Avengers Sick-fics

Last Friday Night - Peter Parker/Pepper Potts

Set: after Spiderman Homecoming? Whenever you want
For: Hi_horses2004

...that's a lot of P's

———

Fridays were the best day of the week. Peter was undoubtedly certain of this. They meant two days without school, Flash or bad cafeteria food, as well as two days of absolute bliss spent as Spider-man, Tony Stark's intern and Ned's best friend.

Unfortunately, they also meant Peter was exhausted.

Like any self-respecting high-schooler, Peter was running on fumes and it was bound to catch up with him at some point. Five tests in three days, alongside only one appearance as Spider-man and Peter was struggling to make it through Friday as his teachers kept piling on homework for the weekend. It wasn't even like it required thought it was just... time-consuming. Peter had an internship to attend!

A real one!

But fumes were what he was running on and no one in a school is really that healthy so of course, he'd caught a cold. Peter was usually pretty good at avoiding bugs, especially since his spider bite, but every so often, one managed to make a nuisance of itself.

"Hey, look man, Stark internship is cool and everything, I mean it's so cool, but don't you think you should be resting?" Ned asked at lunch. Peter really wasn't even that sick and he appreciated the thought but honestly? Ned had been saying that for two days and it was getting annoying.

"It'll be fine Ned! Stop worrying!"

"Peter. Go home," MJ chimed in.

"Come on MJ, I'm barely sick! It's a cold at absolute worst," Peter grumbled as he shrugged slightly further into the warm confines of his midtown hoodie. He could admit, the sniffles were slightly annoying, as was the ever-present chill, but he just wasn't that sick. Really!

"You should call your babysitter and make him cancel the internship tonight."

Peter groaned, "why must you call him my babysitter? He's Mr Stark's bodyguard, MJ."

The brunette smiled but went back to her book. Ned gave Peter an equally worried smile but neglected to speak, opting instead to steal some of Peter's untouched lunch.

———

Peter all but fell into the black SUV when it finally arrived. He was not tired - Peter knew real tried - but sleepy. He hoped Mr Stark had some coffee or something interesting enough to keep him awake. The teen's body slipped sideways and he slept all the way to the compound, seatbelt not even on. Happy tried to wake him up to put it on but Peter just grumbled an answer and swatted in his vague direction so the driver gave up. It wasn't as though Friday would let them crash anyway.

The world was bleary and slightly dark when Peter finally roused himself. Some part of him had woken as the car neared the compound, recognising the familiar twists and turns so he was able to be semi-alert when Happy opened the door and gently shook his shoulder.

The spiderling blinked a few times, squeezing his eyes shut and then rubbing them, before gaining the full gift of sight. "We're here?" he asked as he pulled himself up and out of the car.

"We're here, kid. You're not looking so hot though, do you want to go to your room?" Happy asked, fragments of concern bleeding into  his tone.

"Yeah, that'd be great. I'll just stop by the labs and say hi to Mr Stark," Peter agreed as Happy took his bag off the floor.

Peter stumbled into the compound, slowly regaining balance and his ability to walk like a normal human being. He finally made it to the labs and said "Hi Mr-" before realising Tony was not, in fact, in the laboratory.

"Uh, Friday?"

"Boss is in a meeting right now and cannot be disturbed, as per Miss Pott's wishes. Unless you would like to use a manual override?"

"No, no that's fine. I'll wait here. Got some stuff to finish," Peter mumbled, already flopping onto one of the stools and spinning around to face his bench. A new stack of sheets had appeared, Tony's neat, capitalised handwriting featuring various notes of ideas for Peter's current projects and future ones.

Peter began adding to one of his newer models of gauntlets, all too pleased to fall into an obsessive thought process to ignore his ailing body. It wasn't until two hours later that Pepper Potts found the mousey haired boy idly tapping on the gauntlet.

"Peter? What are you doing down here? Happy said you were going to bed!" the CEO said as she walked into the lab, her voice rising as she spoke.

"Ms Potts? I didn't- I was just adjusting- I was going to my room in a minute, I was just waiting for Mr Stark, so I could say hi," Peter stuttered after getting over his initial fright at someone virtually sneaking up on him. He could not remember the last time that had happened but didn't think it boded well for his illness.

"Tony? He's not here. He's in Dubai right now. Peter are you all right?"

Peter frowned in response, trying to recall whether he'd heard about this change in plans. Before he could decide though, Pepper had placed a gentle hand on his forehead. "You're warm. How about we get some dinner and then you get some rest, hmm?"

Peter couldn't help but agree with the warm redhead; dinner and sleep did sound pretty good right now. Ignoring his body for the past two hours may have been a minor mistake as his arms now ached and his head provided a constant thumping accompaniment. His throat was also scratchy in a way coughing couldn't itch, though Peter wasn't one to stop trying after the first time.

Pepper slowly led him away from the bright labs and into the golden corridors. It was dark outside and she always enjoyed evening lighting in the compound. They arrived in the living area and Pepper showed Peter to one of the plush grey couches. The teen allowed himself to sink into it with a soft smile before keeling over to lie on the couch. His feet fumbled as he attempted to paw off his shoes without moving his arms and eventually, Peter was successful. Minutes later, Pepper returned with two steaming bowls.

"I got phở. I thought it might help your cold," she explained, setting one bowl down on the coffee table with a fork. Usually, Peter preferred to enhance his chopstick skills but tonight, it was enough energy to make sure he didn't spill any of the soup or noodles. The brunette slowly forked noodles towards his mouth, his eyelids drooping and eventually lifted the bowl to his mouth to sip at the broth itself. Pepper watched quietly, only half her attention on her own meal.

Eventually, the level of food in Peter's bowl had halved and he placed the bowl back on the table. The dusky lighting was doing nothing to keep him awake and he dimly registered that he ought to be making conversation with Pepper but he simply couldn't conjure the words to do so. A small shiver raced through his body but filled with warm soup as he was, Peter was certain it was barely comparable to his earlier shivers.

"Are you tired?" Pepper asked, watching the teen stare into empty space. He hummed in response. "Let's go back to your room then."

But Peter didn't want to and made clear to Pepper that he simply wouldn't when she tried to help him up. "Can I just... stay here? Just for a little while?" He asked quietly.

"I suppose. But wouldn't you be more comfortable in your own bed?"

"Just a little while," he repeated. Pepper agreed and found herself sitting next to the teen. He flicked on the TV and let it stay on some bargain hunter's show. Not ten minutes later though, Pepper saw his eyes closing again. Rather than repeat their earlier sequence, she guided his head onto her lap, gently carding her fingers through Peter's soft hair.

The vigilante seemed to like this, giving a soft hum of pleasure so Pepper continued, idly watching the show and using her other hand to flick through her emails. It was an ad break when Pepper heard soft snores being emitted by the boy on her lap. He was curled up on the couch with Pepper's thighs as his pillow. She sighed fondly and reached over the back of the couch for a blanket to throw over Peter.

———

Hope you enjoyed? Vote/comment if you did ❤️

The Peter Pepper relationship is one I so rarely see and I love the idea that she's sort of a mother to him? I don't know, they just feel like they had so much potential. Anyway, short fic (sorry about that) but hope it was up to standard x