Here it is! The final chapter! I can't believe we're here already.

I can't thank you all enough for your amazing support of this story, for all of the kind reviews and follows and favorites, I'm truly humbled by it all!

I do have some new stories in the works. :) I'm currently polishing up my piece for the IronDadBigBang that will post in February, and I'm already plotting a new Iron Dad story that I hope to begin posting in about a month, we'll see how it goes. ;)

Once again, thank you to stjohn27, my wonderful prereader and sounding board. This story wouldn't be the same without you!

"Nooo! Please, stop, I can't—, please, just make it go away! I can't take it, it's too loud! Too loud!"

Tony jerked awake with a shuddering gasp as the sound of an agonizing scream pierced the late-night silence. He immediately bolted upright on the bed, startling Pepper as his legs swung over the side and his feet hit the floor before his mind even caught on to what was happening. Goddammit! I should've known, I should've known!

"Young Peter is having another nightmare, boss," FRIDAY stated as he stumbled towards the door, mentally kicking himself for leaving Peter alone in his room. I should've just said no, why didn't I say no?

"Yeah, FRI, I got that," Tony muttered, cringing as Peter let out another bloodcurdling scream. Bursting into Peter's room, Tony's heart stuttered at the sight of his beloved son writhing in agony on his bed, tormented by the horrific images playing inside his head. This was one of the bad ones.

Tony had been spending most of the nights since Peter's return three months ago in his room with him, sleeping—or not sleeping, as was usually the case—either on the armchair next to Peter's bed or cuddling with Peter on the bed. Tony had known it was going to be a long and often bumpy road for Peter after his experience in the Quantum Realm, and especially with having to relive the Expo drone attack, and he was more than willing to do whatever it took to help Peter in that recovery.

But Peter was already growing impatient with what he considered his snail's-pace progress, something that Sam had warned Tony might happen, and had insisted to Tony earlier that evening that he was ready to try sleeping alone. He was sixteen years old, he'd said, almost seventeen, and therefore far too old to still have his daddy sleeping in his room with him every night, nightmares be damned.

And while Tony had tried to talk him out of it, saying he didn't mind, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Peter needing some help after everything that he went through, in the end he gave in, tucking Peter into bed with his polar bear and hoping for the best.

But just as Tony had feared, Peter apparently wasn't quite ready yet.

"Peter!" Tony said in a firm voice as he approached Peter's bed from the side, trying to be loud enough for Peter to hear him but not so loud as to scare him even more. He climbed onto the bed next to his frantic boy, trying to reach for his shoulders, but Peter was thrashing around so violently that he slipped right out of Tony's grasp. "Peter, it's okay, buddy. You just need to wake up!"

"Too loud! Please, make it stop!" Peter shrieked as his hands clamped down over his ears so hard his knuckles went white, his pajamas plastered to his skinny body with sweat. "Make it stop, I can't—, I can't listen to it anymore, it's too loud!"

"Peter!" Tony yelled, reaching for the boy's wrists only to have Peter immediately twist away from his grip. "Peter, it's Dad, buddy. You're okay, you just gotta wake up!"

"Help me!" screamed Peter as he flopped onto his side and curled into a tight ball, his knees narrowly missing hitting the side of Tony's head. "Please, help me! Make it stop!"

"FRIDAY, get Steve up here ASAP!" Tony barked, tears welling in his eyes as he jumped back, only narrowly avoiding being kicked in the stomach. He'd never felt so helpless; there was no way he could overpower Peter without using his armor, but he was afraid the noise of it would trigger Peter even more, especially if he was stuck in the Expo attack yet again. "I can't even get close enough to try and help him!"

"I've already contacted him, boss," answered FRIDAY. "He's on his way."

Not three seconds later Tony heard Steve's heavy footsteps crossing the living room and coming down the hallway.

"Tony—" Steve said as he burst into the room, stopping short at the foot of Peter's bed, a deep crinkle forming between his eyebrows as he glanced down at Peter. "Oh, God!"

"I can't—, I can't get close enough to help him, Cap!" Tony cried, his heart nearly cracking in two. Why the hell didn't I say no? "He's too strong for me to handle, I can't even touch him!"

"It's okay, I got it," Steve said as he climbed onto the bed, his large hands grabbing onto Peter's shoulders and pulling him up against his chest. Peter struggled wildly at first, and almost managed to break free from Steve's grip a couple of times before he finally collapsed into a fit of sobs, his body going completely limp as Steve's face fell. Tony knew it had to be almost as heartbreaking for Steve to see Peter like this as it was for him.

"Shh, Peter," Steve whispered, sniffing as he nodded at Tony, who immediately wrapped his arms around his son, guiding Peter's head to rest against his chest. "It's okay, you're okay."

"It's okay, buddy," Tony murmured, his fingers threaded into Peter's messy hair as Steve patted his back. "I've got you. You're gonna be all right now."

It was nearly ten minutes later when Peter finally calmed down enough to lift his head, looking up at Tony through his bleary, swollen eyes. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, bud, I'm here," Tony whispered. "I've got you."

"Uh huh," Peter whimpered as he tucked his head back down under Tony's chin, his entire body trembling and his teeth starting to chatter. "This—, it was—, gah, it was just so bad. I don't—, I can't—"

"Shh," Tony whispered. He reached for the rumpled blanket on the end of the bed, wrapping it around Peter's shivering body. "It's okay now, buddy. You're safe. Nothing's gonna hurt you anymore, it was only a dream."

Peter's body tensed up again, and Tony's breath hitched as he tightened his grip. "Yeah," Peter spat out. "It wasn't real, was only a dream. Just another stupid nightmare. God, I hate this, Dad, I hate it! I'm so damn pathetic!"

"Peter!" Steve exclaimed, his brow furrowing as he glanced at Tony. "That's not true and you know it!"

"Nope, none of that kind of talk here," Tony said firmly. He rubbed his fingers along Peter's scalp, trying to soothe him. "I don't know anyone in this room—actually anyone in this entire Tower—who I'd call pathetic. Especially not a boy who managed to almost single-handedly beat the strongest creature in the universe."

Peter sniffed, inhaling a shaky breath as he rubbed his nose on Tony's shirt. At least his shivering was starting to calm down. "I didn't," he mumbled into Tony's chest. "Thor helped me get the gauntlet, and then he killed Thanos. Not me."

"I said almost single-handedly, Pete," Tony replied. "And Thor only came in there at the last minute anyway, but now's not really the time to be arguing semantics, don't you think?"

"Having a nightmare is nothing to be ashamed of, Peter," Steve said gently. "It hasn't even been all that long since—"

"But it's been three months!" Peter cried. "I should—, I should be at least—"

"You should be at least nothing, Peter," interrupted Tony. "Do you understand me? You're a kid who went through an absolutely horrible experience. And then, if that wasn't enough, you went through it again. There is no timeline or schedule out there that says you should be over it already."

"Tony's right, Peter," Steve said in his Captain's voice. "And there are some things that you just never get over completely, and that's okay too. There's not a single one of us that doesn't have something in our past that haunts us."

It never failed to amaze Tony just how articulate Steve could be sometimes. How he always managed to boil things down to their simplest forms, and without making it sound like he was being either stupid or patronizing. It was one of the many things that made him the perfect leader for the Avengers, and such a helpful influence on Peter.

And besides that, Steve was absolutely right. There wasn't a single member of their Avengers team that hadn't gone through some horrible trauma in their past that continued to define who they were today. From Natasha being forced into assassin training when she was barely old enough to write her own name to Bruce getting doused with gamma rays to Sam losing his wingman to Thor losing pretty much everyone, the entire team had suffered through almost unimaginable horrors. And not to mention the fact that there was absolutely nothing in place to help anyone work through these traumas until Steve and Sam decided to make it a priority. Steve didn't have anyone to help ease him through his transition when he became enhanced, for example, so he made sure to provide as much support and care to Peter after the spider bite as he could, because he understood what Peter was going through.

"See?" Tony said as he shot Steve a grateful look. "Even Cap agrees with me. And you know when Cap and I both agree on something that automatically makes it law, right?"

Peter smiled slightly against his chest, and Tony breathed out a small sigh of relief. "Yeah, I guess."

"That's right," answered Tony. He buried his nose into Peter's damp hair, kissing the top of his head. "You wanna get cleaned up a bit now?"

"Yeah, I guess," Peter mumbled.

"I think you'll feel better," Tony added. "Cap and I will get your sheets changed while you shower, okay?"

"Uh huh."

With a final sniff, Peter pushed himself up off the bed, grabbed a set of clean pajamas from the dresser and stumbled towards his bathroom, his head hanging low the entire time. Tony's shoulders sagged as soon as the bathroom door latched closed. Peter was right, it just wasn't fair.

"Peter's gonna be okay, Tony," Steve said as they worked to change the sweat-dampened sheets and blankets. For someone who was almost always freezing cold, Peter really could work up a sweat when he wanted to. "He is. It's just gonna take some time."

"I know he will, old man," Tony replied. "I just wish he did."

"He does, Tony," answered Steve. "But he just tends to forget sometimes. He doesn't want to think that he's still just a kid, that it's okay to need help. He's at the age where he doesn't think he should need anyone's help."

Tony scoffed as he tucked the clean sheet under the mattress in such a perfect hospital corner that it would've made Jarvis proud. "Yeah, I know it. I mean, in a few short weeks he's gonna turn seventeen, and then start his senior year of high school, and then—" his voice broke off as he felt the all-to-familiar tightening in his chest and he pressed his fist over his heart, trying to take deep breaths. "And then… he's probably gonna leave, go off to college somewhere… and I'm not sure what I'm gonna do when that happens. I mean, wasn't he just eight years old like a few days ago?"

Steve let out a grin, so wide his dimples started showing. "It does seem that way, I'll admit. I still can't believe how fast he's grown up, especially in the last couple of years."

"Yeah, you and me both," said Tony as Peter emerged from the bathroom dressed in the bright pink Hello Kitty pajama pants Tony had bought him as a joke as one of his sixteenth birthday presents. He had expected to simply embarrass Peter for a few minutes and then send the pants directly into the donate pile, but Peter had grown strangely attached to them, saying they were really comfortable to sleep in since they were so warm and fuzzy. And to be honest, if Tony hadn't disliked cats so much he might've even sprung for a pair for himself. "Well. Going for the retro look tonight, aren't we, Pete?"

"Shut up," Peter grumbled as he flopped face down onto his clean bed, one arm curling around his polar bear. "They're comfy."

Raising his eyebrows, Steve leaned over to pat Peter on the back. "I'll head back downstairs now," he said. "Let me know if you guys need anything else."

"We're still on for the Compound tomorrow, aren't we?" asked Peter, his voice muffled in his pillows. "I wanna start training again."

"As long as you're feeling up to it," Tony answered. Tomorrow was Saturday, and the plan had been for the team to drive up to the Compound in the morning and spend the weekend training and otherwise hanging out together. They hadn't had the entire team together to train since the Infinity War, and now that Peter was back and had expressed an interest in resuming his training, Steve was eager to get back to it.

"I am," Peter said. "I think—, I think it'll help."

"Then I guess I'll see you guys in the morning," Steve said as he clapped Tony on the shoulder.

"'Night, Cap," Tony said, his lower lip quivering a little when Peter silently held out his hand to him. He crawled onto the bed, leaning back as Peter scooted over, laying his head down on Tony's chest and grabbing a fistful of Tony's shirt. "Better now, bud?"

"Uh huh. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"Nope. No need to be sorry either, buddy," said Tony. He buried his fingers into Peter's still-wet hair, rubbing his scalp. "You know that."

"Uh huh. Tired, Dad."

"Then go to sleep, bud. I've got you."

"Uh huh. Love you, Dad."

Tony's heart gave a swoop, and he tightened his arms around Peter such that Peter let out a soft grunt. "I love you too, buddy."

Peter didn't sleep alone the next night, or the night after that, or the next few nights after that. But about a week later, he worked up the courage to try again. And the following morning when Tony woke up to find himself still in his own bed—after begging reassurance from FRIDAY that Peter was in fact still alive—he felt a large weight start to lift from his shoulders.

Peter's gonna be okay. It's just gonna take some time.

Steve was right. Healing would come, it was just going to take time.

"You sure you're ready for this, Pete?" Tony asked as Peter was finishing his third bowl of cereal, the same marshmallow-filled stuff he'd liked ever since Tony had met him. "I mean, you were gone for most of the year last year, and even though I made it clear to Principal Morita that no one's allowed to ask any questions, that still doesn't mean that they won't, so—"

"I still wanna try, Dad," Peter said, and Tony could tell he was trying hard to hold onto his patience. Tony had probably been driving him bonkers with all of his hovering lately. "It's my last year of high school and I wanna be there for it."

Holy shit, how is it his last year already?

"I'm only asking because it'd be really easy to just do some homeschool-type thing," Tony continued past the lump in his throat. "I mean, just with the team we've pretty much got all the basics covered, and I'm sure Shuri and Hank Pym wouldn't mind contributing some if we asked. Maybe you could even graduate early."

But Peter just shook his head as he brought his cereal bowl to the sink and grabbed his backpack. "I appreciate it, Dad," he said. "I really do. But I'm ready. I wanna just try and be normal again. Or at least as normal as I can be."

"Well, I can't fault you for that," Tony murmured, draining the last of his coffee as he squeezed Peter's shoulder. "All right, let's head down."

With the Infinity War taking place shortly after Peter turned sixteen, he never had the chance to take his driver's test before he disappeared. And once they finally got him home, it just never seemed to be a priority when Peter was trying to reintegrate into normal life and the nightmares and panic attacks were at their worst. It had taken most of the spring and summer to coax Peter into some semblance of normalcy again, and Tony had never been more grateful to their Avengers family than he was during that time. From Sam helping to talk Peter through panic attacks at all hours of the days and nights and Thor spending hours playing chess with him before he returned to Norway to Shuri and Ned taking him out to movies so he could at least pretend to be a normal teenager sometimes—even if they were accompanied by members of the Wakandan King's Guard—Tony and Pepper had never felt too overwhelmed by trying to care for him.

By the time Peter's seventeenth birthday rolled around, which the family decided to celebrate quietly at home this time, Tony and Pepper even felt comfortable enough to start dusting off their wedding plans. As it was, the wedding was now scheduled to take place a couple of weeks before Christmas.

"You wanna drive?" Tony asked, holding up the car keys as the elevator doors opened into the garage, smiling when Peter's eyes lit up.

"Can I?" he asked.

"Mmm, think you remember how?" Tony countered.

"Yeah!" Peter exclaimed. "It's just muscle memory, isn't it, like riding a bike? I'm pretty sure you told me that once."

"Did I? I guess I must've if you say I did," replied Tony. "Your memory's better than mine."

Peter shot him a wicked grin as he unlocked the car. "That's 'cause you're getting old, Dad."

"Damn right I am, kid," Tony retorted, sliding into the passenger seat. "So you better get used to driving me around."

Tony's heart soared when Peter let out a laugh, an honest-to-goodness belly laugh, and he reached over to ruffle Peter's hair. Maybe he was just worrying too much, as usual. Maybe things would go just fine at school today.

"Now, do you have your earplugs and your glasses? And you know to call if you need anything, anything at all, right?" Tony asked as Peter pulled into the school's driveway. "No matter what?"

"Yeah, Dad, I have my stuff," answered Peter, not without a hint of impatience. "And I'm gonna be fine, so can you please try to stop worrying?"

Well, that's just not gonna happen.

"I thought that funny-looking Yoda dude always says 'there is no try'," Tony said, winking. "Doesn't he?"

Peter shot him a toothy grin as Tony pulled him in for a brief hug. "Yeah, but I think even he'd make an exception in your case."

"Well, I am exceptional, so I'd say that's a good thing," Tony replied. "I'll see ya this afternoon, buddy."

"Bye, Dad," Peter said, turning towards the back entrance where Ned was waiting for him. Ned waved in Tony's direction, calling out a greeting. He'd already been accepted to Columbia University, some early-acceptance thing they had for really smart kids, and was planning on spending the summer before college working for Hank Pym out in San Francisco. Peter hadn't yet started on his college applications, and Tony wasn't sure if Columbia was even on Peter's radar since that's where the spider bite happened, but Tony knew Peter was happy for Ned regardless.

Arriving back at the Tower, Tony got himself another cup of coffee and headed directly to the lab, resuming work on the new suit he had starting building for Peter shortly after he restarted his Avengers training. While Peter's nanotech suit had survived its trips into the Quantum Realm and the past better than even Tony could have hoped, Peter had recently confessed to Tony that he wasn't in any hurry to wear it again anytime soon, necessitating Tony to build him a new one. Similar in design to his original Spider Suit, the new one replaced the blue panels with black and altered the chest emblem design slightly so it could accommodate Tony's newest version of Peter's spider drone.

Tony was just uploading some new additions to Karen's database when the music suddenly paused, which usually indicated an incoming call.

"Principal Morita is on the line, boss," FRIDAY stated, and Tony's heart immediately started to thud. "He says it's urgent."

"Of course it is, FRI!" Tony snapped. "Put him through!"

"Mr. Stark," said the principal's voice through the speakers. "I have Peter in my office here, sir, and—"

"Is he all right?" Tony demanded as he pressed his fist to his chest. He absolutely hated talking just through the speakers, he always preferred to see who he was speaking with. "What's wrong with him?"

"I didn't personally see what happened, sir," Morita said calmly. "But from what Ned and Flash have told me, apparently someone dropped a tray onto the floor during lunch today and the loud noise startled Peter enough that… well, he says he had a slight panic attack, sir, right there in the lunchroom. Ned was able to talk him through the worst of it, and then he and Flash brought him to my office once he was calmed down some."

"There's no such thing as a slight panic attack, Mr. Morita," Tony barked. "Especially with Pete, and he knows it."

"Yes, sir, I'm aware of that," answered Morita. "Those were his words, not mine. I believe he was trying to not make a big deal of it, as it were."

"Yeah, yeah, that's typical," grumbled Tony. "How's he doing now?"

"He says he's fine, sir," Morita said. "In fact, he's trying to insist that I send him back to class, but I thought it best to call you first. Ned and Flash are both still here as well, they're sitting with him."

Tony huffed out a sharp breath, dragging his palm down his face. "I'd like to talk to him, please."

"Of course," Morita replied. "Just a moment, I'll put him on."

"Dad?" came Peter's embarrassed, tentative voice, still punctuated with deep, gasping breaths. He sure didn't sound like he was okay. "I'm all right, Dad. It was just a really loud and sudden noise and it made me jump, that's all. I promise I'm okay."

"You don't exactly sound okay to me, Pete," Tony said worriedly. "Are you sure—"

"I wanna stay at school, Dad," Peter said firmly. "I have my earplugs in now, so I'll be fine. Ned and Flash are here and they're both in the rest of my classes for today, so… I'll just see you at the pickup time, okay? Please?"

Tony shook his head, wanting nothing more than to bring Peter home and wrap him in a blanket or three. But he knew that would only make Peter even more upset than he already was, which wouldn't help matters at all. "You're sure, buddy? 'Cause it's no problem to come home early. We can just try the school thing again tomorrow."

"No. I wanna stay, Dad," Peter stated. "Please. I'm fine now, I promise."

"All right, Pete," Tony said after a short pause. "You can stay."

"Thank you," said Peter, breathing out a small sigh of relief. "I'll see you when school's over."

"'Kay," Tony said, slumping against the counter as soon as the phone clicked off. He should've known this was going to happen, he should've reminded Peter again about his earplugs, he should've, he should've…

Peter's gonna be okay. It's just gonna take some time.

Inhaling a deep, shaky breath, Tony pushed himself away from the counter and scrubbed at his eyes with his palms. "FRIDAY," he said, tapping commands into his monitor. "Where are we with the data upload for Karen?"

"It'll be complete in three minutes, boss," answered FRIDAY.

"'Kay," Tony murmured. He glanced at the clock; pickup time was in exactly two hours and thirty-seven minutes. If Pete can do this, then I can do this. "Once that's done I wanna get started on the new systems upgrade for Rhodey, so why don't you pull up those specs while we're waiting."

"Sounds great, boss," said FRIDAY. "I know he's looking forward to it."

"Yeah," muttered Tony, tapping his chin.

Peter's gonna be okay. It's just gonna take some time.

"Pete," Tony called in frustration from across the huge groom's room, frowning at his reflection in the full-length mirror. He held up the white bow tie that absolutely was refusing to cooperate, shaking it slightly. "I need some help with this damn thing. I seem to be a bit off my game this afternoon."

"In a sec, Dad," Peter replied as he stood scowling in front of another mirror, fiddling with his own bow tie. "I'm still trying to get mine straight. Why couldn't you have just chosen regular ties?"

"Pepper wanted the bow ties, buddy, otherwise I would've," grumbled Tony as he looped the tie around his neck. "I was wearing a tuxedo during our first dance way back when, so… yeah." Personally, Tony would've been just as happy to have been wearing his jogging suit instead of the brand-new, custom-made tuxedo, but Pepper had insisted on the formal wedding, and the accompanying attire. After waiting so many years to get married, she wanted the big party.

And Tony really couldn't blame her.

"Here," Peter said as he stepped over to Tony, looping the tie around his neck. "Maybe you can fix mine while I fix yours."

"Yeah, sure," answered Tony. "Good idea."

It was still difficult for Tony to wrap his mind around the fact that the wedding day had in fact arrived. After hemming and hawing so long about actually proposing to Pepper in the first place, followed by the year-long postponement when Peter was missing, it almost seemed like the wedding was just one of those things that was always off in the future somewhere, never really getting any closer.

But today was the day.

Fifteen minutes later, their bow ties finally on and as even as they were going to get, Tony stepped back from Peter, looking him over with misty eyes. Dressed in his perfectly-fitting white tie tuxedo that matched Tony's, he was the epitome of the young, elegant gentleman. He'd even managed to tame his hair for the occasion, although Tony snuck in a quick ruffle anyway. Can't have the best man stealing all of the groom's thunder, and he far preferred Peter's curls in their natural, wild state rather than all gelled back.

"Wow, Pete," Tony whimpered as he tugged on the sleeves of Peter's jacket. "You look so… grown up. When did this happen?"

"Well, that's what happens when your dad and mom wait so long to get married," Peter replied, smiling at the compliment.

Tony's throat tightened, and he pulled his son into a hug. "Have you mentioned that to Pepper?"

"No, not yet," Peter answered. "I've been in here with you the whole time."

"Mmm. Make sure you do, okay bud?" said Tony. He cupped Peter's cheek, kissing his forehead and once again kicking himself for waiting so long. He should have asked Pepper to marry him years ago, so there would've been no doubt in her mind where she stood in the family. All these years when Peter could've been calling her 'mom'… "I think she'd wanna hear it."

"Yeah, okay."

"You guys ready yet?" Rhodes asked, poking his head into the dressing room. He'd been dressed for thirty minutes already, as had Steve and Sam, and had been out confirming that all the security detail was in place. Even though they had pretty much cordoned off the entire floor of the hotel, Tony had still wanted the security agents stationed around, just in case.

"Almost," Tony muttered. "Not everyone can get dressed as fast as you can, you know." Darn military men and their ability to get formally dressed in three minutes flat.

"Yeah, sure." Rhodes quirked an eyebrow as he reached for the boutonniere on Tony's lapel, adjusting it so it was no longer in danger of tipping over. "There, that looks better. And it's time to start, Tony. Everyone's waiting."

Tony looked over at Peter, giving him a wink as they headed for the door. "Yeah, we're ready."

A hush fell over the guests as Tony and Peter appeared inside the ballroom and took their places at the end of the aisle with Happy, who was officiating the ceremony. Tony tugged impatiently on the tight collar of his shirt, trying to ignore the pointed looks from the rest of the team sitting in the front rows. Everyone was there, including the entire Shrinking Squad from California, Stephen Strange, Ned and his parents, and T'Challa, Shuri, and Bucky from Wakanda.

As the back door to the ballroom opened to a burst of flashes from the photographer and Pepper appeared, gracefully stepping inside and taking Rhodey's offered arm, Tony's heart nearly stopped at the sight of her. Dressed in a simple fitted white dress that hugged her slender figure like a glove, with her strawberry hair cascading in waves over her shoulders and carrying a simple bouquet of red and pink roses, Pepper had simply never looked more ethereal than she did in that moment.

She was even wearing the shrapnel necklace Tony had given her all those years ago, after his heart surgery.

No regrets. Absolutely no regrets.

"Dad," Peter whispered from next to him. "She looks absolutely beautiful!"

"Yeah, Pete," Tony croaked past his parched throat. "She sure does." How'd I get so damn lucky?

"Oh my God, Miss Potts," Tony murmured once Pepper arrived, handing her bouquet off to Natasha and taking his trembling hands. "You look—, you look so—, just unbelievably gorgeous!"

Pepper gave him a wink, even as her smile deepened. "Well, Mr. Stark, you don't look too bad yourself."

"Well, okay then," Happy said as he stepped forward, smiling from ear to ear. "If these two are ready to stop gaping at each other, I think we can get started."

The ceremony was brief, per Tony and Pepper's request. Happy cracked a few of his bad jokes, of course, and Peter ended up nearly dropping Pepper's ring onto the floor—bless those lightning-fast reflexes of his—but it was only about ten minutes later that Happy pronounced them husband and wife. Tony was reaching for Pepper's face almost before Happy even gave him permission to kiss his bride, but they were smiling so hard they could barely even kiss, which only made them and the entire assembly of guests start to laugh, a feeling that carried over into the formal dinner and dancing that followed the ceremony. Tony's heart had never felt as light as it did when he brought his new bride to the dance floor for their first dance, surpassed only slightly when Peter and Shuri joined them a few minutes later.

And when Tony and Pepper took off two days later for their Wakandan honeymoon, leaving Peter behind in the care of Steve and the rest of the team—Peter, Shuri, and Cassie Lang seemed to get along almost frighteningly well—Tony knew he would miss him but that he would be okay. His nightmares, while not completely gone were getting fewer and more far between, and he hadn't had a panic attack at school in almost three weeks. Things were improving, even if the progress was slower than either of them would have wanted.

Peter was going to be okay. It was just taking some time.

"Young Peter has just pulled into the garage, boss," FRIDAY stated, the mid-April New York rains sprinkling against the tall windows of the lab. Tony was always more nervous when Peter was driving alone in the rain. "He should be up in a couple of minutes."

"Yeah, thanks, FRI," Tony replied as he threw a wary glance at Pepper on the monitor, who was over in India again on business. "Here goes nothing."

"It's not the end of the world, Tony," Pepper said soothingly. "Columbia is an excellent school, even you have to admit that, and you know Peter's going to do great there. And it's a lot closer to home than MIT too, I would think that would make it easier for you."

"Yeah, I know it's only about twenty minutes away," answered Tony. "I just… God, Pep. How'd we get here so soon? How—, how did we go from having a seven-year-old kid to a seventeen-year-old kid in the blink of an eye? I mean, he doesn't even need me to drive him to school anymore!"

"The days are long, but the years are short, Tony," said Pepper with a faint smile. "And we'll get by. We always do."

"Yeah, I guess," Tony mumbled just as the elevator doors opened. "Pete's here now, hon. Will you have time to talk to him later? I know he'll wanna talk to you."

Pepper glanced at her watch. "I have three more meetings scheduled for this morning, so I can call back after those are done for a few minutes," she said. "Tell Peter I'll talk to him then. And please, be happy for him, Tony. This is wonderful news!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," grumbled Tony. He remembered vividly the day he got his MIT acceptance letter in the mail, when the only acknowledgement he received from Howard was a noncommittal grunt. "Love you, hon. Talk to you later."

"Hey, Dad," Peter said as he entered the lab, tossing his backpack in the general vicinity of one of the chairs. "How's it going?"

"Not bad, buddy," Tony answered, biting his lip. "How was school?"

"Eh, it was okay. Same old, same old." That was Peter-code for no panic attacks, which always made Tony breathe out a sigh of relief. "Robotics Lab was pretty fun though, Ned and I started on this new thing that I know you're gonna love. It's gonna take awhile to finish, but—" Peter paused then, his eyebrows knitting together as he studied Tony's face. "What's going on? You have that weird Dad look on your face again."

Tony sucked in a sharp breath, reaching behind his monitor for an oversized envelope. "You got some mail today, Pete. From Columbia."

"I did?" Peter's eyebrows shot up so high they disappeared under his hair, and he reached for the envelope with a trembling hand, cradling it as if it were fragile or delicate. "Is it—, is it—, do you think it's—"

"Look at it, Pete. It's a big-ass envelope stuffed so full they had to tape it closed," Tony said, even as his throat tightened. "There's no way it's gonna be a rejection letter."

"Um…" Peter mumbled, turning the envelope over and over in his hands. "But Flash told me that he got a rejection letter that still came in a big envelope like this, so that doesn't mean—"

"Pete," Tony said softly. "Just open it."

Being the kind of kid that he was, Peter had spent most of his Christmas break—when he wasn't goofing around with Shuri and Cassie Lang, that is—working on his college applications. Nervous that so many of his classmates had already been accepted to their choice schools, and about the fact that he had missed most of his junior year of high school, Peter's application essays to Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, and Cornell for admission into their chemistry programs had been so thoroughly researched that Bruce had commented they could pass for doctoral dissertations with only a few minor revisions. Even so, Peter had been anxiously awaiting responses from both Columbia and Harvard, which were his first and second choices. He had already received an acceptance offer from MIT, which had pleased both Tony and Rhodey to no end, but given the fact that Ned was already planning to attend Columbia, Peter had still been hoping to hear from them as well.

Gulping, Peter flipped over the thick envelope and tore it open, sliding it's contents of papers and booklets onto the counter. He immediately scrabbled for the cover letter, embossed with the official letterhead of the Columbia School of Chemistry.

"Dear Mr. Stark," Peter began, his voice trailing off as a huge smile broke out across his boyish face, and Tony's heart gave a swoop. "Dad, I—, I—, I got in. I got accepted!" Peter lunged forward, nearly knocking Tony backwards as he threw his arms around Tony's neck. "I got in, Dad! I got in! Oh my God, this is so awesome!"

"Course you did, buddy," Tony whispered, planting a kiss on Peter's temple as he hugged him close. How lucky was he that Peter still craved his hugs? "They'd have to be a bunch of royal-class idiots to not accept you."

"But Dad, they didn't have to. I mean, I missed so much school last year, and—"

"And the fact that you're still gonna graduate second in your class despite all of that should tell you something, Pete," Tony said. He pulled back, cupping Peter's cheek as he desperately tried to hold back his tears. "You're just exceptional, son. That's all it is."

"Ned and I wanted to share a dorm room," Peter said excitedly. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's okay with me," Tony answered with a wry grin. "You sure Shuri wouldn't appreciate you having a single, though? Might be a little less awkward when she comes to visit, don't you think?"

"Oh… Dad…" Peter stammered, his pale cheeks flushing pink as Tony chuckled. He loved making Peter blush, he was so cute when he was all flustered and stuttery. "It's not—, we haven't—, good grief, Dad!"

"I'm just giving you a hard time, buddy," Tony said, still smirking as he pulled. Peter close again, resting his chin on top of Peter's head. "I'm so proud of you, Pete, I hope you know that. I couldn't be prouder."

"You're sure?" asked Peter, his voice muffled against Tony's shoulder. "Even though it's Columbia and not MIT?"

"Yep, I'm sure. I'm not sure the big egos at MIT would survive having two Stark graduates anyway. Might as well spread the intellectual wealth a bit, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Peter said as he leaned back, picking up the acceptance letter. "They offered me an academic scholarship too, Dad, but I was thinking—"

"I'll have Pepper see about donating it, Pete," Tony cut in. "I'm sure there's someone out there who needs it."

"Thanks, Dad." Peter ran a hand through his curls, his brown eyes shining with happiness. "When's Mom supposed to get home? Is it tomorrow night?"

"Night after that, Pete, but she was gonna call tonight after her meetings were over, so you can tell her the good news then."

"Okay, good," answered Peter. "I can't wait to tell her!"

"She's gonna be just as happy as I am, Pete," Tony said. "And I'm thinking we should take the team out for pizza once she gets home too, to celebrate. How's that sound?"

"Yeah! That sounds great!" exclaimed Peter. He was never one to turn down pizza, no matter what the occasion. "I'm gonna go call Ned real quick before I start my homework, is that—"

"Go, Pete," Tony said, waving his hand. "Go tell your friend the good news."

Grinning widely, Peter pulled his phone from his pocket and bounced out of the lab. Tony watched him go before returning to his tinkering, his heart nearly bursting with love and pride.

Peter was going to be okay. It was just taking some time.

Things had been quiet lately at Avengers' Tower.

Ever since the Infinity War, really. Fury and Steve weren't sure if the Avengers' defeat of Thanos had simply scared off any future possible Avenger foes or what, but as it was, there hadn't been a real mission requiring all of the team's attention since Thanos and his minions invaded Earth over a year ago.

As it was, Barton had officially decided to hang up his bow and arrows about six months ago. His wife, Laura, was expecting again, and with the twins heading off to college, Barton had decided that being constantly on-call was no longer something he was interested in. Fury had even held a retirement party for him up at the Tower, about two weeks after Peter graduated salutatorian from high school and the team had returned from Peter's graduation trip to Disneyland, with a quick stopover in San Francisco to visit with the Shrinking Squad.

The lack of activity hadn't slowed Tony down all that much. Equipment still needed upgrades, after all, and Steve wanted to make sure that everything was up to snuff just in case a mission came along. It wouldn't do for the Avengers to be caught off guard.

That meant the training sessions continued as well, both during the week at the Tower and at the Compound on weekends. Peter had taken to his new suit like a fish to water, and after a couple of fits and starts, resumed his place in the Avengers lineup so easily it was like he'd never even been gone. Even so, it had been nearly impossible for Tony not to constantly hover over Peter the first few training sessions, to the point where Steve had to tell him to take a break a couple of times because it was becoming disruptive.

But they managed, together, like they always did. Peter got over the shakedown period with his new suit, and Tony got over—for the most part—his fear that Peter was going to vanish again if he happened to let him out of his sight.

It had been a pretty good day so far. After doing some shopping with Pepper for new clothes and the rest of Peter's supplies for his dorm room, Tony and Peter headed over to Queens for a late lunch at Delmar's, who was so proud of Peter's acceptance into Columbia that he gave them their sandwiches on the house, along with a stack of business flyers for Peter to pass out once he got to college.

Three sandwiches and a couple bags of gummy worms later, Peter and Tony headed down the street to a florist shop, purchasing a large bouquet of orange and yellow tulips in preparation for their visit to Uncle Ben and Aunt May's graves.

They remained at the gravesite for several minutes, silently thanking Ben and May for their immense love and sacrifice until Peter knelt down, placing the tulips in front of May's gravestone. "I love you, Auntie May," Peter whispered, resting his palms on the gravestones. "And I love you too, Uncle Ben. I—, I'm starting college in about a week, at Columbia, and I just wanted to tell you that—" his voice broke off as a tear slid down his cheek, one he hastily brushed away. "I wanted to tell you that I'll never forget what you did for me, what you did for us. You saved so many people, and we won't ever forget it."

With a loud sniff, Peter got back to his feet, turning into Tony's chest as Tony wrapped an arm around him. The guilt Tony had always harbored during these visits didn't seem to be quite as strong this time, likely because of what Peter had told him about reliving through the Expo attack, and realizing that Ben and May's sacrifice would allow Peter—and who knows how many billions of other people—to live on.

"I'm ready to go now, Dad," Peter said a few minutes later, swiping at his eyes.

"'Kay, bud," Tony murmured in reply. He kept his hand on Peter's shoulder as they headed back towards the car, and couldn't help but notice how Peter kept looking up longingly at the tall buildings they passed on the way. "What are ya thinking, Pete?"

Peter let out a heavy sigh. "I—, well, it's nothing… except… I mean, the training is fun and all, you know how much I love it, but… I still kinda miss just swinging from the buildings sometimes."

"Mmm. Well, you've got your suit on, don't you?" Tony asked, already knowing the answer. Even though it was technically summer, Peter still always ran cold, and was dressed more for early October weather than August, including his new Spider Suit. Peter liked having the built-in heater available if he happened to need it.

"Yeah," Peter answered. He pulled back the cuff of his hoodie, showing Tony the tight red sleeve of his suit. "You know I usually wear it out."

"Well," Tony said with a smile, tapping the arc reactor attached to his chest. "I've got my suit on too. Why don't we go for a quick spin?"

"Really?" Peter exclaimed, so loudly that he startled a couple of pigeons bouncing along the sidewalk. "Like, right now?"

"Sure," answered Tony as he unlocked the car. "Why not? We still got some time before Pepper expects us home."

"All right!" Peter yelped. He quickly ducked into the backseat of the car, balling up his clothes and pulling on his mask. "I'm ready!"

Tony tapped his arc reactor, smiling as the nanotech armor starting flowing across his chest and down his arms and legs. "Okay, Spider-Man," he said once he was ready. "Lead the way."

The white eyes of Peter's mask narrowed as he nodded, jerking his head towards a building on his left a split second before he shot out his web and took off. "Race ya, Iron Man!" he called over his shoulder.

"Oh, that's how it's gonna be?" Tony barked as he took off.

Peter cackled as he swung towards the next building, flipping in mid air as he shot out another web. "Yeah, that's how it's gonna be!"

That's how it's gonna be, Tony thought as he stayed on Peter's six, keeping a close eye on him even as he allowed himself to enjoy the first time he'd flown for pure enjoyment in who knows how long. He would definitely need to do this again sometime soon.

It had taken some time, but both he and Peter were going to be okay.

The phoenix had once again arisen from the ashes.

THE END

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