle are a good choice".

Clint tosses the idea around in his head. There is the worry that, even if Tony vouches for them, can he actually trust two teenagers with this secret? Plus, it wouldn't just be the secret about his kids, it would also be the secret about him and Scott being back, which isn't public knowledge yet.

But also, it would be so good for Cooper and Lila to have others to talk to. He also knows that Tony wouldn't let Peter tell his friends if he thought it would put Peter's new identity as his son at risk. Tony wouldn't endanger his son. So as unbelievable as it is, these teenagers must be trustworthy.

"Pete" Clint calls out interrupting the boys and Scott's debate, "come here for a second".

"Yes Mr Hawkeye?" Peter asks walking over to them.

Clint rolls his eyes, "how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Clint".

"It took me being his dad to get him to stop calling me Mr Stark, don't get your hopes up" Tony says with a fond smile on his face.

"Well, I could always be Uncle Clint" Clint suggests.

"I suppose every family does need that weird uncle that visit at Christmas" Tony smirks fully while Peter ducks his head to hide his.

"Dick" Clint playfully glares at Tony, "right Pete, your dad says that your friends know about him being your dad".

It takes Peter a second to adjust to the strange change in conversation, "…umm yeah?"

"And they haven't told anyone about it, they've kept it secret?"

"They wouldn't tell anyone. Ned may be a bit…excitable, but he'd never go behind my back and MJ…is MJ".

"So, they're trustworthy?"

Peter nods, "I'd trust them with my life".

"Okay…Look, you can call your friends and invite them here to hang out".

Peter frowns in confusion, "what about Cooper, Lila and Cassie. No one's supposed to know about them".

"No one's supposed to know about you, but your friends do, and they've kept it a secret. If you trust them and Tony trusts them, then they can know. But…You have to stress to them that this information can not get out. No one can know about us or our kids" Clint stresses the last part, making sure Peter understands.

Peter nods firmly, "they won't tell a soul. They're good at keeping secrets, better than me".

"Okay then, but just let them know that if they tell anyone…they won't have bodies left to find".

Peter eyes widen as he swallows, "got it".

"He's joking" Tony jumps in.

"Maybe" Clint shrugs.

"Just go and call Ted and your scary girlfriend and tell them I'm sending someone to pick them up. It won't be Happy as he's at SI right now" Tony interrupts again before Clint could scare his son some more.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Peter turns red and scurries off back to Harley, Cooper and Scott.

"Not yet" Tony calls after Peter before turning back to Clint, "he's got a huge crush on her but is too scared to do anything at the moment. Chances are, if anything's going to happen, it's going to be Michelle who makes the first move".

"Ahh, puppy love".

"Yep, it's fun to see how red you can make his face go when you call Michelle his girlfriend" Tony chuckles before he claps his hands together, "right let's get these bracelet's off then you can go see the others".

"Sounds like a plan" Clint nods in agreement.

"Let's go Tinkerbell. We've got to go down to my lab, then we're heading to the rogue's floor. Fri, be a dear and let them know Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb are here and we'll be with them in about ten minutes. Tell Rhodey and Vision to head there too" Tony leads the men towards the elevator while Peter shoots Tony a worried look. Tony smiles at his son to reassure him as the elevator doors close.

Peter let's in a deep breath to keep himself calm. Nothing is going to happen to his dad. His dad is going to be fine. Uncle Rhodey and Vision will be there with him, as well as Scott and Clint.

He tunes back into his conversation with Harley and Cooper, "you're going to love Ned. MJ…can be intimidating, but she's cool".

While Scott and Clint almost immediately step off of the elevator when they get to the rogue's floor, it takes Tony a moment to compose himself and he's glad that Rhodey is the first person he sees once he walks into the room.

The atmosphere is slightly tense, and for once, Tony is sure it isn't because of him. Sam and Wanda are sat on the opposite side of the room to Romanoff and Rogers. Romanoff is sat with her usual look of indifference next to a remorseful looking Rogers, while Sam and Wanda look a little betrayed.

Boy, does he know that feeling.

It's then that he remembers Rhodey telling him that Sam, Wanda and maybe Natasha, but who knows with her, clearly didn't know about Siberia and that Rogers had to briefly fill them in after he and Peter had left yesterday.

They must have had a more detailed talk after the meeting once they got settled on their floor.

It's probably why they all, with of course the exception of Natasha, look tired. They were either getting used to the time difference…or they were up all night talking or arguing about how Roger's doesn't know how to share secrets. If it's the latter option, then it means that possibly Sam and Wanda are upset about what Steve did to him.

Tony's not sure how to feel about that. It's mostly Rogers and Romanoff he feels hurt and betrayed by; he doesn't really know Sam so he's not angry at the man. His opinion on him is similar to the one he had on Clint and Scott a few months ago.

Wanda is a bit more complicated because of her messing with his head during the Ultron disaster and because Tony is fully aware that she doesn't like him. He does feel for her, because he knows how hard it can be to lose your parents tragically…but that doesn't give her the okay to fuck with his head.

He's more annoyed at Wanda then he is of Sam, because all he had been trying to do when he had 'grounded' her, was keep her safe. People we're scared of her and when people are scared, they either run away…or attack. The fight or flight instinct.

He just wanted to keep her away until things blew over, but of course, she hadn't seen it that way and just saw him as the bad guy…again.

However, he's definitely not as annoyed or hurt by Wanda as he is by Romanoff and Rogers. Those two are the ones who hurt him the most on both an emotional and physically level.

If it wasn't for the safety of the Earth, they would not be here right now because he really can't see how things between them can ever get fixed.

Rhodey is literally the best friend in the world for being here for him right now.

"Uh, hey guys" Scott awkwardly waves to the full room. "It's me…Scott".

"We remember you Tic Tac" Sam's mouth slightly twitching to give a small smirk.

"Hey guys" Clint greets the rogues, "Nat", he grins as he hugs her. "I've missed you. The gremlins have missed their aunty Nat too".

"I've missed them…and I guess you too" Natasha smirks as Clint gives her a fake wounded look.

"I'm feeling the love" Clint says sarcastically before moving to greet Steve and then Sam, "it's good to see you guys too".

"Back at you" Sam smiles.

"We've missed you too" Wanda grins, hugging Clint.

"At least some people love me" Clint pokes his tongue out at Natasha, who responds with an eyeroll. "Oh, by the way, Cooper and Lila are here".

"Really?" Natasha's eye light up.

"Cooper and Lila didn't want to miss the chance of seeing their aunt. Laura and Nate would have been here too, but Nate got sick yesterday".

"My poor mini me".

"He was already looking better this morning before we left, so he should be all better by the time we get back tomorrow".

"Good" Natasha smiles, "where are Cooper and Lila?"

"Umm" Clint freezes, not wanting to tell her and the others about Peter in case Tony hasn't told them yet.

"Cooper's hanging out with Peter and I believe Lila is running around with Cassie" Tony says for Clint and he can see all the rogues perk up like dogs getting a treat. They are clearly intrigued to hear about Peter.

"Yeah, turns out Peter and Cooper get on like a house on fire, and so do Cassie and Lila" Clint grins, "anyway, they are around so you'll be seeing them at some point".

"Can't wait" Natasha says honestly.

"So, how's it feel to be back? I know I was glad to have the comfort of my bed again" Scott asks and the question causes the room to go silent and even Scott can tell something had happened, "…uh…".

Steve clears his throat and attempts to smile but it doesn't reach his eyes, "it's great. The place hasn't changed much".

"Yes, I certainly missed these beds. Much comfier" Wanda nods, looking a bit awkward.

"Okay…we're clearly missing something" Clint raises an eyebrow at the group.

"You could say that" Sam huffs.

"And what have we missed?" Clint asks.

"It's doesn't matter" Tony interrupts.

"Yes, it does" Steve says. It's only right that he tells Clint and Scott about Siberia. He still feels disgusted with himself and wants to do whatever he can to set things right. "They should know about what happened too. About what…what I did".

"Well you can set your demons free later when I'm not around" Tony says firmly. "I was around during it, I have no wish to go over it again".

When it looks like Steve is about to open his mouth Rhodey cuts in, "drop it for now" Rhodey gives Steve a pointed look and Steve backs down.

"Okay, seriously…what the hell?" Clint stares at everyone.

"Later Clint" Natasha shakes her head.

"Fine, but I'm not happy".

"You won't be happy about what you hear either" Sam mumbles, and Wanda hums in agreement.

The room falls into another tense silence, with no one knowing what to say.

Well, the rouges know what they want to say. They want to apologies to Tony for the different things they had done to hurt him…but know that now clearly isn't the time to do it.

"…This is a great reunion" Scott tries to break the suffocating atmosphere.

The atmosphere does break, but not because of Scott. It breaks because of Peter bursting out of the elevator and running straight into Tony.

"Sorry to interrupt…" Peter looks the rogues up and down, "well, not that sorry".

"Peter-" Tony goes to reprimand his son. Why does his child feel the need to go exactly where he doesn't want him to? Like on the rogues floor?

"I have something important to tell you" Peter interrupts.

"What?"

Peter stares at his father as he places a hand on Tony's arm, "…tag".

Tony's eyes go wide, "you little shit!"

"Boss is now it" F.R.I.D.A.Y's amused voice rings out.

"Nope" Clint quickly backs away from Tony.

"I'm not losing for the third time in a row!" Scott yells as he runs out of the room. He was the last one to be 'it' when time was called in the first two games, so he's determined not to be last 'it' again.

"Don't even think about it" Rhodey says when Tony turns to look at him.

"I'm thinking about it" Tony takes a step closer, "you can't run like you used to, not in those leg braces".

"So, you'll take advantage of a disabled person?"

"A disabled person, no. You…yes" Tony tags Rhodey before the man could attempt to run.

"Colonel Rhodes is now it" F.R.I.D.A.Y says.

"Well, as…fun as this little get-together has been…bye" Tony says before hurrying to the elevator.

Rhodey turns to look at Vision, "don't you even dare phase Vision. You know the rules".

"The rules state that I can not phase through a person tagging me…it said nothing of the floor" Vision says before phasing through the floor.

"You son of a…" Rhodey mutters before turning to Clint.

"What?" Sam blinks in confusion while the other rogues just stare in confusion.

"We really need to clarify the rules more" Clint snorts, dodging Rhodey's attempt at tagging him, "why are you going after me? Peter is right there, and he is the one that brought us back into this".

"You were already this" Peter points out, ignoring the rogues, who all look like they are questioning their sanity. Well, all but the Widow. She's keeping her composure pretty well, though her eyes have narrowed slightly like she's trying to assess and understand the situation. She can keep trying because Peter's not going to explain. The rogues can all stay in 'what the fuck' land. "Anyway, it was your daughter who started the game back up again. Lila came out of nowhere and tagged Harley while we were waiting for Ned and MJ to get here".

Okay…so maybe he may have talked Lila into starting the game as an excuse to get his dad away from the rogues, but it's not like anyone can prove that. Plus, the game would have started at some point anyway, it always does. He simply hurried it up.

"The kids right, once you're in this game…you're in for life" Rhodey shrugs, "and besides…I'm not tagging my nephew. That's something Happy would do, because Happy sucks".

"Uncle Happy can be kind of cool" Peter shrugs.

Rhodey scoffs, "not as cool as me".

"Of course", Peter nods as he grins at Rhodey's jealousy.

"Was that sarcasm?" Rhodey raises an eyebrow at Peter.

"Uh, no?" Peter takes a step back from Rhodey when the man steps closer, "…uncle Rhodey…remember, you're not tagging me".

"I'm not so sure now" Rhodey tags Peter before the boy could beg for mercy.

"Little Boss is now it".

Peter stares at Rhodey with heart broken puppy eyes filled with betrayal.

"Shit…he's doing the damn eyes again!" Clint groans.

"Nope, not looking" Rhodey looks at the ground as he walks, as fast as his legs will move, out of the room.

"Kid…" Clint whines as Peter fixes him with the look. After 30 seconds of pouting from Peter, Clint sighs "I'm convinced you're evil", Clint hold out his arm for Peter to tag.

"Robin Hood is now it".

"Thanks Mr Hawkeye".

"Whatever, I'm going to tag Cooper…or Scott" Clint mutters, taking off out of the room.

"Again…what?" Sam asks.

Peter's puppy-face has disappeared and in its place is a hard look, "I think it's fairly obvious what's going on. We're playing tag".

"…tag?" Sam blinks, still completely confused because…really? They're playing tag?

"I'm sure you've heard of the game".

"I know the game, that's not what I'm confused about-" Sam is cut off by the sound of a loud crash and yelp.

"Stuart Little is now it" F.R.I.D.A.Y's voice interrupts.

"Mr Antman is really bad at this game" Peter shakes his head before turning his attention back to the rogues. "Dad talked to me, and while he explained how it was everyone's fault...I still don't like you" Peter says bluntly. He looks at Sam and Wanda, "you two are kind of okay…I guess", he looks at Natasha, "you're less okay, but I hate you less then him". Peter doesn't even bother looking at Steve.

"Peter-" Steve begins.

"Sorry, I've got a game to dominate" Peter turns around, leaving the rogues still completely confused as to what is going on.

"But seriously, what the hell?" Sam shouts after the boy, because even the confirmation that they are playing tag does nothing to actually explain anything.

"Thank God! Pepper save me" Tony yells, racing towards his fiancée, who has only just walked into the compound.

Pepper steps back, slightly startled. Happy had just driven her home from SI and she's ready to unwind…however, she's clearly forgot who she's in a relationship with. There is no unwinding when in a relationship with Tony Stark.

She looks at Happy, just in case something is going on, but the man just shrugs. She wonders if one of the…others have done something, though she's pretty sure that Tony would be in his lab having a panic attack if they'd done something, and he doesn't seem panicked.

"What's wrong?" Pepper asks, looking Tony up and down, just to make sure that he's okay.

"The small people are ganging up on me" Tony moves to hide behind Pepper as Peter, Harley, Cooper, Ned and MJ run towards them.

"How many teenagers are here?" Happy asks, his voice filled with horror.

"Too many…I realised too late just what I did by allowing them all to get together" Tony mutters.

"Hey Pepper" Peter grins, coming to a stop in front of her.

"Peter and others. What's going on?" Pepper raises and eyebrow, a small smile forming. She recognises Cooper and she's pretty sure that's Harley, who she's seen briefly when Tony has facetimed the boy. The others, she's only seen in pictures before, but she knows those are Peter's friends.

"Virginia Potts, also known as Pepper Potts" MJ's eyes widen just slightly, "I'm Michelle, you can call me MJ-".

"I'm not allowed to call you MJ" Tony frowns.

"You're not Pepper Potts" MJ says simply before returning to Pepper, "you are absolutely amazing and it's an honour to meet you. How you've gotten where you are in a business full of testosterone is inspiring for others, especially girls".

Pepper remembers Peter telling her that his friend views her as an icon but hearing the compliments in person was something else. Sure, she's had a few others praise her for her work, but most people thought she just slept her way up to the top. So, it's nice to hear that young girls look up to her.

"Thank you, MJ" Pepper smiles at her.

"You didn't give me that kind of hero worship" Tony complains.

"I think you're awesome!" Ned says, his voice full of awe.

"At least someone here appreciates me. Thanks Ted" Tony says and everyone, but Ned, rolls their eyes.

"You know what Ned's name is" Peter says exasperatedly, "why do you pretend that you don't?"

"Ironman can call me whatever he wants" Ned says in wonder.

MJ pulls out a little notebook from her back pocket and holds it out to Pepper, "could I have an autograph?"

Pepper blinks, shocked for a moment because no one has ever asked her for an autograph before. That was Tony's department. "Sure", she takes MJ's notebook.

"I could give you an autograph, if you want" Tony says.

"No" MJ barely pays Tony any attention, "thank you" MJ grins as Pepper hands the notebook back.

"Call me crazy…but from both now and our first meeting, I get the feeling that you aren't a fan of mine" Tony steps out from behind Pepper slightly and is definitely not pouting at the teen.

Harley snorts, "yeah, I'd say you aren't in her top 10".

"Shut up, Potato".

"You still haven't explained why you're called Potato" Cooper looks at Harley.

"It's a long story. I'll explain later, after we're finished" Harley says nonchalantly.

"Which brings us back to my earlier question; what's going on? And why is Tony running in terror from you?" Pepper asks, amusement in her voice.

"I wouldn't say terror" Tony mumbles.

"Oh, that reminds me" MJ says, putting her notebook back in her pocket, "tag".

Everyone freezes as MJ has the balls to tag Pepper, something no one has done yet. Mostly because she hasn't been around during their previous games…however, had she been around, no one would have ever tagged her. Tony, Peter and Happy are watching with slight fear.

"Mrs Boss is now it" F.R.I.D.A.Y announces with slight trepidation.

Pepper stares at MJ with a blank face for a few seconds before a smirk breaks out on her face, "nice move", she praises MJ.

"I genuinely love you and wanted that autograph…I just figured, two birds one stone".

"I like your train of thought. We should sit down and talk sometime".

"I would die happy".

Tony shivers, "…did you feel that?" He asks to no one in particular, "that felt like the world just got taken over".

Pepper rolls her eyes while MJ smirks, "that sounds about right…I have big plans".

"Peter you need to control your girlfriend, she's going to corrupt mine and Pep's already dangerous enough on her own".

"Th-she…I don't…we-we're not-me and MJ…we just f-friends" Peter stutters. Wide eyed and red faced.

"Subtle" Coopers coughs before yelping as Peter kicks him.

"Boy's behave" Pepper reprimands before tagging Tony.

"Boss is now it" F.R.I.D.A.Y says.

"Can people stop tagging me, I have a heart condition! I can't be running around" Tony huffs.

"Considering those jeans are looking a little tight, you should think about doing some running" Harley grins evil-ly.

"They are not tight!"

"Ever since you found out about Peter you have been eating and sleeping a bit more regularly" Pepper points out.

"So if you're eating more, it is possible then that you could have gain a bit of wei-" Peter begins.

"Is no one on my side?!" Tony cuts him off.

"I am!" Ned raises his hand.

"Right, Ed is my kid now. Peter you're fired".

Peter huffs "you can't fire me as your kid".

"Can I tag you Fred?"

"Absolutely" Ned nods.

Tony looks back at Peter, "then yes I can fire you. Welcome to the family Jed" Tony says as he tags Ned.

"Ned is now it" F.R.I.D.A.Y says.

"You are so sad" MJ shakes her head at Ned.

"I don't care, Ironman likes me".

"Hey, Pete. Remember when you used to hero worship me?" Tony asks rhetorically, "I miss that".

Harley tilts his head, "the weight of your ego must give you a bad back".

"No, his old age gives him a bad back" Peter says and everyone tries to hold in their laughter.

Tony splutters at the betrayal before pointing at Peter "You are disowned", he turns to Harley, "and you are going home".

"No, I'm not. You love me too much mechanic" Harley pokes his tongue out.

Tony snorts "and how do you know that?"

"Because we're connected" Harley gives Tony a shit eating grin.

"…should have seen that one coming".

"And I know you won't disown me because Pepper wouldn't let you" Peter matches Harley's shit eating grin with one of his own.

"Exactly" Pepper smiles at the boys, "now, stop being mean to the kids".

"They started it!" Tony cries at the injustice.

"They're children" Happy rolls his eyes.

"Hey! You have to be nice to me, I'm your boss".

"Pepper is my main boss" Happy says simply.

"I'm feeling unloved".

"Mood" Cooper says and the other teens nod in agreement, "sooo…are we getting back to the game?"

Coopers question reminds the everyone about the game. All the teenagers stare at Ned for a moment before bolting in the same direction down the hall. Well, all but MJ. She remains at the entrance with Pepper, Tony and Happy.

Ned looks at MJ and she raises an eyebrow, daring him to tag her. Ned gulps and decides to chase after the others.

"I'm free now if you want to talk" MJ grins at Pepper, who grins back.

"Oh God" Tony mutters, his life flashing before his eyes, while Happy quickly turns around and leaves.

"The time is up, and the game is over. Stuart Little is the last one it" F.R.I.D.A.Y announces.

"Seriously! I lost again!" Scott yells.

It's late Sunday night and everything is quiet, which is a big difference from how the past few days have been.

The rouges are on their floor and, at least for the moment, aren't being a bother.

Clint, Scott and their kids left after lunch since they were all driving back to their homes and it would take them awhile.

Harley left after dinner, with Happy dropping him off at the airport for him to be taken home by Tony's private plane, with the promise that he'd be returning soon.

So now it's just Peter, Tony, Pepper and Rhodey, though his uncle has already gone to his room to answer the sweet call of sleep.

As Peter walks towards the living room, he can hear the gentle tones of the television. Entering, he sees Pepper sitting on the couch, her legs curled underneath her, with a glass of wine as she flicks through a magazine. She's clearly not watching the television, just using it as background noise.

"Hey Pepper" Peter greets, making his way over to the couch.

"Hey sweetheart" Pepper smiles at the teen. She closes the magazine and places it on the coffee table along with her wine. She then pats the space next to her on the couch for Peter to take the hint. "How was your day with Tony and Harley?"

Peter sits down next to Pepper, "great, Harley is a genius and he's hilarious. I can't wait for the next time he visits".

"That's great" Pepper runs a hand through Peter's hair, "I know that Tony was a bit anxious about you two meeting, in case you didn't get along".

"I don't really have many friends…I mean, the others at school don't hate me or anything. They're friendly and we get on…" Peter stutters to save himself. He doesn't want Pepper telling his dad that he has no friends because then he'll set up more playdates. He makes a mental note never to let his dad find out about Flash.

"There's nothing wrong with only having a few friends" Pepper says, "it's better to have one good friend than having ten bad friends".

"That's what Aunt May always used to say".

"Well, great minds think alike" Pepper smirks, "where is your father?"

"He told me to come up since we're done for the day. He's just tidying up".

"So, he'll probably be down there for another hour then" Pepper rolls her eyes.

"Yep".

They fall into a comfortable silence, watching the random TV show playing. Pepper rests her arm on the couch behind Peter and occasionally run's her hand through the boy's curls out of habit. With the hair stroking and his own neediness, Peter let's himself sink into the couch with his head resting on Pepper's shoulder.

"How do you stand having…those people live here? They hurt dad" Peter says quietly.

"I know" Pepper sighs, resting her head on top of Peters, "I don't like them being here and I wish they weren't".

"You can kick them out. You're Pepper Potts, you can do anything".

"Thank you for the confidence boost" Pepper smiles, threading her hand through his hair, "I trust in Tony and what he thinks is best…some people would say that trusting him isn't the wisest decision, and those people would be the ones who don't know him. Tony didn't make this decision light heartedly. He thought long and hard about it, and while this isn't the outcome that we want, it's the outcome that we need. That the world needs".

"Did you have to use logic? Can we pretend that there's no logical reason for them to be here and send them away?"

"I wish sweetie, but your father is the most stubborn person I've ever met. Even I still struggle getting him to do things when he doesn't want to, and I've been dealing with him for as long as you've been alive".

"Fine, I'll put up with them" Peter grumbles. "However, if they ever hurt dad again…you'd give me an alibi for the time of their deaths…I mean an alibi for when they went 'missing', right?"

"I'd make sure you had 20 alibis if they go missing" Pepper says, "On an unrelated note…I know some excellent cleaners, who are great at getting out stains".

Peter grins.

They fall into a comfortable silence again, with Peters eyes falling heavier and heavier as Pepper's fingers twirl in his hair. It doesn't take long for Peter to fall asleep on Peppers shoulder.

Pepper turns her head at the sound of footsteps, "I figured you'd be lost in the lab for another hour".

"It's not as much fun when Pete's not down there, and both you and May would kill me if I let him be in the lab past 11" Tony shrugs, making his way into the room.

"I've finally found your kryptonite" Pepper smirks, "next time you don't do as your told, I'll take away lab time with Peter".

"That would be a cruel punishment", Tony stops walking at the sight of Peter fast asleep and curled against Pepper. He raises an eyebrow, "should I be jealous?" a smirk playing on his lips.

"Very" Pepper jokes.

"It's late, we should get him into bed" Tony sighs as he steps closer to wake Peter up.

"No, don't wake him" Pepper says giving Peter's hair a final stroke, "he's had a long weekend, just let him sleep. Go get him a pillow and a blanket".

She slowly shuffles across the couch, letting Peter gently lower on the seat of the couch. Once she's out from under the boy, she moves to take Peter's shoes off and put his feet on the couch. Tony comes back with Peter's pillow and duvet.

"You could have just gotten a blanket" Pepper rolls her eyes. She takes the pillow and carefully slips it under Peter's head.

"What if he gets cold? He can't regulate his temperature like everyone else can" Tony says tucking Peter's duvet around the boy.

"You have an AI who is constantly monitoring him" Pepper raises her eyebrow.

"His duvet is softer and will be more comfortable for him" Tony defends.

"Okay, mother hen" Pepper rolls her eyes as she steps back from the couch.

"I'm not mothering him" Tony grumbles under his breath and Pepper chooses to ignore him.

"Right, I think it's time for bed ourselves" Pepper sigh before a yarn break out of her mouth. "Definitely time for bed".

"Yeah…" Tony says but makes no move to stop watching his son sleep.

"Tony…are you okay? This weekend been hard on you too" Pepper asks softly.

"I'm fine" Tony takes a finial look at Peter before walking towards Pepper, "I'm fine and we're fine. Everything's going to be fine, even if it starts out a little rocky…I think we're used to living with things being rocky".

"That's an understatement" Pepper snorts.

"Everything is going to work out just the way it's supposed to" Tony squeezes Peppers hand as the walk to their room.

Okay, first I should address the biggest thing and that's the lack of a punch between Peter and Steve. I know that most of you wanted Peter to punch Steve and just because he hasn't done it yet, doesn't mean he won't in the future. For now, however, Tony isn't going to let that happen because they have the 'Spider-Man' secret to keep safe.

A lot of other stuff did happen in this chapter though. We had Peter telling off Steve (woop woop), Harley arriving (woop woop) and the biggest game of tag yet (woop woop) to name some. We also had a cute little Peter and Pepper scene right at the end because I thought they needed a little bit of bonding.

So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It took me way longer then I meant it to, and again, I'm so sorry about that. Hopefully the length of it will make up for how long you guys had to wait, because this is the LONGEST chapter I've ever written. I just had so much I wanted to put in it.

I hope you enjoyed all the different thoughts that the characters had and that they were reasonably realistic, even if maybe they were a little out of character at times. I found Natasha hard to write for, so that's something I'll have to work on. By hopefully it was all believable because that's important to me in my stories, is that you can believe it could actually happen like that.

I know that there may not be as much Tony and Peter time in this chapter, but you guys know me, I love those two so you know you'll get some more in the future.

Please favourite and follow if you enjoyed this story and feel free to leave a review on your thoughts.

Please everyone, with this horrible virus going around, please stay safe and indoors. Also a big thank you to the NHS and all the other people who have to continue going out and risking their health for everyone else like supermarket staff, postmen, cleaners, dustbin men, and so many others.

Thanks for reading and stay safe guys :)